A.G.E's Joint

Wouldn’t you like to ride in my beautiful balloooooon? Emily sang the song again as she got ready for bed. Grandma always played it when she was her house. They would dance around the fireplace and sing along with the record. She kept dancing in the car when Mommy picked her up and now as she put on her pajamas. They had pictures of balloons on them, too. It seemed like such fun, climbing into a big basket and floating over the ground. Tomorrow was Christmas. Daddy had asked her what she wanted and she said she wanted live at Grandma’s house. Why? So she could sing the balloon song over and over again. It was better than listening to Mommy trying to get Charlie quiet. He would grab at her necklace or hair and pull. That wasn’t all. Every time Emily wanted to cuddle with them on the sofa, he would poop or do something else gross. One time they were at the doctor’s office and he peed right in the lady’s face. Laughing, the doctor told Emilyall boys do that. She wondered when the pi...

Walking slowly in the dark room, the wall felt weird, kind pebbly and wrinkly. Something was wrong, no light switch. Where was I going? Fear rose inside. A light appears in the doorway. Soft music surrounds her. It was some band she had heard on the radio in Mommy’s car. “I don’t want this night to end…” Relaxing, she floats on the melody, while the harmony colors the surrounding air. “ It’s closing time, leave with me again” “Ooh, Jimmy!” Emily sat straight up in bed. It sounded like the cat next door. Wonder what time it is? Crawling out of bed, she went to her window to see. It was cold. Looking down, she found her pajama top had scrunched up over her tummy. Oops. Had anyone seen it? It didn't matter, tummies were fine to show. The waistband on the pants were loose, and she pulled them up. The rest of her wasn’t, though. “Owww!!” That wasn’t a cat, it was Mommy. Quietly, she made her way down the hall, running her hands along the wall to guide her in the dark. T...

Another week, another prompt that comes up short in the story department. Of course, that’s not my fault. Sometimes the well is dry. But it does give me a chance to talk about the most divisive issue of our times. No, not whether Donald Trump is an incompetent boob or that Congress is in the direct pay of big business. No, something that is much more important our day to day lives. Does pineapple belong on a pizza? I can hear the puritan heteropizza snobs now. Abomination! Heresy! What kind of soft-headed, perverted picaroon eats that? There are bible verses against mixing meat and fruit, aren’t there? Why if we allow that, what’s next? Tuna? Barbecue Chicken?...VEGGIE? It does explain California Kitchen, doesn’t it? I like them and this is how I was seduced by the juicy tartness. I left the nest when I was 21. I had re-enrolled in school and was making enough money with my part time job to afford a basement in old house. The neighborhood left a bit to be desired, to s...

So, what’s the subject this week? It’s my life? O.K. How do we handle this? Let’s look in the scrap pile to see what we have: A three fourths done continuation of Morris Family stories where Kathy has her baby An erotic September-December romance with steamy details A sketch outline of a story of my lucky rock with the gold nugget An idea for a Wordless Wednesday blog: measure my life with coffee spoons . Which will it be..... Coffee Wins. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- Diana Jillian Pic- Dahlia Ramone Pic guessess: The end of the road, cliff edge, 101, Big Sur, blue heaven, step off, grassland, sunday drive, road trip

White painted sentinel Standing against time and tide Against the storms in my mind. I come seeking guidance 122 steps Rosary recited in time With the march Vertigo comes With the climb At the top I stand and hear my voice cry out A wordless scream at ancient power Until the dolphin breaks the surface Against the sunset Anchor drops in my soul's Safe harbor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- Dave Coon Pic- Stormy Gail Dormire Pic guesses Sentinel (in blog), Anchor (in blog) Safe Harbor (in blog), White (in blog), Light, Time and Tide (in blog),

It is my birthday month. It’s time to get my license plate renewed. For once, I didn’t wait until the last minute. I got my emissions check, made sure my insurance was up to date, and went down the office. Being early on a Friday, no one was there and it only took about 10 minutes. It wasn’t always this way. Back in 1983, the State of Georgia didn’t do renewals by birthdays. Instead, they were due April 1, even if the day hit on a Saturday like this year. I had bought a car about a month before and because of no insurance, I wasn’t ready to get my plate until the last day. When I get there I found out the place was only open until 1. Pulling into the parking log, I saw the line wrapped around the building. I’d be lucky to get in the door before they closed. I backed my plateless ride into a space locked up. Wishing I could spend my weekend doing something else, I found the end of the line. The motley crew reminded me of the giraffe cage at the zoo. Up close to the building was ...

Cold Water Going down Staving off thirst. Watching eagles wings Riding updrafts out of dark cloudy canyons. A path Once followed long ago , I pause. Cows graze contentedly in the valley. The sun is hanging low to the rim. The power overwhelms me This is as good a place As any to make camp. Pulling out the tent . I drive stakes To secure Night. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- Dave Coon Pic- Dahlia Ramone Pic Guesses: Eagles wings (in blog), flight, updraft (in blog), On the wing, Canyons (in blog), Spirit, America,

Start: 2:50PM Time to just put the keyboard in action and see what comes out. I do this occasionally when I can’t come up with a story, poem, or some other highfalutin’ idea for consumption. As I am sitting here, it is raining hard enough to find the leaks in the roof. You know, the ones I thought I had fixed...twice. When the roof was redone a few years ago, the contractor didn’t use the finest quality decking and I’ve now got three sheets warped bad enough to cause problem. Am I going to call in a pro to fix it permanently? Nah. It won’t be all that long before I downsize into a condo and give this place to a developer to put another bland $1 million over sized barn in its place. The houses are all cream, gray, or white. The only color in the neighborhood is from the change in season . My yard has scarlet sumac vines trailing through the lantana, which gives a rather neat effect . So much different from the professionally kept lawns around me. Yeah. I don’t think the neighbors ...

A waif floated on the screen. Flat hair, flat chest Line of beads in her hair Beige bustier washed out The girl next door The one you never see. If she’s someone’s dream He couldn’t see it. Next video, please. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Writer’s Choice Topic-The Girl Next Door Hard prompt-the color beige Easy- Waif Pic- Michelle King Pic guesses- Rocking pumpkin, Do the mash, Halloween, Hooked up.

· Left Center Right Remove click to add a caption Her face was amusing, pale skin with cat whiskers of charcoal drawn across the cheeks. Glancing around, I realized it was Halloween. Was it cute? I guess if she was a kid. It was a definitely awkward look, like that display at Needless Markup. I’ve seen a bunch of those over the years. The mouth was more like a dog than a cat. She'd probably make a good puppy and if I could move, I scratch behind her ears. But who am I to judge? I know all about awkward looks. I'm a mannequin in a men’s clothing display and I’ve sported some. I could see the why she stared. I'm not the normal plastic statue making the cheap stuff look good. I'm orange, some ditz's tangerine dream created after too many tequila sunrises with a pomegranate twist. Or worse, who knows? At least, I'm not the only one. Jimmy and Don stand stoically next to me and don't say anything. I was...