Today I entered the short story contest at Lulu Press. (It really is for flash fiction because the maximum number of words allowed is only 600. As I understand flash fiction, the term now defines prose pieces between 300 and 1,000 words, although there is no consensus of the allowable upper maximum. Some people place the maximum at only 600 words. Short stories are longer, running 2,000 to 3,000 words usually.)
My story is entitled "A 1930s Christmas to Remember". It is an appropriate story for the holidays upcoming, and it is a good read, I believe. You can download it for free here: www.lulu.com/product/ebook/a-1930s-christmas-to-remember/18646206
I hope you will read it (Did I mention is free?) and let me know what you think of it.
Cheers!
Harry
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Our Children & Grandchildren Start Arriving Today!
My wife, Linda, has been in overdrive Christmas mode since the first of December (a couple of days after Thanksgivings actually, but I won't agree to setting up & decorating the Christmas tree until at least after December 1st :-) ). We got the tree up and all decorated, the outdoor lights strung in the bushes, the Christmas cards mailed early; all her shopping was finished early -- except, of course, for that late idea for another present for someone that she now needs to find. LOL (Is a woman's shopping ever really done or does she just have to quit because Christmas Day arrives?) All this was accomplished by the 7th. Then Linda cooked for and hosted four dinner parties for friends & neighbors over the next ten days. Last Saturday we went to White Lightning Road to Uncle Travis's country home for the Christmas gathering of her side of the family (the Barhams, Hoods, Dosses, Houcks). Huge buffet lunch and presents all around. This month Linda also has made a ton of various candies, cookies, muffins, and cakes -- in her spare time!
Today our kids and grandkids start arriving. Our daughter, Ginny, and our oldest son, Geoff, with his wife, Rebecca, and three of our grandchildren -- Emma & Elle (twins) plus Jacob are driving over from Dallas, where Geoff & family flew in from Rock Hill, SC. They stayed a couple of nights at Ginny's Allen home. Then on Friday, our middle son, Greg, & his wife, Susan, arrive from Belle Chasse with our other two grandchildren, Wyatt & Sydney (a girl). We will have our youngest son, Jason, & his wife, Hannah, dropping in frequently since they live about 10 minutes away from us. Christmas we will have fourteen people here. This is the first Christmas ever for all the kids & grandkids to be together for Christmas Day. It will be great! I am now ready for Christmas to arrive. :-)
I hope everyone has a tremendous Christmas!
Holiday Cheer!
Harry
Today our kids and grandkids start arriving. Our daughter, Ginny, and our oldest son, Geoff, with his wife, Rebecca, and three of our grandchildren -- Emma & Elle (twins) plus Jacob are driving over from Dallas, where Geoff & family flew in from Rock Hill, SC. They stayed a couple of nights at Ginny's Allen home. Then on Friday, our middle son, Greg, & his wife, Susan, arrive from Belle Chasse with our other two grandchildren, Wyatt & Sydney (a girl). We will have our youngest son, Jason, & his wife, Hannah, dropping in frequently since they live about 10 minutes away from us. Christmas we will have fourteen people here. This is the first Christmas ever for all the kids & grandkids to be together for Christmas Day. It will be great! I am now ready for Christmas to arrive. :-)
I hope everyone has a tremendous Christmas!
Holiday Cheer!
Harry
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
It's December!
Today is the first of December, and Linda is decorating the house for all she is worth! We got our tree out of its storage box in the garage, got it assembled, put the extra colored lights on it since Linda doesn't like just the white lights that came with it. Jason & Hannah are coming over tonight for supper (Sweet & sour chicken, Kung Pao pork, egg rolls) and then decorating the tree. We have many, many special decorations from trips, special occasions, etc so that decorating is always a trip down memory lane. We got four or five new decorations for the tree last month on our NYC trip. Besides the tree, Linda also puts out dozens of Christmas decorations of all sorts in the den, front hallway, living room, and front bathroom. She loves Christmas decorations! We have been collecting them for twenty-five years.
Linda has about finished all her shopping for presents, and we have wrapped almost all the gifts. (I guess I'll have to think about doing my shopping for her presents in another week or two.) By late tonight the tree will be all decorated with gifts piled high around it. Bring on Christmas! This year's Christmas holidays will be especially good since all the children (four plus three wives) and the grandchildren (five all together) will be here this year (which is a rarity!). Plus we have four dinner parties for friends scheduled. The holidays will be busy but quite fun.
I hope all of you have a great Christmas holiday season as well!
Holiday Cheer!
Harry
Linda has about finished all her shopping for presents, and we have wrapped almost all the gifts. (I guess I'll have to think about doing my shopping for her presents in another week or two.) By late tonight the tree will be all decorated with gifts piled high around it. Bring on Christmas! This year's Christmas holidays will be especially good since all the children (four plus three wives) and the grandchildren (five all together) will be here this year (which is a rarity!). Plus we have four dinner parties for friends scheduled. The holidays will be busy but quite fun.
I hope all of you have a great Christmas holiday season as well!
Holiday Cheer!
Harry
Monday, December 14, 2009
My Favorite Christmas Storoem of Mine
The Garden Statue
The garden statue catches his eye.
It is ordinary – gray plaster, two feet tall,
but it is something he feels compelled to buy;
although for doing so, he has no explanation at all.
The statue is an angel, standing, head lowered,
a solemn look upon her face, cradling some object
lovingly to her chest. At first he puts her with stored
items, but later displays her in the yard – the subject
of complaint from his wife. “Sitting at the kitchen table,
that thing will be prominently in view. I don’t like it much.”
“It seems to belong there. I don’t know if I will ever be able
to explain. It intrigues me. The angel herself is cast with such
exquisite details – the feathers in her wings, the curls of hair,
her facial features, the flow of her garment -- all these are so
sharply defined. Yet the object she clutches is not. There
is no way to tell what it is…but I sense that I should know.”
The statue stands for weeks out in the December cold.
He studies her daily as he drinks his morning coffee.
It seems to speak to him, but the message remains untold.
There is something there…what he simply cannot see.
The house is filled with family staying for the holiday.
On Christmas morning, he gets out of bed at 6 a.m.
Enjoying his coffee, the first rays of dawn in a strange way
illuminate the garden statue. That is when he sees them.
The angel has her head held high, with a smile beaming.
She holds in outstretched arms a boy child plain to see.
Coffee spilling, he runs to the window, and stands looking
with wonder when he hears the others clamoring for it to be
time to see what Santa brought and to open presents for all.
He calls, but no one is interested. He goes to tell them
of the statue. Presents, presents, lavish ones, large and small,
consume their interest. Chances of interesting them are slim.
He returns to the kitchen to gaze upon the statue once more.
The angel stands head bowed, sad, appearing now as before.
Please stop by: http://www.gillelands.com/poetry/,
Holiday Cheers!
Harry
The garden statue catches his eye.
It is ordinary – gray plaster, two feet tall,
but it is something he feels compelled to buy;
although for doing so, he has no explanation at all.
The statue is an angel, standing, head lowered,
a solemn look upon her face, cradling some object
lovingly to her chest. At first he puts her with stored
items, but later displays her in the yard – the subject
of complaint from his wife. “Sitting at the kitchen table,
that thing will be prominently in view. I don’t like it much.”
“It seems to belong there. I don’t know if I will ever be able
to explain. It intrigues me. The angel herself is cast with such
exquisite details – the feathers in her wings, the curls of hair,
her facial features, the flow of her garment -- all these are so
sharply defined. Yet the object she clutches is not. There
is no way to tell what it is…but I sense that I should know.”
The statue stands for weeks out in the December cold.
He studies her daily as he drinks his morning coffee.
It seems to speak to him, but the message remains untold.
There is something there…what he simply cannot see.
The house is filled with family staying for the holiday.
On Christmas morning, he gets out of bed at 6 a.m.
Enjoying his coffee, the first rays of dawn in a strange way
illuminate the garden statue. That is when he sees them.
The angel has her head held high, with a smile beaming.
She holds in outstretched arms a boy child plain to see.
Coffee spilling, he runs to the window, and stands looking
with wonder when he hears the others clamoring for it to be
time to see what Santa brought and to open presents for all.
He calls, but no one is interested. He goes to tell them
of the statue. Presents, presents, lavish ones, large and small,
consume their interest. Chances of interesting them are slim.
He returns to the kitchen to gaze upon the statue once more.
The angel stands head bowed, sad, appearing now as before.
Please stop by: http://www.gillelands.com/poetry/,
Holiday Cheers!
Harry
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Getting Ready for Christmas
We are going great guns this year in getting ready for Christmas. We already have the artificial tree (that looks more lifelike than the real ones we bought previously; the thing even has fake pine cones on it!) all decorated and pretty. The outdoor lights are out and working well. All the presents are wrapped, and those that have to be mailed will be sent off this week.
The house is completely decorated with the several dozens of Christmas-themed items Linda sets out. She spends two days early each Christmas season storing our usual clutter and carefully placing the Santas, snowmen, reindeer, angels, candy trees, wreaths, stockings, etc., etc. around the house. Linda really loves the Christmas holiday season!
I've mailed my Christmas cards to my side of the family; Linda is just starting to write out her cards. Linda is now starting on the holiday cooking. Tomorrow she plans on making her fabulous fudge, white chocolate-covered prexels, and a cake. She'll be making cookies and candies for the next ten days.
She is totally finished her shopping for Christmas presents, finishing up this morning. I haven't started shopping for her yet. She buys for a couple of dozen people, and all I have to shop for is Linda. She's done, and all presents are wrapped. Time for me to start thinking about what to get her. She's hard, I mean HARD, to buy for. She doesn't wear any jewelry, not into clothes much, trying to not eat sweets ( = no chocolate covered cherries or candy Millionaires wanted). Her only hint has been she needs a new toaster oven since the one she had before we married 23 years ago just quit heating. Boy, the guys who can just buy a piece of jewelry or a fancy purse for their wife are lucky! (I bought Linda a $175 fancy leather purse on year, and she beat me with it and returned it.)
Anyway, here it is the 9th of December, and we are well on our way to being finished with all the preparations and being ready for Christmas this year. Linda has her Christmas card list to finish and a week-plus of cooking to do, whereas I have to shop for her. Sounds 'bout right! Guess I"ll run by Home Depot tomorrow...
Oh yeah, don't forget that poetry books, like my Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man, make the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for relative or friend. Just thought I'd mention it.
Cheers, y'all!
Harry
The house is completely decorated with the several dozens of Christmas-themed items Linda sets out. She spends two days early each Christmas season storing our usual clutter and carefully placing the Santas, snowmen, reindeer, angels, candy trees, wreaths, stockings, etc., etc. around the house. Linda really loves the Christmas holiday season!
I've mailed my Christmas cards to my side of the family; Linda is just starting to write out her cards. Linda is now starting on the holiday cooking. Tomorrow she plans on making her fabulous fudge, white chocolate-covered prexels, and a cake. She'll be making cookies and candies for the next ten days.
She is totally finished her shopping for Christmas presents, finishing up this morning. I haven't started shopping for her yet. She buys for a couple of dozen people, and all I have to shop for is Linda. She's done, and all presents are wrapped. Time for me to start thinking about what to get her. She's hard, I mean HARD, to buy for. She doesn't wear any jewelry, not into clothes much, trying to not eat sweets ( = no chocolate covered cherries or candy Millionaires wanted). Her only hint has been she needs a new toaster oven since the one she had before we married 23 years ago just quit heating. Boy, the guys who can just buy a piece of jewelry or a fancy purse for their wife are lucky! (I bought Linda a $175 fancy leather purse on year, and she beat me with it and returned it.)
Anyway, here it is the 9th of December, and we are well on our way to being finished with all the preparations and being ready for Christmas this year. Linda has her Christmas card list to finish and a week-plus of cooking to do, whereas I have to shop for her. Sounds 'bout right! Guess I"ll run by Home Depot tomorrow...
Oh yeah, don't forget that poetry books, like my Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man, make the perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for relative or friend. Just thought I'd mention it.
Cheers, y'all!
Harry
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