Before I had to report for duty at Warren AFB, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, I had two weeks of leave. I was at home, doing my best to be a kid once more before I had to pick-up the mantle of adulthood on a permanent basis. My day had been spent working in the yard with…

Last night, sleep was punctuated by several unusual dreams. In one, Mom was giving me advice on my current writing project. “Tommy,” she said to me, “You’re not a novelist — you’re a storyteller.” Whoa!

Mary and I were on the outskirts of the Mojave National Preserve. It was after midnight and we were the only vehicle that we could see along the long, flat stretch of Interstate 15. We were on our way back to Ramona, where the bride’s family lives. I was planning to stay the night and make…

It was a regular overcast day when the one hundred or so scouts gathered on the newly constructed Tsunami Landing. Each scout, whether a Boy Scout or Cub Scout, was given an 3-foot by five-foot American flag on a standard to hold during the upcoming ceremony. We were gathered for the dedication of the landing…

Where Mom found the special glass, I will never know. What I do know is that every time I had a friend over for dinner for the first, time she’d drag it from the cupboard for them to use. The special glass was modified with four tiny slits about half an inch from the rim and…

It was standing room only at Summit Christian Church as family and friends came to remember U.S. Marine Corps Sergeant Frank Zaehringer, who died in Afghanistan on October 11th.  Zaehringer was killed by an improvised explosive device while leading a combat patrol in Helmand province. “He was a soldier,” memorial speaker Rick Revigilo said, “an…

It could be beating for sure and I knew it. I could just tell by the way the little black cow stood apart from the rest of the herd. To try to explain it would be difficult, it’s just something that a former cow-hand could understand. I had seen the animal struggling as I was stopped…

“Your want me to run to the store for you?” I asked Mom as I grabbed my truck keys. Mom looked at me, “Sure, if you don’t mind.” Looking out the door, I saw cousin Danny’s little ranch car was parked in the way. They called it the little ranch car because it rarely ever left the ranch.…

It was pleasant autumn day for a Civil War reenactment as I pulled my truck up under the “Hanging Tree.” The small town had once been called Mormon Station and was the oldest known settlement in northern Nevada. My unit, consisting of both Confederate and Union forces, had established a small encampment in front of…

From an old joke Dad told me: At one time the entire body was in complete chaos. It had no one or anything in charge of it’s activities. Recognizing this, the brain decided it should be boss. “After all,” the brain said, “without me nothing would get done.” The feet immediately disagreed, claiming “Without us,…