The Best Trees

Around these parts, the best trees in fall are cottonwood and ash. They’ll give you a nice show of color in the fall. You can find aspens if you go up higher. In certain canyons where there’s water there are stands of maples that can really blow your mind. But if getting out of town to see the fall colors isn’t on your agenda, the cottonwoods and the ashes will do the trick. Happy leaf watching!

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Fiesta, Fiesta!

I live in a place that has a huge party every October. It’s fiesta time along the Rio Grande when the sky fills up with colorful balloons. If the weather cooperates the celebration is complete.

There are plenty of great things to say about my town, but the big balloons once a year top the list.

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7 Minutes

She gave us the structure, she told us the form, we listened to Bessie Smith as examples, we played a few 12 bar run-throughs in different keys. Then she gave us 7 minutes to write our own blues song. And we did it. Mine was kind of stupid, but it was worthy of 7 minutes of work. First song I ever wrote. Yea, me!

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I’m a little nervous about

I’m a little nervous about introducing them. Who know if they will say something inappropriate? They are conservatives, after all. They may not “get it.”

On the other hand, I’m more than a little nervous about the people he meets in his everyday life. They might do more to harm him than merely make unenlightened statements.

I’m just nervous, period.

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Hurry

It took everything I had to be patient with her, not to hurry her along. It wouldn’t have done much good to urge her to keep up, because she couldn’t have done it. So I reset my eager, impatient brain. I went at her pace. We chatted along the way, and we got where we were going. What was my hurry, anyway?

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A Bumpy Night

“Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night.” He grinned at me and started up the stairs with a flourish of his hips.

I couldn’t remember the correct comeback. I wasn’t in the mood to play his games anyway. I hurried to the kitchen and grabbed the good bottle of Scotch – the one hidden way in the back of the cabinet. I plunked it on the table, grabbed a glass, and sat down to consider our options.

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Favorites

Oh, yes, she knew all his favorites. Favorite dinner. Favorite dessert. Favorite sweater. Favorite Netflix movie. Favorite brand of beer. Favorite spot for the coffee cup. She knew all those things and gave him all those things. It wasn’t enough. He still beat her.

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Bunch

I peered through a bunch of kids, mostly boys. They swooped by on skateboards, they sat on benches to talk, they glanced furtively at the adult invading their domain. I couldn’t see him. I looked in every direction.

A good-looking blond boy separated from the others. He ambled my way. “Can I help you?” he asked.

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Seat Belt

She fell heavily into the passenger seat. The car was boiling hot so she left the door open for a minute to cool things down. She hooked her seat belt and leaned out to close the door.

The seat belt grabbed her and she couldn’t reach the door. She turned to her daughter, who had picked her up at the emergency room. “Typical,” she said. She unhooked, then closed, then hooked. “Take me home,” she said.

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August

When I lived in Austin, I moved several times. Always in July or August. Hot and muggy and horrible for hauling heavy stuff from house to truck to house again. When I left there I settled into a house. I’ve been here 14 years now. Yet every August, I feel as if I should pack up and move. It’s the time of year to do the heat stroke boogie.

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