As the Christmas shopping season has started for me in my 67th year on this earth I look back at how the Christmas season has changed. As a little boy growing up in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, Christmas was the greatest time of the year. We always went out to a tree farm and cut
down our own Christmas tree and the tree was always put up and decorated on Christmas Eve day.
It was a tradition. It was a peaceful time in the Poconos and now I live in North Carolina. We will be getting our tree in a couple of weeks. Not going to a tree farm, but buying it at a store. Quite a change and as I look through the rows of trees, I can't help but thinking back to when we walked through the snow for the longest time looking for that perfect tree. My first memory of getting a Christmas tree in the Poconos was in the early
1950s, we paid $2. Now we have to pay between $25 and $30 and we don't get the pleasure of cutting down our own.
Our shopping was done in the 1950s looking through the Sears & Roebuck catalog or the Montgomery Ward catalog. Our other shopping was done in the town of Stroudsburg, PA. It was so enjoyable looking in Newberry's, Wycoffs's and other stores along main street. Everyone was so polite and considerate. We would always go to the lunch counter in the J.J. Newberry store and have something to eat. We didn't have fast food joints back in those days. Now my mind is back in 2015 and I think of the shopping. People no longer look at Christmas as a Christian holiday. It is now so commercialized that it makes me sick thinking of it. The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. People camp out in front of stores so they can get inside first to get a bargain, people fight to get something, they will push and shove. I do not shop on Black Friday, because to me it is insanity the way people act. The people that act with rudeness when shopping on Black Friday, they should take a step back and remember what the true meaning of Christmas is. It is nice to get presents, but the holiday is to remember, Jesus. I am ashamed of the way people act. I do some shopping in stores yet, but mornings during the week when most people are at work. I also do quite a bit of shopping online. It is easier to do it from the comfort of your home.
I remember one year in the Poconos we had a heavy snow right before Christmas and we couldn't get out to buy a tree. My brother went out into the forest and cut down a nice looking white pine. It was a lot different than any tree we had. The needles on a white pine are very long. On Christmas Eve we put up the tree and decorated it and I can remember to this day how beautiful it was. That was a long long time ago, but I can remember it like it was yesterday. Snowed in on Christmas, opening presents, and enjoying a fine Christmas dinner with the family. Family is a time of the year when the entire family is in each others heart.
Christmas has changed a lot through all of the years I have lived. I can think of when the kids were little and when they opened their presents. The joy they had, as well as Lina and myself. I still love Christmas and I always will. I now have family around the globe. My daughter and youngest granddaughter live about 4 miles away. We will spend Christmas with them. My mother and father are both deceased, but I think of them often at Christmas time. My brother has moved from the Poconos and now lives in Florida. My oldest granddaughter lives in Oregon. My son, his wife, and three grandsons live in Okinawa. However we will talk on the phone on Christmas and my wife and I think of someday when they will move back to the states and we will have Christmas dinner together again. The newest additions to the family are my grandson Jeremy's wife Kate and their daughter, our great granddaughter, Erica. Erica will be having her first Christmas, I smile as I think of her, wishing I could hold her, but impossible as she is in Okinawa, Japan.
A class reunion is being planned for next year, the 50th year since graduating from high school. I have talked with many of my classmates lately as I have been searching for them. I will be thinking of them on Christmas, my personal friends and neighbors, my many facebook friends, and I wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I will not say Happy Holidays, I grew up saying Merry Christmas and I will always say it. If anyone is offended my me saying, Merry Christmas, I say I could not care less.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Thursday, December 3, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
1:00 A.M.
I went to bed last night at around 10:30 p.m. expecting a peaceful restful night. Sometimes things don't quite go as we planned. I shut down my computer for the night, checked to see the doors were locked, turned out
the light and got in bed. I looked down at Cookie lying in her bed and see looked so sweet. Cookie always has a way of making me smile.
I was sound asleep and I heard this noise, I looked over at Cookie's bed, she wasn't there. That is always a panic for me. I jumped out of bed, turned on the light, and saw Cookie walking near the foot of our bed, stumbling like a drunken sailor, her body shaking, and knew in a flash that she was having another one of
her epileptic seizures. I have seen so many of them in the last few years.
I picked her up and carried her to the bathroom door and I sat down on the carpet of the hallway and I held her like I have so many times before. A little after one on a Sunday morning, she was my only thought. I needed to hold her and protect her. If she stumbled around she could very easily cause injury to herself. I put my arms around her, petted her, told her it is going to be alright. She kept shaking and wanted to get up and
walk. No way would I let that happen. In five or six minutes her shaking was becoming less and less. Finally she looked at me and laid her head on my leg, it was so cute.
Now you will know why I was by the bathroom door. She stood up and started to act like she was going to vomit. I held her head inside the bathroom and soon she threw up on the bathroom floor. A lot better than having her throw up on the carpet. I knew she would vomit because it happens every time after she has a seizure.
We sat there a few more minutes as I continued to hold her and comfort her. Soon she got up like nothing had happened and walked back into the bedroom. That meant it was time for me to clean up her vomit.
It wasn't bad, just kind of watery. It might upset some people at a little after one in the morning, but to me it is just a part of life with my dog that has epilepsy.
It was a little after 1:20 when I finally got back in bed. I couldn't go to sleep right away. I would listen to the sound of Cookie breathing. Why, I don't know, it is just habit. I know very well she would be alright for the rest of the night. However, it was after 2 a.m. until I finally fell asleep again.
Cookie is on medication for her seizures, but the vet told us that she could still get them. They would be less violent and not as bad. I love that little beagle with all my heart and I will always protect her if I can. I do worry sometimes that she may have a seizure when I'm not at home, but sometimes she has to be left alone while we go out. I have held her and comforted her many times in the last few years as she had a seizure. It is part of a man loving his dog. A dog that shows more love to me than anyone deserves. She is happy and playful 99.9% of the time. That .1% she needs me and I will be there for her.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
the light and got in bed. I looked down at Cookie lying in her bed and see looked so sweet. Cookie always has a way of making me smile.
I was sound asleep and I heard this noise, I looked over at Cookie's bed, she wasn't there. That is always a panic for me. I jumped out of bed, turned on the light, and saw Cookie walking near the foot of our bed, stumbling like a drunken sailor, her body shaking, and knew in a flash that she was having another one of
her epileptic seizures. I have seen so many of them in the last few years.
I picked her up and carried her to the bathroom door and I sat down on the carpet of the hallway and I held her like I have so many times before. A little after one on a Sunday morning, she was my only thought. I needed to hold her and protect her. If she stumbled around she could very easily cause injury to herself. I put my arms around her, petted her, told her it is going to be alright. She kept shaking and wanted to get up and
walk. No way would I let that happen. In five or six minutes her shaking was becoming less and less. Finally she looked at me and laid her head on my leg, it was so cute.
Now you will know why I was by the bathroom door. She stood up and started to act like she was going to vomit. I held her head inside the bathroom and soon she threw up on the bathroom floor. A lot better than having her throw up on the carpet. I knew she would vomit because it happens every time after she has a seizure.
We sat there a few more minutes as I continued to hold her and comfort her. Soon she got up like nothing had happened and walked back into the bedroom. That meant it was time for me to clean up her vomit.
It wasn't bad, just kind of watery. It might upset some people at a little after one in the morning, but to me it is just a part of life with my dog that has epilepsy.
It was a little after 1:20 when I finally got back in bed. I couldn't go to sleep right away. I would listen to the sound of Cookie breathing. Why, I don't know, it is just habit. I know very well she would be alright for the rest of the night. However, it was after 2 a.m. until I finally fell asleep again.
Cookie is on medication for her seizures, but the vet told us that she could still get them. They would be less violent and not as bad. I love that little beagle with all my heart and I will always protect her if I can. I do worry sometimes that she may have a seizure when I'm not at home, but sometimes she has to be left alone while we go out. I have held her and comforted her many times in the last few years as she had a seizure. It is part of a man loving his dog. A dog that shows more love to me than anyone deserves. She is happy and playful 99.9% of the time. That .1% she needs me and I will be there for her.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
FIFTY YEARS IN THE MAKING
It was on Wednesday, June 8, 1966 that I walked across the stage in the auditorium of the Pocono Mountain High School in Swiftwater, Pennsylvania and was handed my high school diploma. It was the end of my school years and now I would be going out into the real world. I now had my diploma in my hand along with 127 of my classmates.
I have seen many changes since that day. I spent four years in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Texas, Florida, and the Philippines. I got married to my wife Lina and we have been together almost 45 years, I have two children, five grand kids, and one great grandchild. I have seen the ups and downs of life and realize that life is something to cherish.
I have often thought of many of my classmates through the years. We had a 10 year class reunion and a 25 year reunion. For the last 24 years I have been in touch with only a handful. Through one of my classmates,
Marilou Harps, now MacDonnell, that we contacted each other on classmates.com we got the idea of planning a 50 year class reunion next year. We had no idea if we could find enough to have a reunion when we started. Where were all of our former classmates from many years ago? Thankfully we now have the power of the Internet.
I have searched on Ancestry.com, Peoplefinders.com, US Search.com, through old newspaper clippings of wedding announcements, several other websites and I have now tracked down personally over 50 of my former classmates from 1966. I have been on the phone with several for nearly an hour talking about old times and bringing back memories. I found some of my classmates after getting in touch with another. It has been an undertaking that has taken up much of my time for the last two months. Those phone calls and emails that have got me in touch with classmates of long ago has been one of the most pleasant times of my life.
I have been sad to find out that ten of our classmates that I know of are deceased. I know that a couple of those died very young. I have to sit and think why was their life taken so early? I will never know, but I do know that we have to cherish every day.
When we get together next summer we will all realize that it will most likely be the last time that we will all be able to get together. We are all moving fast toward the seventy year mark of our lives. I know I will shake hands and hug people that meant a lot to me in my young life. Many of us will probably have tears in our eyes as we say goodbye for the last time.
Many of my classmates of 1966 have moved out of the Pocono Mountains. We now have people living in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Alaska, Virginia, Maryland, Oregon, Vermont, Connecticut, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and one that has moved to Mexico. I don't know how many more we can find, but we will keep trying.
I want to thank the people that have helped me in my search to make our 50 year class reunion to become a reality. Thank you, Marilou Harps, MaryBeth Wieboldt, Janet Fredmund, Linda Pipher, John H. Davis, and others that have been so helpful. The ones that still live in the Pocono Mountains have been very helpful. To the ones that are deceased you will remain in our hearts forever, you are not forgotten.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
I have seen many changes since that day. I spent four years in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Texas, Florida, and the Philippines. I got married to my wife Lina and we have been together almost 45 years, I have two children, five grand kids, and one great grandchild. I have seen the ups and downs of life and realize that life is something to cherish.
I have often thought of many of my classmates through the years. We had a 10 year class reunion and a 25 year reunion. For the last 24 years I have been in touch with only a handful. Through one of my classmates,
Marilou Harps, now MacDonnell, that we contacted each other on classmates.com we got the idea of planning a 50 year class reunion next year. We had no idea if we could find enough to have a reunion when we started. Where were all of our former classmates from many years ago? Thankfully we now have the power of the Internet.
I have searched on Ancestry.com, Peoplefinders.com, US Search.com, through old newspaper clippings of wedding announcements, several other websites and I have now tracked down personally over 50 of my former classmates from 1966. I have been on the phone with several for nearly an hour talking about old times and bringing back memories. I found some of my classmates after getting in touch with another. It has been an undertaking that has taken up much of my time for the last two months. Those phone calls and emails that have got me in touch with classmates of long ago has been one of the most pleasant times of my life.
I have been sad to find out that ten of our classmates that I know of are deceased. I know that a couple of those died very young. I have to sit and think why was their life taken so early? I will never know, but I do know that we have to cherish every day.
When we get together next summer we will all realize that it will most likely be the last time that we will all be able to get together. We are all moving fast toward the seventy year mark of our lives. I know I will shake hands and hug people that meant a lot to me in my young life. Many of us will probably have tears in our eyes as we say goodbye for the last time.
Many of my classmates of 1966 have moved out of the Pocono Mountains. We now have people living in New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Alaska, Virginia, Maryland, Oregon, Vermont, Connecticut, Tennessee, Massachusetts, and one that has moved to Mexico. I don't know how many more we can find, but we will keep trying.
I want to thank the people that have helped me in my search to make our 50 year class reunion to become a reality. Thank you, Marilou Harps, MaryBeth Wieboldt, Janet Fredmund, Linda Pipher, John H. Davis, and others that have been so helpful. The ones that still live in the Pocono Mountains have been very helpful. To the ones that are deceased you will remain in our hearts forever, you are not forgotten.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
LUBANG ISLAND
It was in the spring of 1974 that I was looking at the news in my home in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.
The news showed the story of a Japanese soldier that spent over 29 years in the jungle of Lubang Island.
He was sent there to spy on American soldiers in World War II. He started with two other comrades that were eventually killed. The others died in clashes with Filipino villagers and soldiers. For years he refused to
believe that the war was over.
Hiroo Onoda, refused to surrender. For 29 years he survived on food gathered from the jungle or stolen from local farmers. He was hunted by American troops, the Philippine Army and police, hostile islanders, and eventually Japanese search parties. He was able to evade them all. He was persuaded to come out of hiding in 1974, by his former commanding officer. The officer traveled to Lubang to see him and tell him he was released from his military duties. In his tattered old army uniform, Onoda handed over his sword, nearly 30 years after Japan surrendered. He returned to Japan and was welcomed as a hero by the people of Japan.
He wrote a book about his experiences on Lubang Island, "No Surrender, My Thirty-Year War." Hiroo Onoda, died on January 16, 2014 at the age of 91.
Why do I tell this story? I was a flight mechanic on C-47 aircraft stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines from 1970 until the spring of 1972. Our mission was to fly mail, food, cigarettes, liquor, and other things to remote areas of the Philippine Islands where Americans were stationed. Several times I was the flight mechanic on planes that flew to a dirt air strip on Lubang Island.
As I looked at the news in the spring of 1974 I thought to myself, I wonder if he saw our C-47 land at that dirt air strip. Did he see me get out of the aircraft and help unload supplies for the Americans stationed on the island? Was I being spied on? It gave me a strange feeling as I watched the news that evening in 1974. I have thought about it many times since.
The Philippines is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Few people know that the Philippines consist of over 7,000 islands. I met my wife in the Philippines, my son was born there. I have fond memories of the Philippine people. I visited my wife's home far into the jungles of the Philippines. I was followed around by children that had never seen a white man. What an experience, but I will save that for another story.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
The news showed the story of a Japanese soldier that spent over 29 years in the jungle of Lubang Island.
He was sent there to spy on American soldiers in World War II. He started with two other comrades that were eventually killed. The others died in clashes with Filipino villagers and soldiers. For years he refused to
believe that the war was over.
Hiroo Onoda, refused to surrender. For 29 years he survived on food gathered from the jungle or stolen from local farmers. He was hunted by American troops, the Philippine Army and police, hostile islanders, and eventually Japanese search parties. He was able to evade them all. He was persuaded to come out of hiding in 1974, by his former commanding officer. The officer traveled to Lubang to see him and tell him he was released from his military duties. In his tattered old army uniform, Onoda handed over his sword, nearly 30 years after Japan surrendered. He returned to Japan and was welcomed as a hero by the people of Japan.
He wrote a book about his experiences on Lubang Island, "No Surrender, My Thirty-Year War." Hiroo Onoda, died on January 16, 2014 at the age of 91.
Why do I tell this story? I was a flight mechanic on C-47 aircraft stationed at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines from 1970 until the spring of 1972. Our mission was to fly mail, food, cigarettes, liquor, and other things to remote areas of the Philippine Islands where Americans were stationed. Several times I was the flight mechanic on planes that flew to a dirt air strip on Lubang Island.
As I looked at the news in the spring of 1974 I thought to myself, I wonder if he saw our C-47 land at that dirt air strip. Did he see me get out of the aircraft and help unload supplies for the Americans stationed on the island? Was I being spied on? It gave me a strange feeling as I watched the news that evening in 1974. I have thought about it many times since.
The Philippines is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Few people know that the Philippines consist of over 7,000 islands. I met my wife in the Philippines, my son was born there. I have fond memories of the Philippine people. I visited my wife's home far into the jungles of the Philippines. I was followed around by children that had never seen a white man. What an experience, but I will save that for another story.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Monday, August 24, 2015
VALUABLE ADVICE
As a writer I am always seeking advice. Some advice I accept highly and other advice I don't ignore, but I put in the back of my memory. I read an article recently of 20 points of advice from a master author, Stephen King. How can anyone not listen to advice by someone whose writing has taken the world by storm. I have read many of Stephen King's novels and I have never been disappointed. He has a masterful way to make you feel like you are there in the story yourself.
I would like to relay on some of those bits of advice. I won't list all 20, but a few that I highly believe in myself.
1--First write for yourself, then worry about the audience! I believe this and when I write a short story or a novel I need to enjoy it myself. I feel if I don't get enjoyment out of it, how could I expect my readers to enjoy it. A couple of years ago, I wrote a complete novel of about 60,000 words. I read it over twice and I was disappointed in myself. The novel didn't make me happy so how could I expect others to like it. I deleted that entire novel from my computer never to be seen again.
2--Read, read, read! Now this is excellent advice. Stephen King said that no matter where he goes he has something to read with him. If a person is going to succeed as a writer then they have to be a good reader. Reading expands the mind and allows you to go to different places with your thoughts. Reading, as funny as it may sound is also a teacher.
3--Turn off the TV! When you write you want your surrounding to be quiet. The last thing you need is to be distracted. I like total quiet when I am writing. I want my mind totally focused on the words as they appear on the computer screen. Some of my best writing is done early in the morning when it is still dark, my wife and dog are both asleep and the apartment is totally quiet. I also feel after a good night's sleep the mind is at
it's best.
4--Write one word at a time! That does sound kind of funny when you read it, but it is true. An interviewer once asked Stephen King how he writes. His reply was, "One word at a time." Don't try thinking ahead of yourself. Keep you mind on the words one at a time as you write that story.
5-- Stick to your own style! Don't try to imitate another writer. That is the worst thing you can do. Write your way, if the readers like it, good. If they don't like it think about changing a little, but remember it needs to be your style of writing.
6--Writing is about getting happy! Write because you love to write. If you are starting with the intent to make a lot of money, become famous, or for any other reason than being happy it is a mistake. You write because you love to write. That is the important thing. I write because I love it, it makes me happy and from the feedback I get it makes my readers happy. If had gone into it for the money I would be homeless by now.
You can google Stephen King's 20 tips for writing and you can read the rest. He also said write every day. So I write something, on my blog, work on another novel, or just write a few paragraphs for myself that I will eventually delete. Writing needs to be a passion, something that makes you happy. If you aren't happy then what is the point in writing.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
I would like to relay on some of those bits of advice. I won't list all 20, but a few that I highly believe in myself.
1--First write for yourself, then worry about the audience! I believe this and when I write a short story or a novel I need to enjoy it myself. I feel if I don't get enjoyment out of it, how could I expect my readers to enjoy it. A couple of years ago, I wrote a complete novel of about 60,000 words. I read it over twice and I was disappointed in myself. The novel didn't make me happy so how could I expect others to like it. I deleted that entire novel from my computer never to be seen again.
2--Read, read, read! Now this is excellent advice. Stephen King said that no matter where he goes he has something to read with him. If a person is going to succeed as a writer then they have to be a good reader. Reading expands the mind and allows you to go to different places with your thoughts. Reading, as funny as it may sound is also a teacher.
3--Turn off the TV! When you write you want your surrounding to be quiet. The last thing you need is to be distracted. I like total quiet when I am writing. I want my mind totally focused on the words as they appear on the computer screen. Some of my best writing is done early in the morning when it is still dark, my wife and dog are both asleep and the apartment is totally quiet. I also feel after a good night's sleep the mind is at
it's best.
4--Write one word at a time! That does sound kind of funny when you read it, but it is true. An interviewer once asked Stephen King how he writes. His reply was, "One word at a time." Don't try thinking ahead of yourself. Keep you mind on the words one at a time as you write that story.
5-- Stick to your own style! Don't try to imitate another writer. That is the worst thing you can do. Write your way, if the readers like it, good. If they don't like it think about changing a little, but remember it needs to be your style of writing.
6--Writing is about getting happy! Write because you love to write. If you are starting with the intent to make a lot of money, become famous, or for any other reason than being happy it is a mistake. You write because you love to write. That is the important thing. I write because I love it, it makes me happy and from the feedback I get it makes my readers happy. If had gone into it for the money I would be homeless by now.
You can google Stephen King's 20 tips for writing and you can read the rest. He also said write every day. So I write something, on my blog, work on another novel, or just write a few paragraphs for myself that I will eventually delete. Writing needs to be a passion, something that makes you happy. If you aren't happy then what is the point in writing.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Monday, August 17, 2015
HERITAGE OR HATE
There has been a lot of news lately about flying the Confederate flag. This has led to other complaints about Confederate statues and monuments. Everyone has an opinion about this and I am no different. Finally South Carolina has removed the flag from the front of the state house. That flag never should have flown there anyway, it was totally wrong. The Civil War has been over for a long time and it is time that the only flag that should be flown is the Stars and Stripes, the flag of the United States of America.
Many people, especially people from the southern US claims that they display the Confederate flag to show heritage to their ancestors. I can see their point and I know it is a touchy subject. However it is time to make the United States of America united. I have no problem with anyone owning a Confederate flag as long as they keep it in their home out of sight of the public. There is a line between showing heritage and showing hate. There is a man in North Carolina that has about 150 Confederate flags on his property, in a mostly black neighborhood. This is not heritage, it is hate. There was recently a parade of trucks also in North Carolina that was driving around displaying the Confederate flag. This is a symbol of hate and I am ashamed of the people that do such things.
There are other people that have been vandalizing tomb stones on Confederate soldiers. This is wrong, these people fought and died for what they believed in. A grave marker should never under any circumstances be vandalized.
Other people are suggesting that all Confederate statues and memorials should be removed from public places. I am also against such actions. Approximately 620,000 people died in the Civil War. The Civil War is history of the United States. That can't be changed. Memorials and statues will keep the memory of the Civil War alive. We can't and shouldn't try to wipe the Civil War from our memory. These statues and memorials are the symbol of a terrible time in our history.
No one should hate someone because of the color of their skin. I am ashamed to admit that there is still much racism in my country. People aren't born to hate, they are taught it. If parents keep teaching their children racism it will never disappear. I have many friends that are black and they are the nicest people. Where I live there are some black men married to white women and some white men married to black women. I see nothing wrong with it. I often chat with these couples and I am proud to know them.
There is a line between heritage and hate. We just have to remember where that line is. Everyone has a right to remember and respect their heritage, but no one has the right to hate. People that hate need to be stopped. Hate does not belong in the United States of America.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Many people, especially people from the southern US claims that they display the Confederate flag to show heritage to their ancestors. I can see their point and I know it is a touchy subject. However it is time to make the United States of America united. I have no problem with anyone owning a Confederate flag as long as they keep it in their home out of sight of the public. There is a line between showing heritage and showing hate. There is a man in North Carolina that has about 150 Confederate flags on his property, in a mostly black neighborhood. This is not heritage, it is hate. There was recently a parade of trucks also in North Carolina that was driving around displaying the Confederate flag. This is a symbol of hate and I am ashamed of the people that do such things.
There are other people that have been vandalizing tomb stones on Confederate soldiers. This is wrong, these people fought and died for what they believed in. A grave marker should never under any circumstances be vandalized.
Other people are suggesting that all Confederate statues and memorials should be removed from public places. I am also against such actions. Approximately 620,000 people died in the Civil War. The Civil War is history of the United States. That can't be changed. Memorials and statues will keep the memory of the Civil War alive. We can't and shouldn't try to wipe the Civil War from our memory. These statues and memorials are the symbol of a terrible time in our history.
No one should hate someone because of the color of their skin. I am ashamed to admit that there is still much racism in my country. People aren't born to hate, they are taught it. If parents keep teaching their children racism it will never disappear. I have many friends that are black and they are the nicest people. Where I live there are some black men married to white women and some white men married to black women. I see nothing wrong with it. I often chat with these couples and I am proud to know them.
There is a line between heritage and hate. We just have to remember where that line is. Everyone has a right to remember and respect their heritage, but no one has the right to hate. People that hate need to be stopped. Hate does not belong in the United States of America.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Friday, August 14, 2015
THE SIMPLE LIFE
I grew up a country boy. That is something that I will always cherish in my thoughts. My thoughts often fly back to when I was a young boy. It was then that I learned about the simple things in life and it is something that has always stuck with me. Even today I would much rather take a pleasant walk in the forest with my wife and dog than go to a party with a large crowd of people.
My mind is in the late 1950s thinking of some of the things I used to do. My brother and I used to get in our front yard with some friends and play football with a milk carton stuffed with leaves. We would stuff that wax parer milk carton with leaves and toss it around like it was a real football. We didn't need anything else, we had so much fun. I do wonder now why we never had a real football. We had a basketball and a baseball, but no football.
I used to walk through the forest to Pup Run. It was a small mountain stream on one of our friends property. I almost always had some string in my pocket and a pocket knife. Every little boy had his pocket knife in those days. I would walk to that stream, cut a branch from a tree, tie my string on one end. On the other end of the string I would tie a fish hook that I often had in my baseball cap that I always wore. Sometimes I carried a couple of fish worms with me. I would drop that line into the little stream as I walked along it. Many times I would catch a little trout. There were no large trout in that stream that I can remember. When I got a little trout I would smile as I took the hook out, then return the trout to the cold water of the mountain stream. A simple life, a fun life, an interesting life. Nothing fancy was needed to have fun when I was young.
My uncle John had several large fields where he planted corn every summer. He was a man that could grow anything. The largest field on the back of his property he never planted any crops. That was my kite flying field. No store bought kite. I would make my own. I cut a couple of small branches from a tree, tied them together. Then I would cut a slit in the ends of the branches and thread a string all the way around. I then got a newspaper, cut it up, and glued it to my kite. I added a long string on the bottom, cut up some old rags and made my tail for the kite. I had my roll of kite string attached and off to my uncle's field I would go. I got my kite flying high and would stay there for the longest time enjoying flying my kite. I often still think of those days.
I was a tree climber when I was a young boy. I used to climb small maple trees an high as I could until the trees would bend over and I would touch the ground. I used to get more scrapes on my arms and legs, but I
never cared. I just loved to climb trees. I often climbed as high as I could in apple trees. I would climb the
tree, pick an apple, and sit on a branch and eat it. I just love trees, although I don't climb them anymore I love walking through a forest and admiring the trees.
I would get a glass jar when I was a child, poke some holes in the cap and gather fireflies at night. I would fill that jar up with as many fireflies that I could collect. I would sit in the yard and look at that glass jar as firefly after firefly would light up. It is amazing how much light they can give off and really amazing how much light you can get out of a lot of them in a glass jar. I would lie on the grass in the yard next to my jar of fireflies and stare up at the stars. At that early age I didn't realize the vastness of space, but looking at the stars and the moon have always amazed me.
Just a glimpse back on my life as a young boy and realizing that I loved the simple life and I still do. So many children now spend hour after hour in front of a computer playing video games, on a tablet, or texting on their phone. Kids of today have no idea how much fun can be loved from the simple things in life. I am glad that I grew up before the technology age. I will always be a country boy no matter how close to a city I live.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
My mind is in the late 1950s thinking of some of the things I used to do. My brother and I used to get in our front yard with some friends and play football with a milk carton stuffed with leaves. We would stuff that wax parer milk carton with leaves and toss it around like it was a real football. We didn't need anything else, we had so much fun. I do wonder now why we never had a real football. We had a basketball and a baseball, but no football.
I used to walk through the forest to Pup Run. It was a small mountain stream on one of our friends property. I almost always had some string in my pocket and a pocket knife. Every little boy had his pocket knife in those days. I would walk to that stream, cut a branch from a tree, tie my string on one end. On the other end of the string I would tie a fish hook that I often had in my baseball cap that I always wore. Sometimes I carried a couple of fish worms with me. I would drop that line into the little stream as I walked along it. Many times I would catch a little trout. There were no large trout in that stream that I can remember. When I got a little trout I would smile as I took the hook out, then return the trout to the cold water of the mountain stream. A simple life, a fun life, an interesting life. Nothing fancy was needed to have fun when I was young.
My uncle John had several large fields where he planted corn every summer. He was a man that could grow anything. The largest field on the back of his property he never planted any crops. That was my kite flying field. No store bought kite. I would make my own. I cut a couple of small branches from a tree, tied them together. Then I would cut a slit in the ends of the branches and thread a string all the way around. I then got a newspaper, cut it up, and glued it to my kite. I added a long string on the bottom, cut up some old rags and made my tail for the kite. I had my roll of kite string attached and off to my uncle's field I would go. I got my kite flying high and would stay there for the longest time enjoying flying my kite. I often still think of those days.
I was a tree climber when I was a young boy. I used to climb small maple trees an high as I could until the trees would bend over and I would touch the ground. I used to get more scrapes on my arms and legs, but I
never cared. I just loved to climb trees. I often climbed as high as I could in apple trees. I would climb the
tree, pick an apple, and sit on a branch and eat it. I just love trees, although I don't climb them anymore I love walking through a forest and admiring the trees.
I would get a glass jar when I was a child, poke some holes in the cap and gather fireflies at night. I would fill that jar up with as many fireflies that I could collect. I would sit in the yard and look at that glass jar as firefly after firefly would light up. It is amazing how much light they can give off and really amazing how much light you can get out of a lot of them in a glass jar. I would lie on the grass in the yard next to my jar of fireflies and stare up at the stars. At that early age I didn't realize the vastness of space, but looking at the stars and the moon have always amazed me.
Just a glimpse back on my life as a young boy and realizing that I loved the simple life and I still do. So many children now spend hour after hour in front of a computer playing video games, on a tablet, or texting on their phone. Kids of today have no idea how much fun can be loved from the simple things in life. I am glad that I grew up before the technology age. I will always be a country boy no matter how close to a city I live.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Friday, July 31, 2015
THEN AND NOW
I was born in 1948, so the 1950s are my first taste of life. I can remember a long way back and how things have changed between then and now. Hard to believe but my first memories are of the outhouse. I know many people have never used one and it isn't my most favorite memory. I remember in the winter time I was afraid my butt would freeze fast to the seat and I would be stuck there for hours. In the summer I was afraid a spider would crawl up my butt. Alright it is funny now but not to a young boy around five years old. Yes,
that was then and now the luxury of the flush toilet. People of today don't realize how good they have it.
In the 1950s our home phone was on a party line with two other families. Again I know many young people have no idea what a party line was. One family might have short rings, another long rings, and another a combination of short and long rings. No one in the 1950s ever imagined that there would be phones that people could carry around in their pocket. The cell phones are an amazing invention, but it seems like people
has lost common courtesy since they were invented. I have seen people using them at the teller window in banks and not even listening to the teller. I have seen people using them in checkout lines at the supermarket like their life is the only one that matters. It seems like common courtesy has flown out the window since the invention.
In the 1950s all shows on TV were in black and white. We saw no color TV until the early 1960s. The TVs were built to look like a piece of furniture with beautiful cabinets. Not so in today's world. We had an antenna on the roof of our home to watch TV. There was no cable TV or satellite dishes. Funny now today I have ditched cable TV and went back to an antenna to save almost a thousand dollars a year. I also still look at the reruns of many old shows in black and white. I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Rifleman, to name a few are still watched by me. Of course I now look at many shows in color, but the black and whites are classics that will remain forever in my heart.
I used to lay down on the grass in our yard and stare into space. I would look at the moon and wonder what it was like there. In the 1950s it seemed so distant. I thought no one will ever walk on the moon. In 1969 the first astronauts landed on the moon. I was in the Air Force in Florida at the time and was amazed that only a little over a decade earlier I thought it would never happen. Now spacecraft are flying to other planets and taking photos that in the 1950s we never thought possible. I have always been interested in space and like many I am sure that we are not the only form of life in the universe. The vastness of the universe is mind boggling.
We had an old typewriter at home and I later learned to type in school in the 1960s. The computer wasn't even thought of at the time. To make a copy on a typewriter we used carbon paper. It was so difficult to make corrections on a typewriter. Now today we have the personal computers that we can type and make any correction in a matter of seconds. We can print out copies of what we are typing immediately.
These changes over the years are only a few of what I remember and have seen. Who knows what the next fifty years will bring. I see all the advancement in technology now, but I will always remember riding my bicycle on the roads in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We never wore a helmet and we survived. Sure I got the usual cuts and scrapes. I remember around 1961 when I was getting ready to go to a Little League game. I went out to put by bat and glove in the car. When I slammed the car door shut my index finger on my right hand was in the way. It cut the tip of my finger about half off. No need to go to the doctor then just push it back together and tape it up. Yes, it healed, but to this day I have a scar on the finger that stands out like crazy when I get finger printed. Now it seems we go to the doctor for any little sniffle.By the way our family doctor in the 1950s made house calls. No chance you will get one to do that now.
This has been just a glimpse through sixty years of my life. Sixty years from now people will be looking back at how things have changed for them. People may think I am crazy, but I often wish many of the things today was still like it was in the 1950s. I have so many memories you can't imagine, many good, many bad. However, I have always felt that the bad times make the good times seem a lot better.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
that was then and now the luxury of the flush toilet. People of today don't realize how good they have it.
In the 1950s our home phone was on a party line with two other families. Again I know many young people have no idea what a party line was. One family might have short rings, another long rings, and another a combination of short and long rings. No one in the 1950s ever imagined that there would be phones that people could carry around in their pocket. The cell phones are an amazing invention, but it seems like people
has lost common courtesy since they were invented. I have seen people using them at the teller window in banks and not even listening to the teller. I have seen people using them in checkout lines at the supermarket like their life is the only one that matters. It seems like common courtesy has flown out the window since the invention.
In the 1950s all shows on TV were in black and white. We saw no color TV until the early 1960s. The TVs were built to look like a piece of furniture with beautiful cabinets. Not so in today's world. We had an antenna on the roof of our home to watch TV. There was no cable TV or satellite dishes. Funny now today I have ditched cable TV and went back to an antenna to save almost a thousand dollars a year. I also still look at the reruns of many old shows in black and white. I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, The Andy Griffith Show, The Rifleman, to name a few are still watched by me. Of course I now look at many shows in color, but the black and whites are classics that will remain forever in my heart.
I used to lay down on the grass in our yard and stare into space. I would look at the moon and wonder what it was like there. In the 1950s it seemed so distant. I thought no one will ever walk on the moon. In 1969 the first astronauts landed on the moon. I was in the Air Force in Florida at the time and was amazed that only a little over a decade earlier I thought it would never happen. Now spacecraft are flying to other planets and taking photos that in the 1950s we never thought possible. I have always been interested in space and like many I am sure that we are not the only form of life in the universe. The vastness of the universe is mind boggling.
We had an old typewriter at home and I later learned to type in school in the 1960s. The computer wasn't even thought of at the time. To make a copy on a typewriter we used carbon paper. It was so difficult to make corrections on a typewriter. Now today we have the personal computers that we can type and make any correction in a matter of seconds. We can print out copies of what we are typing immediately.
These changes over the years are only a few of what I remember and have seen. Who knows what the next fifty years will bring. I see all the advancement in technology now, but I will always remember riding my bicycle on the roads in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We never wore a helmet and we survived. Sure I got the usual cuts and scrapes. I remember around 1961 when I was getting ready to go to a Little League game. I went out to put by bat and glove in the car. When I slammed the car door shut my index finger on my right hand was in the way. It cut the tip of my finger about half off. No need to go to the doctor then just push it back together and tape it up. Yes, it healed, but to this day I have a scar on the finger that stands out like crazy when I get finger printed. Now it seems we go to the doctor for any little sniffle.By the way our family doctor in the 1950s made house calls. No chance you will get one to do that now.
This has been just a glimpse through sixty years of my life. Sixty years from now people will be looking back at how things have changed for them. People may think I am crazy, but I often wish many of the things today was still like it was in the 1950s. I have so many memories you can't imagine, many good, many bad. However, I have always felt that the bad times make the good times seem a lot better.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Sunday, July 19, 2015
LIFE
As we journey through our lives we see so many changes. I grew up as a little boy in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. I will say that I didn't grow up in the most loving family. My mom and dad were fighting almost constantly. I won't say that we were poor, but we didn't have much. I remember going to the outhouse before we got indoor plumbing when I was around five years old. My brother and I spent much time outside because it was more peaceful. Alcohol abuse was bad in my family especially on my father's side. However my dad had a tough life, he got polio when he was nineteen years old. He was sent to the Institute for the Crippled and Disabled in New York City where he learned the craft of jewelry making. He became famous in the Poconos as a silversmith.
I did alright in school, but I didn't apply myself as much as I could have. I was interested in certain subjects.
Math was my favorite subject because I was very good at it. I guess that was good because I ended up working in manufacturing for 30 years. I could change every fraction of 64ths in my head to a decimal.. I didn't need to figure it out. Every day math was needed in manufacturing.
It was a couple of years after graduating high school that the Vietnam War was going strong. Many of my friends were being drafted and I knew it was time for me to enlist. I joined the U.S. Air Force a move that
I never regretted. I thought then and I still think that every able bodied male should serve their country. I feel that ending the draft was a big mistake. The military teaches young people discipline and that is something lacking in our youth of today. I wonder if I was a good parent. I like to think so. My children were involved in scouts, the school band, my son on the swim team, my daughter as a majorette and drum major in the marching band the senior year. My son is a 20 year retired Marine and my daughter is an artist/graphic designer. I am so proud of them.
I spent my military time in Texas, Florida, and the Philippines. Funny four years in the Air Force and I was only in Vietnam for four hours. It was in the Airmen's Club on Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines that I met Lina. She became my wife and this coming December we will celebrate our 45th anniversary. We have
two children, five grand kids,and one great granddaughter.
In my work life I was an engraver and engraved gold drums about a half inch in diameter and an inch and a half long that went into guidance systems for missiles, after the military I worked for Ronson Corporation and put flint tubes in cigarette lighters, then for General Electric working in a carbon products plant, I became a machinist working in several factories through the years working on computer cabinets, parts for the space shuttle, parts for missile launchers on nuclear submarines, parts for fire detection systems, and numerous other parts. As the jobs were increasingly being shipped overseas and manufacturing was hurt, those jobs were hard to find. I worked my last two jobs as a maintenance supervisor in a library and as a maintenance coordinator in a large church.
Finally retirement came and I wanted to do something to be remembered by. I started to write short stories and was finally published in Our USA Magazine. Now two published novels have followed and I look back on life and realize that life is what you make of it.
Would I have done things different in life if I had the chance to do it over. Some things yes and many things no. I have never smoked, my dad died of lung cancer from smoking at age 59. I don't drink alcohol, I did for some time, but haven't had a drink in 20 years. To many families fall apart from alcohol abuse. I was not going to let that happen to my family. Do I have any bad habits. Yes, I do swear to much, but I am working on that, hahaha.
One thing I will say is that I love life and enjoy getting up every day. I enjoy hearing the birds singing early in the morning, I enjoy walking and playing with my dog,Cookie, I enjoy phone calls and emails from my children and grand kids. I enjoy knowing that Lina has put up with my for almost 45 years. I enjoy nature with a passion. If I can take a walk in the forest that costs me nothing it is more pleasure for me than if I went of an expensive vacation. It is the little things in life that matter.Hugging my wife, petting my dog, watching it rain, chatting with a friend. Everyone should remember the little joys in life cost us nothing.
God bless my family and friends, I love you all.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
I did alright in school, but I didn't apply myself as much as I could have. I was interested in certain subjects.
Math was my favorite subject because I was very good at it. I guess that was good because I ended up working in manufacturing for 30 years. I could change every fraction of 64ths in my head to a decimal.. I didn't need to figure it out. Every day math was needed in manufacturing.
It was a couple of years after graduating high school that the Vietnam War was going strong. Many of my friends were being drafted and I knew it was time for me to enlist. I joined the U.S. Air Force a move that
I never regretted. I thought then and I still think that every able bodied male should serve their country. I feel that ending the draft was a big mistake. The military teaches young people discipline and that is something lacking in our youth of today. I wonder if I was a good parent. I like to think so. My children were involved in scouts, the school band, my son on the swim team, my daughter as a majorette and drum major in the marching band the senior year. My son is a 20 year retired Marine and my daughter is an artist/graphic designer. I am so proud of them.
I spent my military time in Texas, Florida, and the Philippines. Funny four years in the Air Force and I was only in Vietnam for four hours. It was in the Airmen's Club on Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines that I met Lina. She became my wife and this coming December we will celebrate our 45th anniversary. We have
two children, five grand kids,and one great granddaughter.
In my work life I was an engraver and engraved gold drums about a half inch in diameter and an inch and a half long that went into guidance systems for missiles, after the military I worked for Ronson Corporation and put flint tubes in cigarette lighters, then for General Electric working in a carbon products plant, I became a machinist working in several factories through the years working on computer cabinets, parts for the space shuttle, parts for missile launchers on nuclear submarines, parts for fire detection systems, and numerous other parts. As the jobs were increasingly being shipped overseas and manufacturing was hurt, those jobs were hard to find. I worked my last two jobs as a maintenance supervisor in a library and as a maintenance coordinator in a large church.
Finally retirement came and I wanted to do something to be remembered by. I started to write short stories and was finally published in Our USA Magazine. Now two published novels have followed and I look back on life and realize that life is what you make of it.
Would I have done things different in life if I had the chance to do it over. Some things yes and many things no. I have never smoked, my dad died of lung cancer from smoking at age 59. I don't drink alcohol, I did for some time, but haven't had a drink in 20 years. To many families fall apart from alcohol abuse. I was not going to let that happen to my family. Do I have any bad habits. Yes, I do swear to much, but I am working on that, hahaha.
One thing I will say is that I love life and enjoy getting up every day. I enjoy hearing the birds singing early in the morning, I enjoy walking and playing with my dog,Cookie, I enjoy phone calls and emails from my children and grand kids. I enjoy knowing that Lina has put up with my for almost 45 years. I enjoy nature with a passion. If I can take a walk in the forest that costs me nothing it is more pleasure for me than if I went of an expensive vacation. It is the little things in life that matter.Hugging my wife, petting my dog, watching it rain, chatting with a friend. Everyone should remember the little joys in life cost us nothing.
God bless my family and friends, I love you all.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Saturday, July 11, 2015
VOTE
I am shocked at the voter turnout in the United States of America. We complain about a useless Congress yet few people go to the polls to vote the incompetent members of Congress out. I have done some research and found out that 58 countries in the world have a higher voter turnout than the US. This is unacceptable.
I think it should be taught in school the importance of voting. We live in a country where over 90% of the elections are determined by how much money the candidate spends. Our elections should not be bought by the highest bidder. We need to get more and more younger voters to vote. It is my feeling that if you don't vote then don't complain.
In the 2008 presidential election only 57.5% of voting age people voted. That was the highest percentage in many years but it is still to low. It needs to be made easier for people to vote, not harder like much state legislation has done in the past few years.
I think people should be able to register and vote online. This is the 21st century, why are we still doing things like we did in the old days. I also feel the electoral college should be done away with. Why in a world of high technology can a candidate win the popular vote and still loose the presidential election? This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Big money needs to get out of politics. Billionaires should not be allowed to spend millions of dollars on the candidates that they want elected. I think every candidate should be limited to the same amount of public money to spend on the race and no more. Some other countries do this.
I don't care if you are a democrat, a republican, or independent, people need to vote. Several years ago I changed from a registered democrat to unaffiliated. I vote for people of opposite parties and I will continue to do so. The important thing is to vote, vote, vote and make up your own choice. Don't make your decision on false advertising paid for by the super rich of the US.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
I think it should be taught in school the importance of voting. We live in a country where over 90% of the elections are determined by how much money the candidate spends. Our elections should not be bought by the highest bidder. We need to get more and more younger voters to vote. It is my feeling that if you don't vote then don't complain.
In the 2008 presidential election only 57.5% of voting age people voted. That was the highest percentage in many years but it is still to low. It needs to be made easier for people to vote, not harder like much state legislation has done in the past few years.
I think people should be able to register and vote online. This is the 21st century, why are we still doing things like we did in the old days. I also feel the electoral college should be done away with. Why in a world of high technology can a candidate win the popular vote and still loose the presidential election? This is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Big money needs to get out of politics. Billionaires should not be allowed to spend millions of dollars on the candidates that they want elected. I think every candidate should be limited to the same amount of public money to spend on the race and no more. Some other countries do this.
I don't care if you are a democrat, a republican, or independent, people need to vote. Several years ago I changed from a registered democrat to unaffiliated. I vote for people of opposite parties and I will continue to do so. The important thing is to vote, vote, vote and make up your own choice. Don't make your decision on false advertising paid for by the super rich of the US.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
COOKIE
One of the greatest pleasures in life is having a dog in your home. It is a shame that dogs don't live longer. Their life is short, ten to fifteen years, maybe twenty sometimes.
When my last dog, Izzy, died I cried for six months. Why don't some people realize that a dog is part of the family. A dog shows so much love and they deserve to have that love returned to them. Never get the feeling that you are to busy to spend time with your dog. A pat on the head, a hug, the time you let them lick your face, will put a twinkle in their eyes.
I have had several dogs in my life and I have never compared one to another. Each one has their own special characteristics. Some of them are sick and need some special care. My present dog, Cookie, I adopted from a shelter. Cookie had been abused and abandoned. When I saw her photo on a website I knew that I needed to see her. I fell in love with her immediately and she went home with us that day.
It wasn't long before, Cookie, had some violent seizures. Some people would have returned her to the shelter and demanded their money back. Never for a minute did I have that feeling. Instead I saw a little dog that was nervous, scared, and wanted someone to love her. When she would get one of her violent seizures I would get on the floor with her and protect her from hurting herself.
She would thrash around violently, her eyes would roll back, she would shake, she would often froth at the mouth, sometimes biting her tongue, she might have blood from her mouth, she might poop or pee on my arm. I would never stop comforting her until she would come out of her seizure. At one point she had four in one day. Finally with the help of our vet it was determined that she has epilepsy. Cookie was put on medication and immediately the seizures were under control. Even though Cookie is on medication she still does have a seizure every now and then. The vet said she probably always would. However, now she can feel them coming on and she will come to me and want to be held. I don't care if it takes a long time she will be held, petted, kept calm, until the seizure is over.
When you purchase or adopt that dog, they are then a part of your family. They need and deserve to be cared for, they need and deserve your love, they need medical attention if needed. After Cookie got on medication she started sleeping better, became more playful, eats better, and is a great addition to the family. I love her with all my heart. I'm looking at her now stretched out on the carpet in the sunlight. She loves the feel of the warmth on her body. I get down and pet her, she feels so warm in the sunlight. She lifts her head up for a second, looks at me, and I swear she smiles. Love is what it is all about.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
When my last dog, Izzy, died I cried for six months. Why don't some people realize that a dog is part of the family. A dog shows so much love and they deserve to have that love returned to them. Never get the feeling that you are to busy to spend time with your dog. A pat on the head, a hug, the time you let them lick your face, will put a twinkle in their eyes.
I have had several dogs in my life and I have never compared one to another. Each one has their own special characteristics. Some of them are sick and need some special care. My present dog, Cookie, I adopted from a shelter. Cookie had been abused and abandoned. When I saw her photo on a website I knew that I needed to see her. I fell in love with her immediately and she went home with us that day.
It wasn't long before, Cookie, had some violent seizures. Some people would have returned her to the shelter and demanded their money back. Never for a minute did I have that feeling. Instead I saw a little dog that was nervous, scared, and wanted someone to love her. When she would get one of her violent seizures I would get on the floor with her and protect her from hurting herself.
She would thrash around violently, her eyes would roll back, she would shake, she would often froth at the mouth, sometimes biting her tongue, she might have blood from her mouth, she might poop or pee on my arm. I would never stop comforting her until she would come out of her seizure. At one point she had four in one day. Finally with the help of our vet it was determined that she has epilepsy. Cookie was put on medication and immediately the seizures were under control. Even though Cookie is on medication she still does have a seizure every now and then. The vet said she probably always would. However, now she can feel them coming on and she will come to me and want to be held. I don't care if it takes a long time she will be held, petted, kept calm, until the seizure is over.
When you purchase or adopt that dog, they are then a part of your family. They need and deserve to be cared for, they need and deserve your love, they need medical attention if needed. After Cookie got on medication she started sleeping better, became more playful, eats better, and is a great addition to the family. I love her with all my heart. I'm looking at her now stretched out on the carpet in the sunlight. She loves the feel of the warmth on her body. I get down and pet her, she feels so warm in the sunlight. She lifts her head up for a second, looks at me, and I swear she smiles. Love is what it is all about.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Friday, May 29, 2015
CRIME IN AMERICA
I'm sure that everyone has thoughts on why we have so much crime in America and I have my thoughts as well. Maybe many people don't agree with my way of thinking, but I am a senior citizen, a veteran, and I love my country. I will say what I think and if anyone doesn't like it, I could care less.
I think there is so much crime in America because of the lack of education. We spend more money in this country on wars, giving tax breaks to the super rich, and giving foreign aid to countries that hate us. If the U.S. took that money and put it into education, made our schools better, and provided a college education to everyone that wanted to go to college we would see less poverty. More and better jobs would be created in our country, crime would decline like we have never seen before, the economy would be better.
Many crimes in the U.S. are not because people are bad. It is because they are hungry, without a job, and they are desperate. When people become desperate they will do things that they don't want to do, but they need to survive. Nothing breeds crime like a lack of education.
It saddens me to see that our government will give tax breaks to the super rich and multi-billion dollar corporation while we have wide a spread homeless problem in America and one in six children don't know where their next meal is coming from. We need to elect more people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren that knows what the real problems are.
When we get a top notch education system in this country that supports our teachers, gives our children the chance for a higher education, we will see job growth, less poverty, and less crime. We should not be spending more money on prisons than we are on education. Our government's way of thinking needs to make a 180 degree turn to make this country great again. The good life should be for everyone, not just the top 1%, this is a failure of America. Vote for people that want to spend more on education.
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
I think there is so much crime in America because of the lack of education. We spend more money in this country on wars, giving tax breaks to the super rich, and giving foreign aid to countries that hate us. If the U.S. took that money and put it into education, made our schools better, and provided a college education to everyone that wanted to go to college we would see less poverty. More and better jobs would be created in our country, crime would decline like we have never seen before, the economy would be better.
Many crimes in the U.S. are not because people are bad. It is because they are hungry, without a job, and they are desperate. When people become desperate they will do things that they don't want to do, but they need to survive. Nothing breeds crime like a lack of education.
It saddens me to see that our government will give tax breaks to the super rich and multi-billion dollar corporation while we have wide a spread homeless problem in America and one in six children don't know where their next meal is coming from. We need to elect more people like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren that knows what the real problems are.
When we get a top notch education system in this country that supports our teachers, gives our children the chance for a higher education, we will see job growth, less poverty, and less crime. We should not be spending more money on prisons than we are on education. Our government's way of thinking needs to make a 180 degree turn to make this country great again. The good life should be for everyone, not just the top 1%, this is a failure of America. Vote for people that want to spend more on education.
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
A TIME TO REFLECT BACK
It has been a month since I have written a blog post. It's not that I didn't want to, but I had surgery in the middle of April, then I had a catheter in me for two weeks. When it was removed I had a bad infection so I was on an antibiotic for another two weeks. I am finally getting back to normal and it is time to do some writing.
After the operation and during the recovery I felt pretty sick. It gave me a time to reflect back on my life, the good times and the bad times. I grew up pretty poor, not as poor as some but we didn't have some things in the early years of my life. We didn't have indoor plumbing for I guess the first five or six years of my life. That meant any water we used was carried in buckets from a sand spring. There was also the outhouse. I was afraid to go out there at night in the winter because I thought my butt would freeze fast and no one would find me until morning. I guess that is a funny thought now, but in the mind of a little boy it was scary.
I did alright in school, but I didn't apply myself very much. Maybe if I did I would have been more successful later in life, who knows. I liked school and made some good friends that I enjoyed being with. My favorite subject was math. I guess that is a good thing, because I worked thirty years in manufacturing and I used math every day. I don't think I was a bad kid in school, but I will say I was more mischievous. I did spend some time in Mr. Polumbo's office, the assistant principal. I did get suspended from school once for three days, something that I wasn't proud of and now realize just how stupid I was at a young age. I wish I could change that experience, but it did happen and it is past history. Maybe that made me a better person later in life. After all I do believe that people learn from their mistakes.
A couple of years after high school the Vietnam War was in full force. Many of my classmates were getting drafted and I knew that if I didn't enlist I would soon be drafted. I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and spent my time in Texas, Florida, and the Philippines. I loved the Philippines and was a flight mechanic on C-47 aircraft that flew mail, food, and booze to remote areas of the Philippines where Americans were stationed. I must say that the Philippines is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. It is made up of over 7,000 islands. I met a Filipino girl at the Airmen's Club on Clark AFB that became my wife. We have now been married over 44 years, have two great children, five grand kids, and one great granddaughter. Four years in the Air Force and I was only in Vietnam for four hours. How did I avoid serving in harm's way. I will never know, I guess God was looking out for me. So many men and women from America died in that war. Why did it have to happen?
As I neared retirement I started to write short stories and was rejected by fourteen magazines until, Cher Valentino, the founder and editor of Our USA Magazine saw something in my writing that she enjoyed. I will be forever grateful for her kindness and inspiration. She gave me the inspiration to write three novels, two of them published to this date. It also encouraged me to write this blog. Writing is something that gets into your blood, it is a passion, that won't leave a writer.
Yes, I am retired now and it seems like more time is spent at the doctor's off. I went sixty three years without a surgery and now I have had two in the last three years. Retired life is good though, I go to bed when I want, get up when I want, go places when my wife and I want, and enjoy life with a little beagle that we adopted.
Yes, I have had ups and downs in my life like anyone. I have made mistakes that I regret. I guess everyone has done something that is wrong, but will make them a better person later in life. I have my friends in my personal life and many friends on facebook that seems like family. I have become friends with several other authors, something that I cherish.
I have had several health challenges in my life, but I always come out of it better than I was before. Life is good, life is great, life is an adventure that I cherish every day for I realize that none of us knows when we will take our last breath on earth and enter the promised land. I want to thank all of my friends and my family because you are all a big part of my life.
Author's page: amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
My blog: thoughtsbyfish.blogspot.com
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
After the operation and during the recovery I felt pretty sick. It gave me a time to reflect back on my life, the good times and the bad times. I grew up pretty poor, not as poor as some but we didn't have some things in the early years of my life. We didn't have indoor plumbing for I guess the first five or six years of my life. That meant any water we used was carried in buckets from a sand spring. There was also the outhouse. I was afraid to go out there at night in the winter because I thought my butt would freeze fast and no one would find me until morning. I guess that is a funny thought now, but in the mind of a little boy it was scary.
I did alright in school, but I didn't apply myself very much. Maybe if I did I would have been more successful later in life, who knows. I liked school and made some good friends that I enjoyed being with. My favorite subject was math. I guess that is a good thing, because I worked thirty years in manufacturing and I used math every day. I don't think I was a bad kid in school, but I will say I was more mischievous. I did spend some time in Mr. Polumbo's office, the assistant principal. I did get suspended from school once for three days, something that I wasn't proud of and now realize just how stupid I was at a young age. I wish I could change that experience, but it did happen and it is past history. Maybe that made me a better person later in life. After all I do believe that people learn from their mistakes.
A couple of years after high school the Vietnam War was in full force. Many of my classmates were getting drafted and I knew that if I didn't enlist I would soon be drafted. I enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and spent my time in Texas, Florida, and the Philippines. I loved the Philippines and was a flight mechanic on C-47 aircraft that flew mail, food, and booze to remote areas of the Philippines where Americans were stationed. I must say that the Philippines is the most beautiful country I have ever seen. It is made up of over 7,000 islands. I met a Filipino girl at the Airmen's Club on Clark AFB that became my wife. We have now been married over 44 years, have two great children, five grand kids, and one great granddaughter. Four years in the Air Force and I was only in Vietnam for four hours. How did I avoid serving in harm's way. I will never know, I guess God was looking out for me. So many men and women from America died in that war. Why did it have to happen?
As I neared retirement I started to write short stories and was rejected by fourteen magazines until, Cher Valentino, the founder and editor of Our USA Magazine saw something in my writing that she enjoyed. I will be forever grateful for her kindness and inspiration. She gave me the inspiration to write three novels, two of them published to this date. It also encouraged me to write this blog. Writing is something that gets into your blood, it is a passion, that won't leave a writer.
Yes, I am retired now and it seems like more time is spent at the doctor's off. I went sixty three years without a surgery and now I have had two in the last three years. Retired life is good though, I go to bed when I want, get up when I want, go places when my wife and I want, and enjoy life with a little beagle that we adopted.
Yes, I have had ups and downs in my life like anyone. I have made mistakes that I regret. I guess everyone has done something that is wrong, but will make them a better person later in life. I have my friends in my personal life and many friends on facebook that seems like family. I have become friends with several other authors, something that I cherish.
I have had several health challenges in my life, but I always come out of it better than I was before. Life is good, life is great, life is an adventure that I cherish every day for I realize that none of us knows when we will take our last breath on earth and enter the promised land. I want to thank all of my friends and my family because you are all a big part of my life.
Author's page: amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
My blog: thoughtsbyfish.blogspot.com
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Saturday, April 25, 2015
SURGERY IS JUST A MINOR INCONVENIENCE
As I sit here at my computer this morning with a catheter in me and bag fastened to my leg I look back at the surgery I had ten days ago. I went through sixty three years never having surgery and now I just had my second one in less than three years.
Anyone that has surgery is scared, worried, and wonder what the outcome will be. The soreness is slowly going away and I am sleeping and walking better. I still can't take my dog for a walk or get down on the floor and play with her. I know she wonders why. Cookie looks at me with that cute little face and I keep telling her, "Pretty soon, Cookie."
Yes, recovering from surgery is just a minor inconvenience. There are so many people much worse off than I am. I thought back this morning to when my mother was in a nursing home during the last days of her life. The woman in the bed next to her had been in that nursing home in that same bed for twelve years. That is something that I can't imagine.
People live without their sight. I remember a man that had a store in Canadensis, PA many years ago. He was totally blind. It didn't keep him from living a decent life. People live in wheel chairs for much or all of their life. I know it has to be tough, but they can do some amazing things. People without an arm or a leg. I saw a story a few years ago of a woman that had no arms. She did everything with her feet. It was amazing seeing her change a diaper, use a typewriter, cook, clean. What an amazing woman she is.
There are so many people with cancer and other diseases that makes life difficult. I feel blessed with the life I have. I have been married over 44 years, have 2 great children, 5 grand kids that I am proud of, and now 1 great granddaughter.
My surgery is just a minor inconvenience. Soon I will be walking in the forest with my wife and Cookie again. I will be down on the floor playing with Cookie and her toys. She loves so much to play. I will be sitting at the computer working on another novel. Every day of life is an adventure, sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but always another chapter in my life.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Anyone that has surgery is scared, worried, and wonder what the outcome will be. The soreness is slowly going away and I am sleeping and walking better. I still can't take my dog for a walk or get down on the floor and play with her. I know she wonders why. Cookie looks at me with that cute little face and I keep telling her, "Pretty soon, Cookie."
Yes, recovering from surgery is just a minor inconvenience. There are so many people much worse off than I am. I thought back this morning to when my mother was in a nursing home during the last days of her life. The woman in the bed next to her had been in that nursing home in that same bed for twelve years. That is something that I can't imagine.
People live without their sight. I remember a man that had a store in Canadensis, PA many years ago. He was totally blind. It didn't keep him from living a decent life. People live in wheel chairs for much or all of their life. I know it has to be tough, but they can do some amazing things. People without an arm or a leg. I saw a story a few years ago of a woman that had no arms. She did everything with her feet. It was amazing seeing her change a diaper, use a typewriter, cook, clean. What an amazing woman she is.
There are so many people with cancer and other diseases that makes life difficult. I feel blessed with the life I have. I have been married over 44 years, have 2 great children, 5 grand kids that I am proud of, and now 1 great granddaughter.
My surgery is just a minor inconvenience. Soon I will be walking in the forest with my wife and Cookie again. I will be down on the floor playing with Cookie and her toys. She loves so much to play. I will be sitting at the computer working on another novel. Every day of life is an adventure, sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but always another chapter in my life.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
TEACHERS AND NURSES
There are two professions that I respect more than any other. They are teachers and nurses. Teachers have so much influence on a child. I will be out of high school fifty years in 2016. I still to this day think back to some of my teachers. It is a profession that people love to do. They have so much of an influence on the future of children. I have often heard a teacher say, "They are my children."
Many teachers spend a lot of their own money for things they need in the classroom to give their students a better education. I was an average student in school, more because I didn't apply myself as much as I could have. Every once in awhile I will be writing a story or a novel and just stop and think, what would this teacher or that one have done. Many times I will get a smile and say to myself, "You are so right. I think that is the best way to go."
Does it seem strange that a man who will soon be out of school fifty years still think of his teachers? I don't think it is strange at all, because my teachers had a great influence on my life. I thank everyone of them for the guidance they gave me through the years.
The other profession that I have a great deal of respect for is nurses. I recently went through my second surgery in the last three years. Nurses have a way of dealing with patients just like teachers have with students.
When I had surgery last week my nurses always came into my room with a smile and would go out of their way to make me feel comfortable. They could see that I was a little scared and would tell me that everything looked good. They would be there constantly checking my vital signs. It made me feel special when they would talk with me a few minutes about something totally different than the hospital.
Nurses spend a lot more time with patients than the doctors do. They are the ones that can take the fear out of an operation.
Anyone that goes into teaching or nursing is doing so much to help people. I have so much respect for both professions and have been blessed with the time they have spent in my life.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Many teachers spend a lot of their own money for things they need in the classroom to give their students a better education. I was an average student in school, more because I didn't apply myself as much as I could have. Every once in awhile I will be writing a story or a novel and just stop and think, what would this teacher or that one have done. Many times I will get a smile and say to myself, "You are so right. I think that is the best way to go."
Does it seem strange that a man who will soon be out of school fifty years still think of his teachers? I don't think it is strange at all, because my teachers had a great influence on my life. I thank everyone of them for the guidance they gave me through the years.
The other profession that I have a great deal of respect for is nurses. I recently went through my second surgery in the last three years. Nurses have a way of dealing with patients just like teachers have with students.
When I had surgery last week my nurses always came into my room with a smile and would go out of their way to make me feel comfortable. They could see that I was a little scared and would tell me that everything looked good. They would be there constantly checking my vital signs. It made me feel special when they would talk with me a few minutes about something totally different than the hospital.
Nurses spend a lot more time with patients than the doctors do. They are the ones that can take the fear out of an operation.
Anyone that goes into teaching or nursing is doing so much to help people. I have so much respect for both professions and have been blessed with the time they have spent in my life.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Sunday, March 29, 2015
WHY DO PEOPLE HATE
Human beings are the most intelligent species on the planet earth. At least that is what we think. I can't help but wonder if we are the most intelligent, why do we hate so much.
People hate other people because of the color of their skin, their religion, their nationality, their social status, whether they are straight or gay. I don't understand it, I really don't. This is a beautiful planet that we live on, we should all get along, but we don't.
Somewhere in the world there is always a war going on. People from one country are killing people from another country that they don't even know. Why, because their governments tell them that people from that country are evil, they are bad, they will take over our country if we let them.
The Vietnam War was fought because Americans were told that if we didn't stop communism in Asia it would take over America. Over 58,000 Americans were killed because our government hated North Vietnam. The war like with every war made many Americans super rich at the cost of blood of our fighting men and women.
People kill because they don't like the way someone looks, they don't like what other people have and they don't, they kill because they are on drugs, they kill because they rob someone, they kill for no apparent reason. Hatred in America and in other parts of the world are so wide-spread that it will never stop.
There are people that will go out of their way to help others in need. There should be more people like that.
Really, I don't understand hated. Maybe, someone can explain it to me. To me it makes no sense.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
People hate other people because of the color of their skin, their religion, their nationality, their social status, whether they are straight or gay. I don't understand it, I really don't. This is a beautiful planet that we live on, we should all get along, but we don't.
Somewhere in the world there is always a war going on. People from one country are killing people from another country that they don't even know. Why, because their governments tell them that people from that country are evil, they are bad, they will take over our country if we let them.
The Vietnam War was fought because Americans were told that if we didn't stop communism in Asia it would take over America. Over 58,000 Americans were killed because our government hated North Vietnam. The war like with every war made many Americans super rich at the cost of blood of our fighting men and women.
People kill because they don't like the way someone looks, they don't like what other people have and they don't, they kill because they are on drugs, they kill because they rob someone, they kill for no apparent reason. Hatred in America and in other parts of the world are so wide-spread that it will never stop.
There are people that will go out of their way to help others in need. There should be more people like that.
Really, I don't understand hated. Maybe, someone can explain it to me. To me it makes no sense.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Saturday, March 28, 2015
THINKING BACK
I am 66 years old and I guess at this age it is a time when people my age often think back to the good old days. I often let my mind wander back to the 1950s. It was a tough life growing up, but I have many happy memories.
I grew up as a country boy and those memories are something I will cherish until the day I die. I would often walk through the forest and watch some squirrels playing, seeing some wild turkeys, or sit on a large rock and watch a herd of deer. A couple of miles through the forest I would come to a little stream called, Pup Run. It was small and would often dry up in the summer. I would sit on a rock there and read a classic by one of my favorite authors, Mark Twain. I would read about life on the Mississippi River as I looked at that little stream and pretended it was my Mississippi. I guess it sounds kind of silly now to have those thoughts, but to a little boy no more than ten years old it seemed so real.
I remember riding my bicycle almost ever day with my best friend, Billy Jones. We would ride our bikes to the railroad tracks and watch the trains climbing or descending the long hill through the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. We would wave to the engineer, he would wave back and blow the horn of the engine for us. It gave us a thrill of a lifetime. Those days are long past, well over fifty years ago.
Billy and I would often collect our glass soda bottles, but them in the baskets of our bikes and take them to Lewis's supermarket where we traded the bottles in. With the money we would buy some candy and another bottle of soda. We would stop at a flat rock on Mill Creek, put the soda in the cold water to cool off as we eat our candy. Billy and I would talk for the longest time. We both had dreams of what it would be like to grow up.
My brother, Jim, and myself loved to spend time outside. There was no computer games back in those days. I often wish there was none now. We would play football in our yard with a waxed paper milk carton stuffed with leaves, go to a field and play baseball, or play basketball by the hour in our driveway no matter how cold it was. In the winter we would spend a lot of time on our uncle John's pond ice skating.
It has been years since I moved away from the Pocono Mountains. However I think of it often. I didn't grow up rich, far from it. Actually, I am still far from it. Over 60 years ago since the 1950s. I now have been married over 44 years, have 2 wonderful children, 5 grand kids, and now have a great granddaughter. I just hope that they all love life as much as I do.
Memories, that is what life is all about. There have been good memories and bad memories, but I don't think much of the bad ones. I like the memories that make me smile, make me glad that I grew up a country boy. You can take the boy out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the boy.
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
I grew up as a country boy and those memories are something I will cherish until the day I die. I would often walk through the forest and watch some squirrels playing, seeing some wild turkeys, or sit on a large rock and watch a herd of deer. A couple of miles through the forest I would come to a little stream called, Pup Run. It was small and would often dry up in the summer. I would sit on a rock there and read a classic by one of my favorite authors, Mark Twain. I would read about life on the Mississippi River as I looked at that little stream and pretended it was my Mississippi. I guess it sounds kind of silly now to have those thoughts, but to a little boy no more than ten years old it seemed so real.
I remember riding my bicycle almost ever day with my best friend, Billy Jones. We would ride our bikes to the railroad tracks and watch the trains climbing or descending the long hill through the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. We would wave to the engineer, he would wave back and blow the horn of the engine for us. It gave us a thrill of a lifetime. Those days are long past, well over fifty years ago.
Billy and I would often collect our glass soda bottles, but them in the baskets of our bikes and take them to Lewis's supermarket where we traded the bottles in. With the money we would buy some candy and another bottle of soda. We would stop at a flat rock on Mill Creek, put the soda in the cold water to cool off as we eat our candy. Billy and I would talk for the longest time. We both had dreams of what it would be like to grow up.
My brother, Jim, and myself loved to spend time outside. There was no computer games back in those days. I often wish there was none now. We would play football in our yard with a waxed paper milk carton stuffed with leaves, go to a field and play baseball, or play basketball by the hour in our driveway no matter how cold it was. In the winter we would spend a lot of time on our uncle John's pond ice skating.
It has been years since I moved away from the Pocono Mountains. However I think of it often. I didn't grow up rich, far from it. Actually, I am still far from it. Over 60 years ago since the 1950s. I now have been married over 44 years, have 2 wonderful children, 5 grand kids, and now have a great granddaughter. I just hope that they all love life as much as I do.
Memories, that is what life is all about. There have been good memories and bad memories, but I don't think much of the bad ones. I like the memories that make me smile, make me glad that I grew up a country boy. You can take the boy out of the country, but you can never take the country out of the boy.
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Saturday, March 14, 2015
SELF PUBLISH
There was a time when I thought an author had to have their book published by a traditional publisher to have any success. Times have changed in the publishing business and more and more people are taking the self-publishing route because of the frustration of trying to get a book published the traditional way.
I have done some research and found that many great writers had books self-published. A few of them are, Zane Grey, Carl Sandburg, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Benjamin Franklin, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
There is no shame in self-publishing, as a matter of fact I think it is the way to go because you have control over the publishing process. Self-publishers want to do it your way and want to make you happy.
I have decided that I will support self-published books more than I ever have. There are many great books out there that deserve to be read. I used e-booktime.com to have my novel, Walk to Love, published. I had a much better time with them that I did with the place I had my first novel published at about one third the price. There are many self-publishing companies and authors need to do a lot of research before they decide on the company to publish their book.
Many authors that decide to have their books self-published will have success. One of those is a friend of mine, Jan Reid. I recently read her novel, Deep Water Tears. As soon as I started to read it I could feel that Jan had a talent for writing. Her novel pulled me in like a magnet wanting to know what was going to happen next. Jan's novel is listed on amazon.com.
If you would like to see a list of books published by my publisher e-booktime.com, go to their website and click on store. You will find some good reading there.
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
I have done some research and found that many great writers had books self-published. A few of them are, Zane Grey, Carl Sandburg, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, Benjamin Franklin, and Edgar Rice Burroughs.
There is no shame in self-publishing, as a matter of fact I think it is the way to go because you have control over the publishing process. Self-publishers want to do it your way and want to make you happy.
I have decided that I will support self-published books more than I ever have. There are many great books out there that deserve to be read. I used e-booktime.com to have my novel, Walk to Love, published. I had a much better time with them that I did with the place I had my first novel published at about one third the price. There are many self-publishing companies and authors need to do a lot of research before they decide on the company to publish their book.
Many authors that decide to have their books self-published will have success. One of those is a friend of mine, Jan Reid. I recently read her novel, Deep Water Tears. As soon as I started to read it I could feel that Jan had a talent for writing. Her novel pulled me in like a magnet wanting to know what was going to happen next. Jan's novel is listed on amazon.com.
If you would like to see a list of books published by my publisher e-booktime.com, go to their website and click on store. You will find some good reading there.
amazon.com/author/larry_w_fish
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Sunday, March 1, 2015
A TALENTED WRITER
I have been writing for about six years now and I enjoy every minute of it. I don't consider myself a great writer, but a good writer. I love to tell a story and I like to write from the heart. Myself and many other writers I know have failed in getting our books published the traditional way. Them and myself have went the self-publishing route. There is nothing wrong with that, but if you are self-publishing do a lot of research. They vary a lot in price and the services they provide. Most will post your books on amazon and Barnes and Noble websites.
I recently became aware of a fellow writer from Australia that had her novel, Deep Water Tears, self-published. I knew that she had some works on kindle, but I don't have kindle so I was waiting, hoping she would get something in print. That wish just recently became a reality. I bought a copy of, Deep Water Tears by Jan Reid.
From the first page, Jan, pulled me into the story like a magnet. It is one of those novels that you hate to put down because you know something unexpected will happen soon. Deep Water Tears is a novel of romance and life in Australia. I learned things about Australia that I never knew before. I found out that there is prejudice in Australia, just like we have in America. I saw how a mother tries to keep two people apart because she didn't approve of them seeing each other.
I don't want to say anything more, because if you purchase a copy of, Deep Water Tears, I want you to enjoy it as much as I did. Consider buying a copy and support a fellow writer that is also a good friend. Jan and I most likely will never meet because of the distance between us, but we both have a love for writing.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
I recently became aware of a fellow writer from Australia that had her novel, Deep Water Tears, self-published. I knew that she had some works on kindle, but I don't have kindle so I was waiting, hoping she would get something in print. That wish just recently became a reality. I bought a copy of, Deep Water Tears by Jan Reid.
From the first page, Jan, pulled me into the story like a magnet. It is one of those novels that you hate to put down because you know something unexpected will happen soon. Deep Water Tears is a novel of romance and life in Australia. I learned things about Australia that I never knew before. I found out that there is prejudice in Australia, just like we have in America. I saw how a mother tries to keep two people apart because she didn't approve of them seeing each other.
I don't want to say anything more, because if you purchase a copy of, Deep Water Tears, I want you to enjoy it as much as I did. Consider buying a copy and support a fellow writer that is also a good friend. Jan and I most likely will never meet because of the distance between us, but we both have a love for writing.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Monday, February 16, 2015
READ AROUND THE WORLD
Nothing makes a writer more proud than when they hear that someone enjoys their novel. If I wrote for a living I would be sleeping under a bridge somewhere by now. Writers first thought is to write because they love it and they want their readers to enjoy the words that they see in print. If financial success comes, then it is an added bonus.
My first success in writing was being published in Our USA Magazine. A wonderful magazine founded by a woman that saw in her mind the stories and photos that Americans wanted to share. My first story that was published was, Milk Carton Football. My brother and I with some friends used to get in our yard and play football with a milk carton stuffed with leaves. We didn't have a real football, so stuffing leaves into one of those waxed milk cartons worked just fine.When I think of it, I smile! I call them the good old days.
I had some other stories published in Our USA Magazine and Cher Valentino, the founder of the magazine gave me the inspiration I needed to expand my writing. Could I write a book I thought? Then I was thinking to myself, that if you can write a short story, then you can write a novel. A novel is made up of chapters and each one is a short story. Keep writing chapters and soon you will have a book. I do have to admit that the thought of holding a book that I wrote in my hands kept me interested.
I had my first novel, Golden Haze, self-published. When I got those first copies and held one in my hand, I was on cloud nine. It was the most exciting feeling knowing that I had accomplished something that I had wanted to do for a long time. It received good reviews on amazon.com.
I decided to write another book and I wanted to take a different route. Golden Haze, was a paranormal novel. My second novel, Walk to Love, is the story of a man that was in deep depression after his wife was killed in a car accident. I thought what if he was visited by God? I took that route and God sent him on a walking journey across America that would change his life forever. It is a Christian romance novel of romance, tragedy, depression, inspiration, sadness, and the ups and downs of everyday life.
In December of 2014 I had, Walk to Love, published. This novel is special to me because it was proofread and the cover was designed by my daughter. When I held that first copy in my hand I knew that I wanted to write no matter the outcome of my success.
As, Walk to Love, was in the final stages of corrections and making changes I was working on a third novel.
That novel is complete and I look to have it self-published sometime in 2015. With three works under my belt I am taking a little break, but am thinking of a fourth novel. I wrote a short story some years ago and the more I think about it the more I realize the fourth novel will become a reality. I have written a paranormal novel, two romance novels, and my fourth will be more of terror and horror.
I think of the family and friends that I have around the world and one of the things that makes me the proudest is to know that my novels have been read in Okinawa, Australia, Brazil, the UK, and Russia.
My novels have reached around the world and nothing makes my feel prouder than to know that I have brought joy to someone in a far off land.
I started to write late in life, but some of the greats started late. Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House didn't get published until she was 65. We all know of Grandma Moses whose first painting wasn't sold until she was much older. I will continue to write, because I enjoy it and it makes other people happy. When other people tell me they enjoy a story or a novel, then I an happy, that is what matters most.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
My first success in writing was being published in Our USA Magazine. A wonderful magazine founded by a woman that saw in her mind the stories and photos that Americans wanted to share. My first story that was published was, Milk Carton Football. My brother and I with some friends used to get in our yard and play football with a milk carton stuffed with leaves. We didn't have a real football, so stuffing leaves into one of those waxed milk cartons worked just fine.When I think of it, I smile! I call them the good old days.
I had some other stories published in Our USA Magazine and Cher Valentino, the founder of the magazine gave me the inspiration I needed to expand my writing. Could I write a book I thought? Then I was thinking to myself, that if you can write a short story, then you can write a novel. A novel is made up of chapters and each one is a short story. Keep writing chapters and soon you will have a book. I do have to admit that the thought of holding a book that I wrote in my hands kept me interested.
I had my first novel, Golden Haze, self-published. When I got those first copies and held one in my hand, I was on cloud nine. It was the most exciting feeling knowing that I had accomplished something that I had wanted to do for a long time. It received good reviews on amazon.com.
I decided to write another book and I wanted to take a different route. Golden Haze, was a paranormal novel. My second novel, Walk to Love, is the story of a man that was in deep depression after his wife was killed in a car accident. I thought what if he was visited by God? I took that route and God sent him on a walking journey across America that would change his life forever. It is a Christian romance novel of romance, tragedy, depression, inspiration, sadness, and the ups and downs of everyday life.
In December of 2014 I had, Walk to Love, published. This novel is special to me because it was proofread and the cover was designed by my daughter. When I held that first copy in my hand I knew that I wanted to write no matter the outcome of my success.
As, Walk to Love, was in the final stages of corrections and making changes I was working on a third novel.
That novel is complete and I look to have it self-published sometime in 2015. With three works under my belt I am taking a little break, but am thinking of a fourth novel. I wrote a short story some years ago and the more I think about it the more I realize the fourth novel will become a reality. I have written a paranormal novel, two romance novels, and my fourth will be more of terror and horror.
I think of the family and friends that I have around the world and one of the things that makes me the proudest is to know that my novels have been read in Okinawa, Australia, Brazil, the UK, and Russia.
My novels have reached around the world and nothing makes my feel prouder than to know that I have brought joy to someone in a far off land.
I started to write late in life, but some of the greats started late. Laura Ingalls Wilder of Little House didn't get published until she was 65. We all know of Grandma Moses whose first painting wasn't sold until she was much older. I will continue to write, because I enjoy it and it makes other people happy. When other people tell me they enjoy a story or a novel, then I an happy, that is what matters most.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
WHEN THEY ARE FAR AWAY
When you have those young children in your life and you see them grow up it makes you as a parent feel so proud. I can still look back and remember the birth of my children, Thomas and Leonor. I remember their first day of school and all those years of Brownies, Cub Scouts, Little League, Majorettes, School Band.
I sit here and smile at those memories. I remember my daughter being the Drum Major of the marching band her last year in high school. I remember my son taking a tour of Europe with a world band.
They grow up and leave home and it gives a parent an empty feeling. The home feels empty, but you realize that they have grown up and have to leave the nest to be out on their own. They are now on their own and you think well we don't have to worry about them anymore. That is about the dumbest feeling a parent can
have. You will never stop worrying no matter how old they get.
Thomas joined the Marine Corps at an early age. He spent 20 years serving his country and served three tours of duty in Iraq. Leonor went to college and she knew from a little girl that art was her desire in life.
She is an artist/graphic designer. Her sketches and paintings make me as a parent feel so proud of what she can do. She also teaches art classes.
A couple of years ago our daughter moved to Raleigh, NC and we only got to see her and our youngest granddaughter a couple of times a year. My wife and I decided that we wanted to be closer to them so we moved to Raleigh a couple of years ago. Now we get to see them often.
Our son retired from the Marine Corps while serving in Okinawa. He decided that Okinawa was where he wanted to live with his family. It gave my wife and I a hurt feeling, but we knew that he had to live his life as he wanted to. Okinawa is half way around the world, so the time we didn't get to see him, his wife, and our grand children turned to months and then years. It has been a long time and Lina and I hope that they will return to the US to live. We are getting older in years and we want to spend time with them.
Recently our son had an operation while living in Okinawa. There was complications and he had to go back in the hospital. His condition became worse and my wife and I could only be with him by email, phone, and facebook. His condition became urgent and he was flown to an Army hospital in Hawaii. Still to far for two people living on Social Security to travel. He is under good care and his condition is improving. Tom remains in our thoughts and prayers every day. We love him so much and wish we were there to hug him, hold his hand and tell him how much we love him. His wife and our youngest grandson are doing that now.
He will be having another operation sometime next month and we pray that everything will be fine. Lina and I hope that maybe him and his family will return to the US in the not to distant future. It is tough having them so far away, especially when problems occur. We would like to have those family trips, picnics, family dinners during the holidays again, and I would love to go fishing with Tom again. We had so much fun fishing and it is a dream that I hold onto that it will happen again. My wife will be 70 in a few months and I am on the road to 67 this September.
Yes, it is tough when they live so far away, but we do realize that they have their own lives to live.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
I sit here and smile at those memories. I remember my daughter being the Drum Major of the marching band her last year in high school. I remember my son taking a tour of Europe with a world band.
They grow up and leave home and it gives a parent an empty feeling. The home feels empty, but you realize that they have grown up and have to leave the nest to be out on their own. They are now on their own and you think well we don't have to worry about them anymore. That is about the dumbest feeling a parent can
have. You will never stop worrying no matter how old they get.
Thomas joined the Marine Corps at an early age. He spent 20 years serving his country and served three tours of duty in Iraq. Leonor went to college and she knew from a little girl that art was her desire in life.
She is an artist/graphic designer. Her sketches and paintings make me as a parent feel so proud of what she can do. She also teaches art classes.
A couple of years ago our daughter moved to Raleigh, NC and we only got to see her and our youngest granddaughter a couple of times a year. My wife and I decided that we wanted to be closer to them so we moved to Raleigh a couple of years ago. Now we get to see them often.
Our son retired from the Marine Corps while serving in Okinawa. He decided that Okinawa was where he wanted to live with his family. It gave my wife and I a hurt feeling, but we knew that he had to live his life as he wanted to. Okinawa is half way around the world, so the time we didn't get to see him, his wife, and our grand children turned to months and then years. It has been a long time and Lina and I hope that they will return to the US to live. We are getting older in years and we want to spend time with them.
Recently our son had an operation while living in Okinawa. There was complications and he had to go back in the hospital. His condition became worse and my wife and I could only be with him by email, phone, and facebook. His condition became urgent and he was flown to an Army hospital in Hawaii. Still to far for two people living on Social Security to travel. He is under good care and his condition is improving. Tom remains in our thoughts and prayers every day. We love him so much and wish we were there to hug him, hold his hand and tell him how much we love him. His wife and our youngest grandson are doing that now.
He will be having another operation sometime next month and we pray that everything will be fine. Lina and I hope that maybe him and his family will return to the US in the not to distant future. It is tough having them so far away, especially when problems occur. We would like to have those family trips, picnics, family dinners during the holidays again, and I would love to go fishing with Tom again. We had so much fun fishing and it is a dream that I hold onto that it will happen again. My wife will be 70 in a few months and I am on the road to 67 this September.
Yes, it is tough when they live so far away, but we do realize that they have their own lives to live.
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
Thursday, January 8, 2015
CUT THE CABLE
CUT
THE CABLE
I grew up as a little
boy in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania during the 1950s. As it is now 2015
I have to let my memory go back a long way. I remember looking at TV when
everything was in black and white. We had an antenna on the roof of our house
with a rotor so we could turn the antenna toward New York City or
Philadelphia. We only got five channels,
three from New York and two from Philadelphia.
It was many years later
when I was married and we rented a home that we first got cable TV. I’m not
sure how many channels then, but I do remember we only paid about $9.00 a
month. That was in the mid-1980s.
Now my mind is back to
2015 and it was not long ago that I read an article that a company called MOHU,
a spinoff of Greenwave Scientific, built indoor TV antennas. It is a company
located in Raleigh, NC where we presently live. The article said, why pay a
high cable or satellite TV bill when you can get high definition broadcast
channels and have no monthly bill. I was interested but not a total believer,
because I remember the quality of the signal way back in the 1950s.
Would this work I
thought to myself? I did as much research as I could on MOHU indoor antennas.
They had two antennas that interested me. Both were MOHU leaf antennas, one
with a 30 mile range and the other with a 50 mile range. We live about 10 miles
from downtown Raleigh so I decided to get the MOHU leaf 30 antenna and hook it
up to the TV in our bedroom. It is slightly larger than a sheet of standard
computer paper. The antenna is white on one side and black on the other. It
took all of five minutes to disconnect the cable and put up the antenna on the
wall. As I flipped through the channels I was amazed. All channels were crystal
clear.
In doing my research it
said in my area I should be able to receive 19 channels and I was pleasantly
surprised to find that I actually got 25 channels. I decided to get another
antenna for the TV in the living room and a wireless router so I could stream
NetFlix to that TV. I now had access to my local TV channels, ABC, NBC, CBS,
FOX, and others. Also I was now able to see thousands of TV shows and movies
with NetFlix costing me $8.99 a month.
This antenna won’t work
if you live a long distance from a city, but for me it is ideal and a huge
money saver. We were paying over $75 dollars a month for cable.
Sure we got over 350 channels, but why did we need that many. We only look at
about 15 of them regularly. It was time to cut the cable out of my life and
save money in the process. We already knew that in 2015 our cable bill was
going to be over $80 a month or over $960 a year.
I bought 2 MOHU indoor
TV antennas for $40 each and a wireless router for $70, a total cost of $150.
However no more monthly cable bill. We will pay $8.99 a month for NetFlix for a
total of $107.88 a year. So we are going from over $960 a year to less than
$108 a year. That is a savings of $852 a year. That is a huge savings of well
over $4,000 in the next 5 years.
We only had our TV with the cable company. We have the MagicJack Internet phone for $35 a year and we
have dsl Internet through the phone company. Cable is now out of
our life.
Here is little
information about the MOHU antennas. They were introduced in March of 2011. So
far they have saved customers over $220 million by eliminating cable or
satellite bills. 94 of the top 100 watched shows are available over-the-air in
1080p HD. Free with an MOHU antenna.
There is life after
cable or satellite TV. Why pay for many channels you never look at? The only
two channels I will miss from cable are the Hallmark and the History channels.
I can live without those to save hundreds of dollars a year.
If you live close to a
city with many broadcast channels check out this antenna. It was developed from
military technology. Go to www.gomohu.com
No more cable bill, I
am on cloud nine!
Copyright Larry W. Fish 2015
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