We all have stories to tell. Some of us write them, others relate them orally. Some folks do both. Our stories help define who we are, connect us with our ancestors (and perhaps with our descendants), and the world at large.
Stories can entertain, enlighten, educate, and inspire. They can soothe, terrify, support, tear down, unite, or divide us. We are transitory, but our stories can endure.
The purpose of this website and blog is to explore the world of sharing stories and perhaps inspire you to share some stories of your own.
For me, it all started with the sudden realization that I’ve led an amazingly interesting life. Upon introspection, three major categories shook out:
The short stories are easy. As I recall memorable—often funny—events, I jot them down. When time allows, I return to the list, choose an idea, and flesh out the story. More often than not, this triggers additional memories to add to the idea list. When I have enough of these stories written, I hope to put the collection into book form. Meanwhile, I’ve put a couple of samples on the Short Stories tab of this website.
Nature nuggets are easy, too. Most of my short stories share personal experiences in the great outdoors. Some of them nudge me to dig a little deeper into some aspect of nature that appears in the tale. What I learn by doing this is invariably fascinating and worthy of passing along. Maybe someday I’ll have enough of these collected for a book, too. For now, though, I’m working on adding a Nature Nuggets tab to this website.
Books? This one isn’t quite so easy, other than publishing collections of shorter tales. I’ve started a dozen full-length books in my head, but that’s as far as it gets, in most cases, although I’m currently making significant progress. I published my first book in late 2021, My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia. I haven’t yet figured out how to market it, though!
S. G. (Sandy) Benson writes from her home in the mountains of western North Carolina, where she lives with her husband, Barry, and two bossy dachshunds.
Why Out on a Limb? A forester by training, she worked in the woods most of her life. Along the way, she published a real estate magazine and wrote many outdoors articles for newspapers and magazines. Recently, she’s begun ‘branching out’—sharing tales at local storyteller gatherings and working on several book ideas. She just published her first book—See the tab My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia for details and a link to order it.
Finally, I’ve finished converting Dad’s letters home from WWII into a text file, and today I sent it off to my very patient publisher, W.H. Wax Publishing, LLC. The next step is adding the images, so we’re making good progress.
The things one finds at the bottom of a desk drawer! I sent this greeting card to my grandmother in 1967. She saved it and sent it back to me the next year. For a decade and a half, this poor, battered card bounced between our homes. Mom and Dad got in on the act as it followed me through junior and senior high school, college, and various moves throughout the West. The post office last delivered it to me when I lived in the North Idaho woods. The tradition stopped when my grandmother passed away, but I never threw away the card.
This handsome young man is my favorite veteran, my late father, George David Geib, who served as a pilot for the US Army Air Force during World War II. The picture shows his sister, Marie, pinning his wings after he graduated from training in June 1944.
Once again, we’ve set our clocks back an hour, and I’m breathing a sigh of relief to finally have my mornings back. I love the early hours on the patio with my steaming coffee cup, listening to nature’s awakening and watching the sun rise over the mountains. It’s been hard for me the last month or so, waking up in the dark and having to get busy with my day before having an opportunity to enjoy this wonderful quiet time for pause and reflection.
For Halloween: A quick, not-too-scary tale.
Come and enjoy the fun as Count Dracula co-hosts an evening of ghost stories, haunting music, and tricky treats at the Peacock Performing Arts Center in Hayesville, North Carolina. I'll be there to share an award-winning creepy tale, featuring a few of my firefighter fiends, er, I mean friends! Saturday, Oct. 21 at 7:30 p.m. #halloween #frightnight #stagefright #peacockperformingartscenter