Out on a Limb

Late January brought some unusually wintry conditions to our part of the country. Last week, the online weather guy warned folks to be on the alert for “fake spring,” an expression new to me.

Two envelopes arrived in my mailbox one day last week, each with a return address from local county government. The first came from the tax office, notifying me that I’d underpaid my car registration renewal by $7.75. As I opened the second envelope, from the sheriff’s office, I felt pretty sure I wouldn’t be going to jail for the error in my vehicle tag check amount.

Last weekend’s much-hyped ice storm was a dud at our house, thankfully, but it did make considerable mischief in surrounding counties. I am glad to hear that electric service is now restored to most everyone in those areas.

Our rural electric cooperative has been using a helicopter to trim trees along their powerline right-of-way in the neighborhood. My husband and I watched with fascination the rotating blades lower with surgical precision and prune branches on huge oaks, tulip poplars, and pines that line our road. The rotor-generated wind smacked our faces as we shot these photos from our driveway during last week’s subfreezing weather.

"These are the times that try men's souls.The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country;but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman."

I read thirty-four books in 2025, three fewer than last year. The list does not include three books I am currently reading but haven’t finished. I’ve been too scattered and distracted to do much of anything right this year. My new year’s resolution is to focus on the important stuff—getting back to my writing, but (of course) still making time to read.

Blessings to you this day, and hopes for a better 2026.

Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because I love being aware of my many blessings and feeling grateful for them. What little family I still have is geographically and relationally distant, but I like sharing gratitude over a special meal with friends.

My award-winning story about the Rosebud Wacipi appears in the latest edition of Masticadores Canada. The piece reminisces about an experience that changed my life forever.

I sleepily padded into the kitchen this morning and poured myself a steaming mug of coffee. Allowing it a few moments to cool, I carried it over to the window and looked out at the new day. Autum leaves drifted down from almost-bare hardwoods, framed against a brilliant azure sky. I love fall.

Dr. W. tapped the scab on my nose with a gloved finger and frowned over the top of his glasses at me.

November is National Memoir Writing Month—not to be confused with the more widely-known but now defunct National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWriMo. Since memoir is what I mostly write, I would be remiss if I neglected mentioning it here and now.

Now live on podcast! This ghost story has roots in Nebraska’s Panhandle, when Fort Robinson State Park was a U.S. military outpost. The piece is creative nonfiction, based on an experience I had in 2013 that shook me to the core and changed my attitude toward the supernatural.

I’m thrilled to announce that the literary magazine, Academy of the Heart and Mind, named my short story, Mannequins in the Hobbit Barn, as one of the winners in their “13 Days of Halloween” contest. 

This week I had the privilege of sharing some of my “girl forester” stories at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina. The monthly event usually features only oral storytellers, so it was an honor for this author to be invited.

Current events nearly overshadowed Banned Book Week 2025. It’s already Friday—but I didn’t forget. I just finished reading Percival Everett’s 2024 masterpiece, James: A Novel, and I can honestly say it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. It retells Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of Jim, the slave who accompanied Huck on the journey down the Mississippi River.

My new Substack newsletter is up and running. It differs from this blog in that it is more about YOU than about me or my work. Its purpose is to explore the world of personal anecdotes and inspire you to share a few tales of your own. This blog will continue to be the place where I share my own musings and articles.

I just set up a Substack account . . . Haven't posted anything there yet, but that is coming soon. Please follow me at https://sgb212739.substack.com/