Have you ever noticed that love is like an invading alien? It sneaks into your brain and changes your view of the world. The sky looks sunnier; the air smells fresher; and the birds sing sweeter. Even if you realize the change is in you and not in the world, you still love it. This alien invasion is always good. Well, there are a few exceptions that the Montague and Capulet families may want to tell you about. However, I think the world would be a better place on balance if there were more of them. You can read about one case of this invasion in the story Flight to Paradise in the Stories of Life and Love section.

The flashy cerise blooms (3”long) in the header above are Inca bells (Cantua buxifolia), native to central South America. It is the national flower of Peru and one of the two national flowers of Bolivia.

This website is about my published stories. As you can see, I have sorted them into three groups: Stories about friends, Stories just for fun, and Stories of life and love. These stories are the building blocks of the site. So I guess that means that right now this site is under construction. Ideally, it will always be under construction, because I will be adding stories from time to time. So come back to visit every so often and check out my building skills.

Thanksgiving is almost upon us, and many of us are thinking of turkey. But what about the rest of the year when we eat more chicken than turkey? Do we think about the chicken? Probably not. And if we do, we are probably thinking about how it tastes. However, chickens (and turkeys) are more than mere taste packets. They are multi-dimensional creatures. They have feelings, maybe even opinions. Because they are social animals, they may even have social ambitions. To fulfill their social ambitions, they may adopt a public persona different from their private persona. So, perhaps like some people you know, they may not be what/whom they seem to be. On the other hand, maybe they are.  You might be able to tell by how they meet a challenge.

Red was a new rooster in the neighborhood and was trying to settle in with the locals. He impressed some, but not others. They couldn’t all agree if he really was as he seemed. Then a serious challenge arose. Read about Red and his challenge  in the “Stories Just For Fun” category. His story is “How Big Red Got His Name.”

The cluster of blooms shown above is white ginger. This ginger is not to eat. It is to carry you to another plane of existence. One sniff and you will think you have arrived in Heaven. This is a tropical plant but will grow and bloom even in California if it’s located in a place that’s not too dry.

This website is about my published stories. As you can see, I have sorted them into three groups: Stories about friends, Stories just for fun, and Stories of life and love. These stories are the building blocks of the site. So I guess that means that right now this site is under construction. Ideally, it will always be under construction, because I will be adding stories from time to time. So come back to visit every so often and check out my building skills.

It’s the back-to-school time of year.   Students of all ages are excited by the anticipation of having new experiences and of seeing old friends. For those of us beyond our school days, this time of year may beckon us to remember the friends we had then. If you are like me, you sometimes wonder how some relationships might have turned out differently: if only I had said this or if only I had done that. Would the paths of our lives been more entwined? Would they have led to different places? Would I be happier?

The people in the story “Delayed Awakening” probably wondered the same thing. Did they say enough to each other?  Too much?  You might see yourself in one of them.  You can find the story under the “Stories of Life and Love” section.  Linger a while.

Those rosy beauties in the header are plumeria. We associate them with Hawaii and leis and heavenly scent. They certainly are all of that. Their origin, however, is tropical America. Their popularity has caused them to be grown around the world. The different species and cultivars have different bloom color, bloom fragrance, and leaf shape. They can be grown in pots from cuttings. That’s how I grow mine.

This website is about my published stories. As you can see, I have sorted them into three groups: Stories about friends, Stories just for fun, and Stories of life and love. These stories are the building blocks of the site. So I guess that means that right now this site is under construction. Ideally, it will always be under construction, because I will be adding stories from time to time. So come back to visit every so often and check out my building skills.

It’s been several decades since I first met Leonard Bessom. Back then he had straight white hair that hung to his collar and a matching walrus mustache. His uninhibited attitude and the twinkle in his eye placed him somewhere between aging hippie and aging elf. He worked deep within the bowels of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. Among his duties, perhaps the most intriguing, was preparing the bones of large animals (moose, hippos, gazelles, etc.) for study. For that he boiled them until they were free of flesh. He used huge kettles, suitable for witches and their potions, which sat over burners on the floor of the preparation warehouse. Fitting to his character, Leonard loved that job, most likely for its oddness. When I visited with him, he often told of funny incidents in his life that have stuck with me all these years. Now I am using those incidents and Leonard’s free spirit as the bases for stories that I have named after him. Two are now in the section Stories About Friends.

While you’re here, take a close look at the plum blossoms above.  Plums originated in China.  In Chinese culture the five petals represent the five blessings of life: health, wealth, long life, love of learning, and a peaceful death.  If we each had those, we would indeed be blessed.

This website is about my published stories. As you can see, I have sorted them into three groups: Stories about friends, Stories just for fun, and Stories of life and love. These stories are the building blocks of the site. So I guess that means that right now this site is under construction. Ideally, it will always be under construction, because I will be adding stories from time to time. So come back to visit every so often and check out my building skills.

This website is about my published stories. As you can see, I have sorted them into three groups: Stories about friends, Stories just for fun, and Stories of life and love.  These stories are the building blocks of the site.  So I guess that means that right now this site is under construction. Ideally, it will always be under construction, because I will be adding stories from time to time. So come back to visit every so often and check out my building skills.

I have just added the story “Our Ficus.”  If the title makes you think of a tree, that’s good.  The story is about a tree, a special tree.  It is listed under the “Stories of Life and Love” category.  Check it out.

And while you’re here, you can check out my homegrown blooms, too.  Today’s delicate pinwheels of white are Star Jasmines.  They are not true jasmines but are called jasmines because of their sweet tropical fragrance.