Spreading your wings in a perplexing world
December 2023                                                    James P. Hurd

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Contents

• Writer’s Corner
• Blessed Unbeliever now available
• New story
• This month’s puzzler
• Wingspread Ezine subscription information
• Wisdom

Writer’s Corner

Tip for writers: Writer’s block? If you don’t have a good idea for the plot of your novel, write a short story. If no ideas for a short story, find a list of “writers’ prompts.” Or just start freewriting, for instance, “Why I can’t find good writing ideas . . . Everyone has a good story in them; you just have to Heimlich it out.

Word of the month:  SKIPLAGGING. Okay; I love this word! In an attempt to get a cheaper airline price to a smaller city, what you do is book to a larger city (with a cheaper price), but be sure your flight makes a stop in your smaller city. When it stops in your true destination, the smaller city, you just get off and walk away. Skiplagging. (I don’t think the airlines like this very much.)

Book of the Month: The Complete Father Brown Stories. G.K. Chesterton. Penguin Classics. 2012. Round-faced Father Brown, Chesterton’s loveable, dumpy Catholic priest, is also a stiletto-sharp detective. If there is a murder in a small English town, Brown seems to miraculously show up. Even in the face of Scotland Yard’s objections, he jumps in with his analytical powers, ministering justice but also offering forgiveness and grace. Father Brown Video series can be found on BritBox.

Question for you:  If you were, like Napoleon, banished to a small island alone, what three books would you take with you and why?

BLESSED UNBELIEVER novel

Blessed Unbeliever (paper or Kindle version) can be found at Wipf and Stock Publishers, Amazon https://a.co/d/9su5F3o or wherever good books are sold.

New story: Lone, Wandering, but Lost?

How can some migrating birds find their way from New York to Chile while I can get lost three blocks from home? I’ve had trouble navigating all my life—missing exits on the freeway, getting lost on cross-country flights, even walking out of a downtown store and turning north instead of south. What’s up? Am I just not paying attention? . . .

To read more, click here: Lone, Wandering, but Lost? | Wingspread (jimhurd.com)

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This month’s puzzler

Some years ago, there was a natural disaster in the United States that took human life and destroyed considerable property. The effects of this catastrophe were experienced by people hundreds of miles away from the devastation site.

Because of this disaster, motor vehicles became inoperable.

However, people who went out and bought pantyhose were able to continue driving.

So, the puzzler is this.

What was the disaster and why did women’s hosiery become important?

(Answer will appear in next month’s WINGSPREAD newsletter.)

Answer to last month’s puzzler: 

Okay, a 7 letter word in which you can get 9 words from the letters. 

And the answer is the word: Therein. And here are the words:

The, He, There, Her, Ere, In, Here, Rein, Therein (the original word itself)

Sam reported that he found TWO words with TEN words buried in each: “Islands” and “seasons.” Can you find the buried words?

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Wisdom

They say that marriages are made in Heaven….
….But then, so are thunder and lightning.

I know a man who gave up smoking, drinking, sex, and rich food….
….He was healthy right up to the day he killed himself.

The only flair I have is in my nostrils.

People who think they know everything….
….Are a great annoyance to those of us who do.

Be careful about reading health books….
….You might die of a misprint.

Johnny, where’s your homework?….
….Still inside the pencil.

I like local jokes….
….They’re right up my street.

I felt uncomfortable, driving into the cemetery….
….The GPS declared, “You have reached your final destination.”

Children Are Quick: 

TEACHER: Why are you late?

STUDENT: Class started before I got here.

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TEACHER: John, why are you doing your math multiplication on the floor?

JOHN: You told me to do it without using tables.

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TEACHER: Glenn, how do you spell ‘crocodile?’

GLENN: K-R-O-K-O-D-I-A-L’

TEACHER: No, that’s wrong

GLENN: Maybe it is wrong, but you asked me how I spell it.

(I Love this child)

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TEACHER: Donald, what is the chemical formula for water?

DONALD: H I J K L M N O.

TEACHER: What are you talking about?

DONALD: Yesterday you said it’s H to O.

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TEACHER: Winnie, name one important thing we have today that we didn’t have ten years ago.

WINNIE: Me!

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TEACHER: Glen, why do you always get so dirty?

GLEN: Well, I’m a lot closer to the ground than you are.

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TEACHER: George Washington not only chopped down his father’s cherry tree, but also admitted it.

Now, Louie, do you know why his father didn’t punish him?

LOUIS: Because George still had the axe in his hand…..

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TEACHER: Now, Simon , tell me frankly, do you say prayers before eating?

SIMON: No sir, I don’t have to, my Mum is a good cook.

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TEACHER:  Clyde , your composition on ‘My Dog’ is exactly the same as your brother’s.

Did you copy his?

CLYDE : No, sir. It’s the same dog.

(I want to adopt this kid!!!)

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TEACHER: Harold, what do you call a person who keeps on talking when people are no longer interested?

HAROLD: A teacher.

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Due to current economic conditions the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.