Our backyard birds disappeared about a month or so ago. I don’t mean just a few of them are gone. I mean all of them, even the squirrels and chipmunks. It’s pretty bad when the squirrels split. We have eighteen feeders around our house, including seed feeders, suet cages, a seed cake cage, thistle socks, three bluebird houses and a… Read moreBackyard Birds | Gone With The Wind
Excerpt from “Only Time Would Tell” by James Etheridge. Available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1086015924 It was a Wednesday afternoon in the middle of February. Mrs. Peebles was teaching our class how to read the weather charts in the newspaper. She was young, eccentric and taught geography by having us dance to polka music and Swedish drinking songs. “Now, you will all notice that… Read moreFalse Spring | Part One
Excerpt from “Only Time Would Tell” by James Etheridge. Available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1086015924 “Okay, here’s the plan,” said Bubba-Bubba. We all looked at each other and rolled our eyes. “We’ll flank out, Billy to the right and Joe to the left. Brooks, Brain and Snail will go in low from the front. I’ll stay back with the Mighty Mo.” Bubba-Bubba envisioned himself… Read moreFalse Spring | Part Two
Excerpt from “Only Time Would Tell” by James Etheridge. Available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1086015924 That night we went to my grandparents’ house in East Atlanta for supper. Afterwards, they sat around, talked about family and sipped Pepa’s homemade muscadine wine. Pepa sat in his recliner, smoking Camels and stubbing them out in the ashtray stand next to his chair. He’d smoke a cigarette,… Read moreFalse Spring | Part Three
Excerpt from “Only Time Would Tell” by James Etheridge. Available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1086015924 The next morning Mitch met me in the hall before school started. “Why the hell did you burn down our fort?” he demanded. I closed my locker and said, “Why did you bomb us with clay pigeons and golf balls?” “Well, we didn’t burn down your fort.” “No, but… Read moreFalse Spring | Part Four
Excerpt from “Only Time Would Tell” by James Etheridge. Available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1086015924 I crossed the parking lot at the Walk Of Heroes Veterans Memorial Park and walked past the fountain at the plaza, followed the path lined with Leyland cypress trees, passed under the stone arch and paused at the statues honoring the five branches of service. I grasped the right… Read moreFalse Spring | Epilogue
It was a warm April afternoon. There were four of us, Billy, Bubba-Bubba, Brain and myself playing baseball in Billy’s back yard. Bubba-Bubba was called that because it was what his baby brother called him. Brain got his name on the first day of school in the third grade. His real name, Brian, was misspelled on the roll. The teacher… Read moreA Covert Operation | Part One
“Look up there at that patio,” said Bubba-Bubba. The Old Bastard’s patio was a brick and concrete extension of the back of the house. Three brick pillars supported it across the front, three on each side and three across the back. The pillars extended above the patio, with wrought iron railings between each one. Concrete steps ran down the left… Read moreA Covert Operation | Part Two
We crossed Billy’s back yard and sat against the fence behind the big tree with the basketball goal. Billy’s American Bulldog Socko had joined us walking through Billy’s yard. He was the neighborhood dog. Socko looked mean, but was completely gentle, never barked and didn’t bite. The only problem was that he had a propensity to chase cars. One day… Read moreA Covert Operation | Part Three
