Close Calls and Near Misses

I’ve had my share of close calls. Most of these were self-inflicted: miscalculations, not paying attention, or overestimating my abilities. One that still gives me the shakes happened at dusk, in the early 1980s in the Idaho Panhandle.

Read more »

Hurricane Helene

A neighbor shared this earlier today: "As of 6 am…this is our current status. This is probably better for us - projected to go right over our house. It was projected to be west of us leaving us in the eastern bands, which is the worst. Crazy that it was a Cat-1 still that far into GA!"

Read more »

Medal Alert!!

My friend, Mary Ricketson, and I just heard that we won state medals in the Literary Arts Division of the 2024 North Carolina Senior Games. We are ecstatic!

Read more »

Adventures in Postal Delivery

On Wednesday, August 28, I ordered three boxes of my new books. The printer, in Ohio, promptly shipped them, simultaneously, each with its own tracking number. The first box arrived six days later.  I'm okay with that. The tracking report revealed an interesting itinerary. It visited White Bluff and Nashville, TN on Wednesday, then traveled to Gastonia, NC, and Greenville, SC on Thursday. My box took in the sights in Weaverville and Charlotte, NC on Friday, then returned to Gastonia. Maybe it wanted to retrieve something it lost there the day before. On Saturday, it went back to Greenville, where it sat over the Labor Day weekend. It finally landed at my local post office on Tuesday, September 3rd. The slightly damaged box had managed to protect all but one of the books.

Read more »

New Book Launch

It’s here! In honor of my late father’s 100th birthday, the long-awaited collection of his letters home from World War II is now in print. I know he would have been proud to share these stories with the world.

Read more »

“Dear Folks: Letters Home 1943-1946, World War II” chronicles the experiences of George David Geib, a pilot in the US Army Air Force during World War II. In his letters home, Geib vividly describes his training, travels, and wartime service, providing an authentic and detailed account of military life during that period.

September 2024

Close Calls and Near Misses

I’ve had my share of close calls. Most of these were self-inflicted: miscalculations, not paying attention, or overestimating my abilities. One that still gives me the shakes happened at dusk, in the early 1980s in the Idaho Panhandle.

Read more »

Hurricane Helene

A neighbor shared this earlier today: "As of 6 am…this is our current status. This is probably better for us - projected to go right over our house. It was projected to be west of us leaving us in the eastern bands, which is the worst. Crazy that it was a Cat-1 still that far into GA!"

Read more »

Medal Alert!!

My friend, Mary Ricketson, and I just heard that we won state medals in the Literary Arts Division of the 2024 North Carolina Senior Games. We are ecstatic!

Read more »

Adventures in Postal Delivery

On Wednesday, August 28, I ordered three boxes of my new books. The printer, in Ohio, promptly shipped them, simultaneously, each with its own tracking number. The first box arrived six days later.  I'm okay with that. The tracking report revealed an interesting itinerary. It visited White Bluff and Nashville, TN on Wednesday, then traveled to Gastonia, NC, and Greenville, SC on Thursday. My box took in the sights in Weaverville and Charlotte, NC on Friday, then returned to Gastonia. Maybe it wanted to retrieve something it lost there the day before. On Saturday, it went back to Greenville, where it sat over the Labor Day weekend. It finally landed at my local post office on Tuesday, September 3rd. The slightly damaged box had managed to protect all but one of the books.

Read more »
August 2024

New Book Launch

It’s here! In honor of my late father’s 100th birthday, the long-awaited collection of his letters home from World War II is now in print. I know he would have been proud to share these stories with the world.

Read more »

The Good Old Days

Anthologies are a fun way for authors to get their work out into the world. Some of you may have seen my May post about my piece the Personal Stories Publishing Project anthology, Now or Never. Old Mountain Press in Sylva, NC also has an anthology series to which I’ve been regularly contributing. My story, Stopped by the Curb, appears in the latest one, Good Old Days.

Read more »

Prairie Snobs & Literary Elitists

My friend, Chris Helzer, dropped another good blog post this morning. The Joy and Gratification of Strategic Prairie Restoration ostensibly discusses his extensive and admirable work of converting low-productivity row crop fields to high-diversity prairie. But beneath his exquisite photos and dynamic descriptions lies a poignant reminder of how small-minded humans can be.

Read more »
July 2024

Eyes on the Cosmos

My head is spinning. I am weary. Looking up reminds me of bigger things. NASA is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Chandra X-Ray observatory by releasing 25 never-before-seen views of a wide range of cosmic objects.

Read more »

Getting into shape (notes)

The second Saturday in July around these parts means a day of shape note singing at the John C. Campbell Folk School, which sits near the junction of North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee. It’s just down the road from here.

Read more »

Bulletin: Threescore and ten years ago . . .

. . . my mother brought forth, upon this continent, a new four-pound-eight-ounce preemie: me. I arrived kicking and screaming, and pretty much haven’t stopped since. To shut me up, they popped me into an incubator and didn’t let me out for a month. My mildly deformed feet prompted the doctor to warn my family to keep their expectations low. “She may never walk,” he said.

Read more »

Foxfire, In Person!

My husband and I recently visited Rabun County, Georgia, home to the Foxfire Museum. Appropriately, it's a little hard to find using GPS, but a paper map will take you right to it. Even if you aren't familiar with the original project, the books, or the magazine, take the time to check it out.

Read more »
June 2024

Sunflower Tortoise Beetle

It's been a while since I've posted two Nature Nuggets in one month, but I just couldn't resist! This one comes from my friend, Chris Helzer, who works for The Nature Conservancy in Nebraska. If you like this excerpt, check out his blog at https://prairieecologist.com/.

Read more »

Elf School Grand Opening

What a fun afternoon at the Elf School in Clay County, North Carolina! Kanute Rarey, founder of the Mountain Area Storytellers, invited three local authors to read some of our works during the Grand Opening celebration at the Elf School of the Arts, an artist residency focusing on photography, printmaking, jewelry, weaving, book arts, painting, music, and writing.

Read more »

Mama Mia!

It’s such a treat to live in the mountains! I glanced outside early this morning and didn’t pay much attention to the doe hanging around just outside the window. She’s there often and is good company for our two dachshunds. But an hour or so later I did a double-take when I saw a wobbly-legged fawn enjoying its first drink. I can’t ever get a decent picture through a window screen, but suffice it to say, it looked much like this Image by -Rita-👩‍🍳 und 📷 mit ❤ from Pixabay. I’m tickled the wildlife is so comfortable with us, and I’m really glad we put a fence around our garden.

Read more »

No one ever died from uncomfortable

My good friend, Lyn Messersmith, authored today’s guest blog and graciously granted me permission to share. It appeared in her weekly newspaper column, The Lay of the Land, way back in 2014. I found it in an old box of clippings and I think it is still timely today.

Read more »
May 2024

A Hole in the Canopy

We had quite a storm here over Memorial Day weekend. I’m grateful we fared better than those poor souls in other parts of the country, where a tornado outbreak wreaked terrible damage that cost lives and destroyed homes. My heart goes out to those families.

Read more »

https://www.facebook.com/SGSandyBenson