March 15th, 2023 – The Ides of March

Here we are; it’s our first meeting after the time change. The extra hour of daylight in the evening may have caused some members to forget it was time to head toward the firehouse, and a few of our northern friends departed. There were eight of us diehards in attendance. We enjoyed our time discussing the readings and finished a little early. But we missed all of you that couldn’t attend.

 

We started the readings with Ernie Ovitz reading an excerpt from Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare, Mark Anthony’s speech to the Senate. After all, it is the Ides of March. Then, reading from Chapter 45 of his work, Ernie took us to Aqua Sulfuria in 342AD on a trip to find a General whom Licentious trusted and reported as having been slain in the war waged by Constantine. Treachery is afoot–a conspiracy forms.

 

Could a man born in 1984 be 89 years old in 1979? Don Westerfield has that happening in his short story, The Man Who Knew Tomorrow. In 2022 a man, a 22 year-old scientist working on an Atomic Collider, as a new procedure goes awry, is transported from his desk into the past, back to Friday, March 8^th, 1912. We are waiting to hear the second part of the story at our next meeting.

 

Tish McAuley celebrated her 13^th year of sobriety this month. CONGRATULATIONS! Tish read an excerpt from her biography. Deciding to get sober at fifty-one is hard, but staying sober is even more challenging. Alcoholism and Drug Dependency are illnesses for which there are no actual medicines. Strong character and dedication are needed to help the few feeble medical remedies offered.

 

Maybe he’s not finished, but he has arrived at the last planned chapter of Gaia. Bruce Haedrich reads to us the Next 80 Years conclusion. I’m sure Bruce is not ready to walk away from the tale as much as I’m sure Gaia will continue to speak to Bruce and send him updates. Another Ice Age approaches. It’ll be here in a blink of an eye, Gaia’s eye, maybe a few thousand years.

 

A Puzzle I Cannot Solve is the title of a story by Sandie Schagen. As a child, Sandie remembers her father’s shouts of “NO NO” as his night terrors wakened her. Sandie faces a dilemma as her father, purported to have been a Japanese POW during WWII, refuses to apply for reparation offered by the British government. Why? Sandie pursued the matter and discovered her father’s war records were incomplete at the War Office. There was no record of his capture or release from a POW facility. Was her father making up the story? Did he have nightmares about the war, the camp? Was he believing, falsely, he’d been taken, prisoner? What is the truth?

 

Ian Schagen brought us a new story in the second chapter of a new book, The Devil’s Guide to the Human Race. The protagonist is an entity in the cosmos that can take shape and form to blend in with its surroundings. Here on earth, the entity chose to take the name Lucifer.

 

Unfortunately, Ian and Sandie have to return to Great Britain soon and will not return until fall. We will miss them. Have a safe and productive summer.

 

Well, that about does it for this entry. We’ll be back in April with another meeting and entry. Until then, KEEP ON WRITING!

 

MARCH 1st, 2023

 Okay, my cable service is finally back on. I now have internet again. I’m sorry about the delay. That’s what you get when you live in a deed-restricted senior community that limits what services can operate in the area.

 

On March 1^st, the Nokomis Firehouse was abuzz with some great stories. Our resident expert on the Roman Empire, especially Emperor Constantine, Ernie Ovitz, read part of his third book. December 14^th, 324 AD, is an eventful day in history. Ernie writes of the commonplace things happening on that day as news of Constantine’s victory had not reached the citizens in the Roman as of yet. Junius Basus is having a bad day. Gloomy winter weather depresses him. In an attempt to cheer him up, his mistress proposes marriage. No, not now or ever?

 

Do you know anyone who had a stroke? Peter McNally has had two. He suffers from Gran Maul seizures, is nearly blind, and has lost most of his memory. He writes of what he can remember in his book Rewired. He writes of a lack of appetite, sleeping 15 to 16 hours daily, getting lost while walking around the block, and falling from exhaustion while trying to open his garage door. I have to admire Peter for fighting his way back. Keep it up, my friend.

 

Scott Anderson is a poet and a dedicated researcher in Lepidopterology. “What’s that?’ you might ask. Scott studies butterflies in Sarasota County and writes for the Lepidopterologist’s journal in Florida. Still, his love of these beautiful creatures took him to a butterfly farm in Aruba. Scott chose not to take sides in a debate about whether raising butterflies in a controlled habitat is ecologically correct. He talked about how much he enjoyed seeing the rare and colorful collection at the Aruba location. Plus, he read his Haiku, Rain.

A high-class brothel is a sight to behold, inside and out. Most of the places I’ve seen weren’t so high-class. In his short story, It’s Only Business, Don Westerfield writes about an establishment in San Francisco called The Landis House. Tonight he read the final portion of the story and revealed a surprise ending worthy of Don’s talent. Oh, I am not the expert in these matters that Don professes me to be.

 

Alternative history is probably the epitome of fiction writing. I find the genre fascinating, and Richard Cope brought us a scenario in which U.S. President Johnson pardoned Robert E. Lee. However, Confederate President Jefferson Davis calls Lee to Richmond after his surrender. Davis charges Lee with treason and orders him shot. The war is at a stalemate because the Southern generals continue to fight rather than face the same fate as their beloved General Lee.

 

Sandie Schagen and her husband, Ian, travel across Great Britain and hike long stretches of the country. On one such, Sandie tells of a unique solution to a perplexing issue. While on a journey requiring long hikes and train rides, they meet a couple making a similar journey in the opposite direction. Over dinner, they discuss the issues encountered on the trip. Once they complete their travel, they will be a long way from their cars which they need to return home. They strike a deal. Sandie will hand over their car keys to the other couple. They will then drive the Schagen’s car back to where they started and leave the keys with the innkeeper. At the next stop for the Schagen’s, they tell the innkeeper of their mutual arraignment. He replies, “YOU DID WHAT?”

 

A short story by Ian Schagen is humorous and quite inventive. Taking the plot from William Shakespeare, Ian, who is from Great Britain, takes a tongue-in-cheek view of American television commercials by naming all the characters and places in his story using the names of advertised pharmaceuticals. Advertising of this nature, banned in Britain, tickles Ian’s funny bone. Mine too.

 

Ever one to stir up controversy, Bruce Haedrich continues with his conversation with Gaia. Bruce is an excellent writer and makes a convincing case for his viewpoint. What will happen in the Next Eighty Years? I don’t know, and I won’t be around at 160 to find out.

 

Anne Moore read a poem by John Roedel, which has no name. She read it in memory of our late friend Peter Frickel. In its words, we could hear the passion and dedication so evident in Peter’s work. It was as if we had him back for a few minutes.

 

Rod DiGruttolo presented a reading of a first draft entitled, The Garden. A couple goes to work on a neglected garden behind their home. In tilling the soil, they uncover a forgotten headstone. The eulogy reads

A DISCIPLE OF THE DEVIL IF THERE EVER WAS ONE

HANGED A LITTLE TOO LATE.

 

It was a fun night, and we all enjoyed it. Our next meeting is at 6:30 on March 15^th at the Nokomis Firehouse. Until then, KEEP ON WRITING.