Day: August 7, 2018

3TC — The Bees and the Trees

Fandango14 Comments

8ba6b1ac-c4af-4961-81f5-3996d564070a.jpegClyde and his daughter Bethany walked around the family’s orange grove. He was muttering something under his breath, which bothered Bethany because it was so out of character for him.

“What’s the matter, Daddy?” she asked.

“We’re supposed to get a late visit from old Jack Frost tonight,” Clyde answered. “I’m afraid it may retard blossoming of the orange blossoms this year.”

“What does that mean, Daddy?” Bethany wanted to know.

“It doesn’t bode well for our orange crop this year and it’s also bad news for beekeepers,” Clyde explained to his daughter.

“Bees?”

“Yes, sweetheart,” Clyde said. “Orange groves provide a major source for the highly prized orange blossom honey. Beekeepers often position their beehives within or next to citrus groves so their bees can grab the nectar produced during citrus flowering season.”773DB651-0812-43C6-AB13-7DEB89B65BEB“So if it freezes and the blossoms freeze and die, the bees won’t be able to get any honey?” Bethany asked.

“Yes, and if the orange trees don’t blossom, they won’t produce oranges, either,”

“That’s terrible, Daddy,” Bethany said.

“It is, sweetie,” Clyde said. “So let’s keep our fingers crossed that Jack Frost doesn’t visit us tonight.”

Written for today’s Three Things Challenge from Teresa (orange grove, bee, and Jack Frost). Image credit: “Orange Grove Of Citrus Fruit Trees” by Jane Small.

Hook, Line, and Sinker

Fandango26 Comments

4E0E6893-96ED-40E1-A62A-7DFA01854D35I am loath to write yet another post about Donald Trump, but I can’t help myself. I really loathe the man. There is nothing Donald Trump says or does that is in any way compatible with my beliefs, perspectives, or ideology. The man is totally unhinged.

And what is he doing these days? He’s running around the country appearing at arenas and other settings to allegedly support GOP candidates for Congress. But he rarely talks about the candidates he’s supposedly there to endorse and support.

His goal is totally self-serving. His objective is to play on the emotions and gullibility of his ardent supporters by repeating his greatest hits:

  • Build the Wall
  • Zero Tolerance
  • No collusion/No Obstruction
  • Witch Hunt
  • Fake News
  • The Press is the Enemy of the People
  • Make America Great Again
  • Tired of Winning
  • Low IQ Maxine Waters (or Don Lemon or LeBron James)
  • MS-13
  • I Have the Best Words
  • I’m a Stable Genius
  • Im Really Rich
  • Space Force
  • Nobody is Tougher on Russia Than Donald Trump
  • Winning the Electoral College is Very Tough for a Republican
  • Crooked Hillary/Lock Her Up
  • Very Fine People on Both Sides

The sad and disturbing thing is that too many people are buying — hook, line, and sinker — what this con artist is selling.

Written for these prompts

WOTD Tuesday Photo Prompt — Fragrant

Fandango10 Comments

fragrantNo doubt that most who respond to today’s Word of the Day Tuesday Photo Prompt will be posting pictures or telling stories about the wonderfully fragrant flowers in their gardens, of the sweet fragrance of delicious foods being prepared in their kitchens, or of the sexy scent of perfume or cologne worn by their lovers. After all, today’s word is “fragrant.”

When I think of fragrant, though, I think of what greets me every morning when I wake up. It’s a rather pungent fragrance. It hits me almost as soon as I leave my bedroom. The fragrance is so powerful and maleficent that it occasionally stimulates a gag reflex.

So as I write of the word fragrant, it’s not about flowers, food, or perfume that comes to mind. It’s of the fragrant little giftie that my cat leaves me in his litter box sometime during the dark of the night.EAB64ED9-98B9-4955-A704-5F5F0B964746

Twittering Tales — Painful Memories

Fandango12 Comments

3D734D98-03A4-4C02-832C-61E6C4CD32BB“Are you sure, Ma’am?” the gardener asked.

“Yes, I’m sure,” she answered.

“You know, Ma’am,” he said, “once done it can’t be undone.”

“I’m aware of that,” she responded.

“May I ask why you want to remove all of those bushes?”

“It’s too painful of a reminder,” she said, tearing up.

(276 characters)

Written for Kat Myrman’s Twittering Tales prompt. Photo credit: Kat Myrman.

FFfAW — Missing Person

Fandango19 Comments

C86A5E24-F7F2-4E9E-B0AE-0BCD7BFD2E52“They haven’t found the body yet, Ron,” Jim Morrisey told his partner, Ron Hayden. “Until they do, we have no jurisdiction. It’s only a suspected homicide.”

“I know,” said Hayden. “But they found her clothing laid out on that bench over there. Unless she went skinny dipping, the likelihood is that foul play is involved.”

“We’re homicide detectives, Ron,” Morrissey said. “All we have at this point is a missing persons case. They’ve taken her clothing to the lab and they’re going to start dragging the pond within an hour. We can check again for any evidence that the uniforms might have missed, but that’s just busywork, I’m afraid.”

“Dammit, Jim, we can’t just do nothing,” Hayden argued. “We’re detectives, for crissake, so let’s detect.”

“There’s no point in chasing our tails if the alleged vic was so high on something that she stripped and ran naked into the woods.”

“C’mon, Jim,” Hayden said, “what does your gut tell you?”

“They’ll find her body soon,” Morrisey admitted.

(167 words)

Written for this week’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers from Priceless Joy. Photo credit: wildverbs.