BIRTHDAYS, DYSLEXIA, GUARDIAN ANGELS, AND FAIRY TALES

You’d think after eight decades I would have figured it out. But here I am, on my 28th birthday and I realize I’m dyslexic. Which, of course, works to my advantage when it comes to birthdays. Maybe I really am 28. At least my mind thinks so even if my body doesn’t. In truth, when…

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A REAL-LIFE FAIRY TALE: THE EPILOGUE

I don’t know if fairy tales are supposed to have epilogues. But since it’s my fairy tale, I get to make the rules. Epilogues allowed. Exactly one year ago today, as I stumbled into my ninth decade of drawing breaths on this planet, I wrote a blog with my views on growing old. I allowed…

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THE FAIRY TALE CONTINUES–BARBARA AND BUZZ

The fairy tale continues. The rise of what I like to think of as Schloss Bernard, my new writer’s studio—my castle—signals the beginning of a new phase of my life. I have a few weeks remaining in Georgia before I, and my Shih-Tzu buddy, Stormy, wing our way west to where the freshly-minted Mrs. Bernard,…

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BARBARA AND BUZZ—A REAL-LIFE FAIRY TALE

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, where gray mists hid the tops of green forests, and deep snows crowned the sawtoothed peaks of rugged mountains, a young girl spotted a young boy. “He’s different,” she said. “I want to get to know him.” She did, and for a brief time they…

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I’M 80, I GUESS I’M NOT SO OLD—PART I

The airliner sinks slowly over the quilt-work brown and green landscape of southeastern Washington state as it approaches the Tri-Cities Airport.  The Tri-Cities are Pasco (where the airport is), Richland, and Kennewick—where a woman who was my girlfriend when we were in the eighth grade, sixty-seven years ago, lives.  Her name is Barbara. Yes, eighth…

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I’M 80, I’M OLD—SOME ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS

First of all, please allow me to slip in an update about my newest novel.  When Heroes Flew: The Shangri-La Raiders is on track to be released July 13.  It’s a captivating tale of bravery, determination, and an unlikely love set against the legendary Jimmy Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942. Next, since I published…

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I’M 80, I’M OLD—SOME OBSERVATIONS

Allow me, please, to depart from my usual blog topics about writing or weather. Today is different.  I’m 80.  I’m old.  “Senior middle-ager” doesn’t cut it any longer. And for the record, that old saw about age being just a state of mind is BS.  As much as I try to convince myself I’m merely…

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