My Vocal Media Campfire Ghost Story might Vocal Media has some very lucrative writing contests. Each month they send out a prompt and challenge writers to submit our best work. A couple of months ago the challenge was to make a scary story to tell around the campfire. …

Chicken of the woods discovery, thanks to the guinea fowl The guinea fowl are sometimes loud. Since we let them out to roam the farm after the all-clear was sounded on the bird flu, the guineas stay together in groups and wander the yard and forest. When a hawk flies…

I wrote a short story about it for a Vocal Media challenge I alternate between being terrified of the effects of climate change and being hopeful for what visionary Joanna Macy calls “the Great Turning.” I don’t want to be Pollyanna-ish, but I also think hopelessness is a cop-out. …

For me, it is zero, one, or fifty What is my clapping policy? Fifty claps for everyone! I’m not your teacher. I’m not grading your essay. When I was in middle and high school, I both loved and hated getting a test or an assignment back. There was so much…

Garlic Harvest week On Saturday we held our twenty-somethingth annual Garlic Festival. I think “festival” is a bit of a misnomer, but the people who come seem to love it. We hand dig all the garlic, wash and sort it, and hang it up to dry. Then we have a…

Yes. You! Why Not? Introducing the Readers and Writers Book Club: I love synchronicity. Last week my friend Laura M. Quainoo posted a book review for Yaa Gyasi’s amazing debut novel, Homegoing. That happens to be the only book that I have ever reviewed on Medium. What are the odds…

NOW DO HOUSING! On July 7th, Gavin Newsom announced a bold initiative where California will spend up to 100 million dollars to develop a state-funded low-cost insulin to compete with the pharmaceutical companies. Slow clap. This is some real Bernie Sanders shit if he can pull it off. We have…

How I discovered a hidden creative talent Have you always considered yourself a creative person? Not me. When I was a kid, we all knew who was creative. It was the boy who could draw well and had notebooks full of cool drawings. I looked at his talent and knew…

Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot. Whoa. Monday and Tuesday were very hot. We had rain on Sunday so I wasn’t worried about water stress for the plants, but for us farmers, it was a cooker. The rest of the week has just been regular hot, not as bad. I was glad…