“Spreading your wings in a perplexing world”
April, 2019 James Hurd
Contents
- New story: “The Snow Sermon”
- Writer’s Corner (New contest, upcoming new novel)
- How to purchase Wingspread: Of Faith and Flying
- Wingspread E-zine subscription information
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*New story:
The Snow Sermon
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith “A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: See all, nor be afraid!”
—from Robert Browning, “Rabbi Ben Ezra”
“Barbara, the snow’s late this year.”
She looks up from her pie crust work. “Yes, it’s only five days ’til Thanksgiving.”
But today, the wind chills. Gazing out the window I’m surprised by the fine flakes falling here in Minnesota, hundreds of miles away from my California childhood.
Our first snow is inevitable but still a surprise. We turned the clocks back just two weeks ago (“spring ahead; fall back”), but today, less than a month from winter solstice, the sun appears tardily over the far end of the pond. It will rise in its low southern arc and set early.
We are the shrouded ones, billeted in carpentered cocoons….
To read more, click here: https://jimhurd.com/2019/04/04/the-snow-sermon/
*This story is excerpted from my book Wingspread: A Memoir of Faith and Flying. 2016
(*Request: After reading the article, please leave a comment on the website. Thanks.)
Writers’ Corner
A contest for you: Send in your best palindrome (that is, a phrase spelled the same backwards and forward. E.g., “Madam, I’m Adam.”) It can be borrowed, or original. I’ll choose the one I like the best and publish it in this E-zine. If you send in a palindrome, I’ll send you one of my unpublished stories. Deadline: May 15, 2019. Send to: hurd@usfamily.net. Have fun!
Word of the Month: Trust. The writer must trust her reader, allow her reader to fill in the picture. Don’t over-describe. Suggest, hint. Let the reader’s imagination do the rest.
Author of the month: Charles Dickens. (1812-1870). Oliver Twist (1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1841). A Christmas Carol (1843), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Dickens paints well the tragedy and poverty of the Industrial Revolution in England. Memorable characters.
Book of the month: Bleak House by Charles Dickens, 1853. Vintage Dickens—several sub-plots, amazing character development, and descriptions of early 19th century London. How an interminable law case in Chancery Hall (Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce) wreaks havoc and ruin on many people. Only recommended for the long-suffering reader.
Watch for my upcoming novel: Atheist in the Institute. A young Californian loses his girlfriend, travels east to Torrey Bible Institute, Chicago, but fails to reach his dream job. Oh¾he’s also losing his faith, and soon declares himself an atheist. Spoiler alert—it does not work out well. Presently in the “edits” stage. Target publication date: Fall, 2019.
Answer to last month’s puzzler: Which is the only planet in our solar system that circles the sun on its side? Uranus. It is tilted 98o. Jupiter is tilted 3o, Earth, 23o.
LEXIPHILIA – WHO ON EARTH DREAMS THESE UP? A lexophile, of course!
(A lexophile is a lover of words, especially in word games, puzzles, anagrams, etc.)
I know a guy who’s addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop any time.
This girl said she recognized me from the vegetarian club, but I’d never met herbivore.
Venison for dinner again? Oh deer!
I tried to catch some fog, but I mist.
They told me I had type-A blood, but it was a Typo.
Jokes about German sausage are the wurst.
If you don’t pay your exorcist you can get repossessed.
I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. I just can’t put it down.
I didn’t like my beard at first. Then it grew on me.
Did you hear about the crossed-eyed teacher who lost her job because she couldn’t control her pupils?
When you get a bladder infection, urine trouble.
Buy James Hurd’s Wingspread: A Memoir of Faith and Flying. How childhood (Fundamentalist) faith led to mission bush-piloting in South America—and Barbara. Buy it here: https://jimhurd.com/home/ (or order it at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, etc.)
See pics here related to Wingspread: Of Faith and Flying: http://www.pinterest.com/hurd1149/wingspread-of-faith-and-flying/
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