#farmstrong

Here is a series of males and females of Anthophora urbana from Yolo County, California.  

Cadiz, Kentucky. Not the Cadiz in Spain, though I reckon we could use a little more olive oil and a little less bacon grease around here. Just off I-24, the Cracker Barrel sat on the edge of town like a brown wooden box that time forgot. It was a Thursday morning in June, heat already working up a sweat at 6:15 a.m., and the humidity threatening to outdo the grits for density. I’d parked my…

BETWEEN THE TRACKS – Short Stories. My first book of short stories is coming later this fall. Available at Amazon. Momma would have been one hundred years old today—what a triumphant milestone. Instead, she reached the magical age of eighty-two and slipped away peacefully from this world on May 9, 2006. That same week, when we packed our bags for Washington, D.C., Momma was resting comfortably…

BETWEEN THE TRACKS – Short Stories. My first book of short stories is coming later this fall. Available at Amazon. Father, today my mind kept drifting back to you—funny how age brings us to these quiet reckonings. I’m bald now. My choice. Cut all my hair off, the same for you when you were having your cancer baldness. My “Sister” Dianne is balding these days. Cancer treatments, you know them…

BETWEEN THE TRACKS – Short Stories. My first book of short stories is coming later this fall. Available at Amazon. By now, almost everyone has heard about all the mass shootings in the past few days. The LDS Church in Michigan. Four dead. Eight injured. A shooting in Eagle Pass, Texas—two killed, six injured, inside a casino. Another shooting in New Orleans—one killed, three wounded, while…

BETWEEN THE TRACKS – Short Stories. My first book of short stories coming later this fall. Available at Amazon. I’ve always loved porches, front porches to be specific. Back in Knoxville years ago, when I was much younger and single, the front porch of my shotgun house was where I held court for the neighborhood, sipped scotch after a long day at work, and broke string beans with the pretty…

Ruby is from Colombia, the country. She is proud to have earned her American citizenship. Short dark hair and coming up to my armpit, she wears a Sam’s Club uniform and a name tag that announces she is Ruby. Her smile exudes an attitude that brightens anybody’s worst day. Not that I was having one. But here I am, holding prime ribeyes worth a Broadway show ticket and showing my technological…