A Story - "Body Breakdown" and Growing Onions

A Story

Body Breakdown

Sitting on the couch at 2 am, Penny tried to remember how to activate her leg muscles to stand up.  Her sore wrists, hands, shoulders, hips and back had kept her awake and she wanted to get up and pace the floor to ease the stiffness and pain.  Marshalling her brain, she gritted her teeth, pushed on the arm of the couch and staggered to her feet.  She shuffled forward, walking slowly up and down the length of the living room.

The suddenness of her new incapacity had been startling.  Almost overnight she had gone from being strong and active to being stiff, sore and weak.  Polymyalgia rheumatica, the doctor diagnosed.

Thankfully, medication brought the storm under control.  Hope and relief came flooding back.

For my zone 4 garden, I need to start my onions in February.  In my region in Ontario, it's important to buy long day onion seeds.  I have an inexpensive grow light that I can put the seedlings under to help them get through the dull winter days.  Even still, they are floppy.  It won't matter though and once in the garden they will straighten up.  They will be planted outside in early May.  By the end of July, they will be ready to harvest. Last year I planted some yellow onions and some red onions.  Both varieties kept well and I still have one red onion left that's in good shape. I just stored them in paper bags in the dark at cool room temperature. I have about forty seedlings in these pots and that will do me until this time next year.

A Story: "Adventure" - and Barley Carrot Soup

A Story

Adventure

Mary had discussed at length her possible adventure with her friends. It was all a bit confusing.

"We'll describe it as though it was the weather," said her friends.

"Lots of sunny days.  Balmy and warm," Gloria smiled dreamily.

"Oh, the hurricane was terrible! I was buffeted from all sides," quavered Cheryl.

"The rain just soaked down in dreary misery, day after day," sighed Donna.

"The breeze was so fresh and energizing. I've never felt so alive," enthused Moira.

"But how would I experience it?" Mary worried.

Only one way to find out.

Nine months later everything changed.
 

Barley Carrot Soup

This is a vegetable soup but you could add meat to it if you wanted.

Saute 1 chopped onion in oil or butter

Add 1 1/2 cups rinsed barley.  Cover with 2" of liquid, either broth or water.

Add 1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped carrot

Add 1/2 cup chopped celery

Add 1 tbsp chopped parsley, dried or 3 tbsp fresh

Season with black pepper and salt.

Simmer for about 30 minutes.  

Add 1/2 cup chopped green or yellow beans - frozen work well.

Simmer another 5 min. or so.

Serve with some parsley garnish.

A Story - "the Unwanted Guest" and Cabbage Pear Salad

A story:

The Unwanted Guest

When they arrived, Joe wrapped Mom in a big hug, then exclaimed, "You look amazing."

Mom blushed and tittered.  Dad beamed, "Welcome, Son."

Sarah, Joe's wife, noticed the guest. "Bigoted man, drinking his Coke, judging us all. What a fraud."

Glaring at him, she strode to the table.  Joe helped her get seated.

After blessing the food, the unwanted guest prayed, "God comfort the sad, the frightened, the weary."

His heart's voice flowed like golden sherry. Sarah's face flushed.  Her heart gave a pound.  Her tears without warning spilled, erasing her make-up, exposing the purple and blue.

Cabbage salad 

 I'm trying out a new cabbage salad - my own version.  It has cabbage, pear, sunflower seeds and dried cranberries.

1 1/2 cup shredded cabbage

1 pear - any kind

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Mix together with mayonnaise to taste.

You could also add a little bit of green onion, some sweet pepper, and a mix of green and red cabbage would be nice.

Once Upon A Time

 Once upon a time there was a group of unacceptables.  They were called the "fringe".  They were smelly, they swore a lot and they had dirty jobs.  One day they decided they needed a break.  They parked their big rigs and set up. They were loud - VERY LOUD but they had rhythm. Soon they had built a canteen and gave out free hot soup and hamburgers.  They gave out clothes.  They played music and people danced.  Someone hired a bouncy castle for the kids.  They put flags on hockey sticks when they weren't playing pick-up games of ball hockey.  

The acceptables went ballistic.  "HOW DARE THEY!" "THEY ARE TERRIBLE AND SCARY!"

One day, the unacceptables decided to pick up camp.  They drove away, blaring their horns, back to life on the road.  And as they drove down the long, long highways, mile after mile, they had the odd chuckle about the days when they were truly unacceptable.

Prose Poem Story

 In this time of lockdown, I am trying to keep busy with some things I can do at home. Recently I have been working on some short fiction. There are a number of sites that publish very short fiction but the one I have settled on for now is Friday Flash Fiction based in Edinburgh. It takes stories of 75-100 words. It does have a category for stories up to 500 words and for poems but I am concentrating on the 100 words stories. It's bit like writing poetry hence the title for this post. I am aiming for one a week as they publish every Friday. Here is one I submitted a little while ago.

"Country Living

Here was John’s chance to get out of the city. His boss was making distance work permanent.

 

John’s budget was limited but the small town had very affordable housing prices. He bought a quaint older house and moved in.

 

All summer he fished in the nearby crystal clear lake. At night, the stars were spectacular. Every day he heard beautiful new bird songs. He even once saw a bear. He made new friends and hosted relaxing beer-infused barbecues. It was fantastic.

 

On October  15^th winter began with ten inches of snow. John sold his house on November  30^th."

I had commenters from Australia who totally didn't get it but I think anyone from a northern clime will have met a John or two.

I hope you are finding ways to keep busy at home.  

Keep well.

The Car and The Horse

The Car and The Horse

One day, Jack and Jill were having a coffee together.

"I went for a drive in the mountains yesterday," said Jill.

"A drive? You mean in a car? You put straps over your body and buckled them up so you can't even move?  Your doors were locked like you were in a cage? In a car that can only drive on one side of the road, and has to stop at signs and red lights? How confining!
I have a much better idea."

Jack took a small car out of his pocket, and rolled it back and forth on the table.

"This way," he said "I can make the car go wherever I want, anyway I want.  I don't ever have to stop unless I want to.  And see how clean and shiny it is?  This, my friend, is how to use a car."

"Well, yes," said Jill, thinking of the muddy splatters on her car and the squeaky brakes," but I can go to interesting places in my car."

"I go places, too," said Jack defensively.
He swooped his car in the air and spun it around on landing.
"Can your car do that?" he demanded triumphantly.

"I went to the mountains so I could ride a horse," continued Jill.

"A horse? But they bite and they kick and stomp on your feet.  They buck and they rear and throw you to the ground.  Not even to mention the smell!  Really, Jill, the way to know a horse is to look in a book.  Here I have one."  Jack searched in his bag and pulled out a book.  "On page number 9, a nice bay horse.  Anytime I want a horse, I turn to page number 9.  No fuss, no bother, no broken bones."

Jill wiggled her right foot.  It was a little sore from being stepped on, but she remembered the whinny that Lightning had greeted her with, and his fragrant hay breath.  She thought of the gallop over the fields, thundering hooves, and both of them breathless after the fun.  She had to admit there had been a buck or two, and a few dodgy moments when she feared for her bones. Still...
She glanced at the horse on page number 9 and shook her head.

Jack smiled back at her grandly and drove his car in a fancy manoeuver, and clicked at the bay, the tamest, safest horse in the world.