Sneak Peeks by Louise Yeiser McAlpin

Happy Independence Day, Late!

 

Have a wonderful Fourth of July, remembering the spirit of our country and silently thanking all who have sacrificed to make our country the wonderful place that it is!

Two Times Fourth

Things To Do Today

1.  Go to a cookout.

2.  Eat too much food.

3.  Watch fireworks in a huge crowd on the beach.

4.  Eat more food that is now filled with sand.

5.  Sing patriotic songs.

6.  Ooohh and aaahh endlessly, loudly and passionately.

7.  Get soppy weepy.

8.  Dodge electric sparklers in the hands of children racing through the crowd, avoiding their parents, who are in hot pursuit.

Have a happy Fourth of July and a fun, safe weekend.

From Louise

Happy 4th

Happy Independence Day!  Please take a moment to ponder this to help remember and honor, at least for a moment, the spirit of America and the abiding faith of our founding fathers.   Uh oh.  I said the "f" word.

Please have a safe, fun, big-bang of a day.

From Louise

Living Free

“Write!” demanded my inner voice.  Today it was playing the role of tormentor.  “It’s 8:00 in the morning and the day’s half gone!”  I groaned and turned over in bed.  “Either get up and write, or get out to the beach and enjoy the day before it gets too hot!” it yelled, waving its arms and stomping its feet.

“Stop it,” I said, rubbing my eyes.  “I’ll never listen to you if you’re going to be so damned nasty.  And loud.”

“Well, I'm here whether you listen or not,” it said.

I groaned again and threw off the covers.

          ---o0o---

A half hour later, I was sitting slightly on the beach and slightly in the Gulf, with small waves teasing my toes and covering my calves, writing in my notebook, while a holiday fishing expedition was being carried on around me.  Two men practically stepped over me as their sea-minnows swam nearby on hooks at the ends of nylon lines.  Their children swished through the water further down the beach, toting nets and buckets.

“Good morning,” I said to the men.

“Good morning,” they said back.

“Well, exccuuuuse me for being in your way,” my tormentor scowled at their backs.  Then it turned on me.  “You are nothing but a people-pleaser, letting them step over you like that!  They could have hurt you!”

But I had turned my attention to other things, noticing movement bustling around me.  A bright blue motor boat whirred by, towing a child in an orange life-vest, slumped over a pair of kelly green skis that slapped through the boat’s wake.  A bald man and a woman in a yellow bathing cap swam and bobbed in the warm water on the other side of the rocks to my left.  They were talking so softly that I couldn't discern their words, with their faces close together, glancing up from time to time to gaze out into the distance.  Looking the other way, I saw that the fishermen were gone, having taken their buckets, nets, and children with them.

I guess I really did want to enjoy the Gulf after all.  I just wanted to do it by myself, alone with my writing and the local color happening around me, without interference from that wicked voice. 

May your Fourth be filled with personal victories!

From Louise