For an older manuscript, ‘Aristopia’ is a quick read, if not a frustrating one for anybody who loves history.  Written in 1895 by Castello N. Holford, the book is only about 240-pages in length and 35 short chapters in total. Billed as an ‘Utopian novel,’ it’s considered to be the first novel-length, alternate history ever…

It’s such a strange thing to wake up thinking about, especially after 23 years, today. This early morning thought goes back to the day after Dad died in July 1995. My step-mom, Jere’ and I had a lot of things to do that day in preparation for my father, her husband’s funeral. Before we headed…

As I clear out old notes,  I’ve found one I’d written October 19, 2009 after reading the following paragraph in the New York Times: “‘People who use marijuana for medical purposes and those who distribute it to them should not face federal prosecution, provided they act according to state law, the Justice Department said Monday…

For years I purposely didn’t talk about my military service. It seemed that every time I did, some smart-ass, wanna-be-tough would try to pick a fight with me. Once, it was woman. She was mouthy, mouthy, mouthy and she wouldn’t let up with the haranguing. She kept asking me, as tried to enjoy my beer,…

The bright red Sno-Cat crept its way carefully across the ice-covered landscape. Inside, two men, both experienced hunters, sat hoping to bag this seasons limit of one polar bear each. It had been a four-hour trek before Jim saw the first possible sign of their quarry. He pointed out the faint tracks to Steve, who…

Thanks once again to blogger ‘RayNotBradbury,’  and her prompt. Honest, I simply stopped by to read what she had written, when the little turd on the hamster wheel running my brain, got loose. When this happens, strange stuff leaks out and gets all over the Internet… Fear has me and again I’m having a strange…

It was zero-dark-thirty and the entire base was seemingly up, prepping for a ‘Forced March.’  I’d been up a little while longer double checking my equipment, before having to head to the parade deck to start inspecting other’s rucks. As I wrapped up third’s squads inspection, someone in the squad called for a prayer, asking…

This morning he raced to the kitchen as he thought his coffee maker was dying. As it gurgled the last of the water through it’s filter and grounds, it sounded as if it were choking. The last time this happened, he mistook the sound for the toilet bowl tank refilling. He ignored it until it…

Six-feet long, roughly built, thickly painted in a shiny brown enamel and filled with books from encyclopedias and The Harvard Classics to Reader’s Digest’s condensed books to every paperback Louis L’Amour and Agatha Christy ever published, that book-case captivated much of my childhood. It also formed my delight in reading and my desire to become…

We sat on the splintered floor, where the blast had tossed us, staring out the missing wall towards my neighbor’s house. “So surreal,” I recall myself thinking as Butch quipped, “You always wanted a picture window there, didn’t ya?” “No. What I wanted was to get my new diesel generator hooked up to my home’s…