A.G.E's Joint

Late night, busy day. Five miles- paved trail never walked. It was disappointing. Warehouses, not trees. Very commercial. Ancient spirits guiding me. Not the political stuff No texting, virtual signaling No covers for hiding behind the reality Of the powerful abusing the powerless. Cabernet in front of me easing sore muscles Tomorrow hopes we’ve learned Something from yesterday But on review... We haven’t. Bottoms up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- Colleen Keller Breuning Pic- Michael Todd Pic guesses: Head over heels, Flip out, jump for joy, boardwalk,

S hadows around my heart creeping Rising from the road surface Been here before In this life or another? Smoky dusk surrounds a house at the end A flash of the dormitory Abandoned, except for us. Gretel to Hansel Safe A strange little word I can feel the heat The cold toxicity at the edge of something Innocence leaves, never to return. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- Lika Saliscente-Phipps Pic- Sallon Newlove Pic guesses: Smoky dusk (in blog), abandoned (in blog) Gingerbread, House at the end (in blog), Portal, Haunted

Interesting timing of this week’s topic. I was packing to leave for East Tennessee for the week when it was posted. It wasn’t a vacation abroad , but it certainly was good to get out of town. The highlight (for me) was a day at Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains National Park and a decent woods hike. The cove is a wide mountain ringed valley first settled by Europeans in the early 1820’s. It has a number of well preserved log cabins and structures. Missionary Baptist Church And from the inside. The church here is one of the newer structures. It apparently was built in the late 1800’s. There are several log cabins that date from almost the earliest settlement. Along the way, we saw a juvenile bear playing in a meadow (he’s in the cover photo). We were about 400 feet way. That was close enough. I didn’t see a Mama, but she could have been in the woods right behind him. He goofed around for about 15 minutes and then dipped into the treeline. So we moved on. Soon we...

The damp handkerchief couldn’t keep up with the rivers of moisture pouring down his face. Savannah, the land of sweating and gnats. Heat rose from the faded pavement, something he never liked. Nothing had a clear view, just a shaky look. Only place he’d been to worse was New Orleans. At least here you might catch a breeze. A halfhearted attempt to squeeze the cloth out didn’t help. Laundry was going to be gross this week. Kathy would hold it by one corner and wrinkle her nose as it landed in the washer. Oh, well. Can’t be helped. A feeble attempt to wind dry it was made before putting it back in his pocket. It had been a productive trip. Somebody at the VW store had mucked up their inventory system. It turned out to be an idiot using an unsecured site had downloaded a a virus. He’d seen it before. Floor traffic gets slow and the sales folks get bored. The fix ended up being two software patches and a quick code rewrite. A reboot later, and everything was working properly. Before ...

Scanning screens in the DMZ A volley comes from the east, Saying the west is best. Others say they are the beasts If you don’t agree you are, too. In the crossfire of the media A song played entirely out of tune By people being legendary With the disenchantment Within their own minds. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m getting old. Edit to add the guesses. Topic- Dave Coon Pic- Irene Melgoza Pic guesses. Victor, Defeat, Hero worship, Yellow,

I have always been a camper and hiker. It is my preferred way to get out of the city and see parts of the country that I otherwise wouldn't. Back before I was married, I used to go to a state park in Beaufort SC, called Hunting Island. It lies about half way between Savannah and Charleston, making access to either place a snap. On trick I had learned in my trips down there is if I waited until the day after Labor Day I could get a campsite next to the beach and this year was no exception. I was with my buddy Karl and our site was next to the access boardwalk. We set the tent up and slipped the beer cooler discreetly under the picnic table for our week of fun and sun. And since we are pale people, we spend the time looking like Larry the Lobster. Late in the afternoon on our second day, we were sitting at the table figuring out where to eat. Our favorite fish shack was closed for a private event and we weren't thrilled about having to go all the way into town. We ha...

I put the top down driving down 98 A dark cloud bank rolls offshore Moon-like dune shimmering in the dying light Unthinkable happenings in the coda of our lives Venus lays low to the Southwest Ghost ship lit by the storm sails Southeast I come to the pull-off and I stop Another memory hidden and revealed Climbing the soft sand I almost drop you But, I don’t. The fata morgana sails towards us And with a short prayer I commit you to the journey. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Topic- Dave Coon Pic- Christine Wichman Pic guesses: Storm (in blog), Lit (in blog), Lightning, Sky show, Blue, Indigo, dark (in blog),