Month: June 2024

                        There have been several times when I’ve advised anyone to stop what they are doing and proceed to GO, collect your $200, and just follow my suggestion.

                        This experience fits nicely into that Category.

                        You just need to be comfortable with pieces of raw, somewhat bloody, chicken in your hand. No worries, there is a glove.

                                    The backstory.

                                    We are now up in Southern Vermont, near Mount Snow, visiting Barb, Paula’s sister, for her 80^th Birthday (!) Barb brought Paula and me over to New Hampshire for rendezvous with some birds. They were big birds. Falcons and Hawks to be exact.

                                    We were at Monadnock (Moe-nad-nock) Falconry in Temple, New Hampshire where we met Mahood (a Harris’ Hawk /Parabuteo unicinctus) and his best friend, Henry (a Human/Homo sapiens). Together, all five of us went on what is called by Henry, a ‘Hawk Walk’. This is an hour and a half spent in a fully immersive experience learning about Hawks, Falcons, and Raptors in general and…… trying to help Mahood kick up some snacks!

                                    There is so much going on at this point that I should probably stop and explain this unusually symbiotic nature of the relationship between Henry (representing all Falconers over the last thousand or so years) and Mahood (representing several species of Raptors spanning that same time period.) You first need to know that Mahood and his kin can fly away any time that they would like to. Their hunting skills have not been diminished in any way by their relatively new partnership with the Falconer. The neat part is that they work together as a team to flush out tasty critters from wherever these little snacks are hiding. Mahood flew around from tree to tree, from gloved hand to gloved hand, back to a tree, up into the sky, back to a tree, back to a hand, many, many times over our Hawk Walk. It was fascinating to watch Mahood spy something in the grasses and give Henry “The Look” as if to say “Hey Big Guy! Go see if you can kick him out for me!”

                                    And if You don’t want to be on the receiving end of “The Look”, you best proceed and do what the hawk tells you to do!

                        That is where this bond takes place. The Hawk eventually learns that their Human will help find food. And, let’s be honest, it’s a big, bad world out there and even though most of these Raptors are at the top of the Food Chain, survival in the wilderness is still hard. So, even though they can absolutely fly away any time that they would like to, there is a relative comfort level of safety and sustenance that they enjoy. If they didn’t, then away they would go!

Back in 1959 in Detroit, I had a parakeet. Apparently, he did not like his surroundings because one day when Mom was cleaning his cage (there’s the difference?) he ‘flew the coop’ and was never seen again! Maybe that is the difference…. Caged animals are just that, they are not free… these raptors, even though they have ‘homes’ with their Handlers, are set free several times every day and could join up with Skippy, my old parakeet, any time that they would like to.

                                    So we were quite thrilled when Mahood came back to our gloved hand/arm! The glove is quite necessary as these birds have quite the grip which includes those sharp, pointy parts of their talons (feet). These are their first means of offense and defense. Those awesome looking sharp beaks are primarily there to rip through any tasty morsels that may come their way. And…. here’s a neat bit of Falcon Food Facts…. They store their ‘catch’ in their gullet until they are finished hunting. They then retreat to the relative safety of a big pine tree (or wherever they find) and do their best to hide themselves while they finish digesting supper. This way they do not expend energy on either activity (hunting or digesting) and just wait until the appropriate time.

                                    Henry was the perfect host as this is both his vocation and avocation. Henry’s story is as interesting as his flying cohorts. After reading in an undergraduate Latin(!) course, De arte venandi cum avibus, or Concerning the Art of Hunting with Birds, Henry decided to pursue this avian art of falconry. Henry was fascinated by the way that Fredrick the Great, (in the13^th Century) took this activity serious enough to write an entire treatise on these birds’ habits, eccentricities, and even their personalities! This in turn lead Henry to a Travelling Fellowship with the Ireland School of Falconry where he apprenticed with some of the finest Falconers in Europe. Henry now has his own set of apprentices as he has attained the lofty 😊 status of Master Falconer!

                        After our Hawk Walk Henry brought us inside to meet Pitch, a Red-Tailed Hawk and Pete, a Great Horned Owl. The Monadnock Falconry does get several injured birds a year and their goals are to repair and rehabilitate them so that they can return to the wild. In the case of Pete, he was found by a policeman twelve years ago and was unfortunately removed (with the best intentions) from the scene thus preventing his parents from any attempt to care for the little white fuzz-ball. Pete is now a resident of Monadnock as he had ‘imprinted’ on a human at an early age.

                        They (and a host of others being rehabilitated) are fortunately under the care of Henry Walters and his team at Monadnock Falconry. You too can experience this exclusive encounter with these magnificent birds! We had one of those “Once in a Lifetime” experiences with Henry and his friends in the hills of Southern New Hampshire…..

……..as I stated in the beginning….. Stop what you are doing and……

www.monadnockfalconry.com Located in Temple, New Hampshire

                        My grandparents had a house directly on the bay in Manahawkin, in the Beach Haven West section to be exact. We lived in Bergen County, up north, and would come down for weekends and for our summer vacations.

Even with all of the traveling that we’ve done as of late, this area of New Jersey remains my most highly favoritest place on the planet. In 1965 one could purchase a small house on one of the lagoons (canals), brandy-spankin’ new for $5,999.00. Obviously today that sum won’t even get you a bulkhead repair at your backyard dock. But those homes are still there and my dreams* of getting a boat again and having it in my backyard get my heart racing every year at this time when we visit the area.

          (* dreams : wistful wants and wishes that will probably never come true but are still tons of fun and very satisfying to have.)

                        “So Don, why are you boring us with your childhood reveries?”

                        I’m glad you asked that Mr. Real Estate Tycoon!

                        Because we’re back ‘down the shore’ as we say in Jersey visiting with Paula’s cousins, Carol and Glenn! And tonight, we are going to head south, past Manahawkin, almost to Atlantic City, and visit The Towne of Historic Smithville and have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, The Smithville Inn.

My first acquaintance with this venerable old inn was probably in 1965. It was obviously for some special occasion (which I can’t recall) as a visit to it was not an ordinary event. Tonight, the event is a family reunion of sorts as Paula’s cousin from North Carolina (and his whole family) come north for a few weeks.

I can’t wait to go back!

                        “Please Don, do go on, we’re on the edge of our seats!”

                        Ok, if you insist!  

                        The genesis of this “Historic” Smithville is somewhat of a misnomer as some of it dates back to the early 1700’s but the vast majority of this locale was the brainchild of a local couple, Fred and Ethyl Noyes. They were on a walk through the woods along Route 9 one day back in 1951 and stumbled across the old remains of the real Smithville Inn. It was just a vestige of what it is now, but still, it was the start of what would become a rather nice collection of old buildings from the area.

                        Initially they built (or re-built) the Inn, added some new space, and opened a very successful restaurant. They soon added (by collecting) these old wooden structures from South Jersey, moved them to their property, and turned them into little retail specialty shops. Think antiques, a Christmas Store, a bakery, local tourist stuff, etc. There is a total of over fifty different shoppes, ten eateries, and a very nice Colonial Inn with about fifty rooms ready for you to stop and take a respite and maybe even procure sustenance on your travels.

                        But the best part is yet to come!

                        “Oh please Don, don’t stop now!                     

                        Ok, get this! Guess who was born right down the road from here….. I’ll give you some hints…..

                        – He’s very famous.

                        – He’s very old (born in 1735).

                        – He was the thirteenth child (yikes!) of Deborah Leeds.

So, the thirteenth child…. exceptionally unlucky! Hmmm…. Could it be that this child would be born as a member of New Jersey’s very own NHL franchise….. the Jersey Devils???

Not quite, but good guess!

                       

The Jersey Devil and his various legends were spawned, figuratively and literally, across from the Smithville Inn, just down the aptly named Leeds Point Road. The Leeds family can trace their lineage back to the very early days of this land, way before it was our country, and it was Deb’s unfortunate finding out that she was pregnant (for the 13^th time) that let her exclaim, “Let this one be the devil!”

Be careful what you wish for Deb! In 1735, she was in labor on a stormy night while her friends gathered around her. Unfortunately, (?) for her, the thirteenth child was born normally. However, it transformed into a creature with hooves, a goat’s head, bat wings, and a forked tail. Growling and screaming, the child beat everyone with its tail before flying up the chimney and heading into the pines. Now your kid has been wreaking havoc in the New Jersey Pinelands for 289 years!

                                    And since I only had a Coke as a beverage with my dinner, I did not have a Jersey Devil Sighting of my own. But be that as it may, the legends thankfully live on and there’s always next time!

Now, please don’t let this local legend scare you away! New Jersey (with all of its many faults and inadequacies) is an incredible place to visit! As former residents, it’s the classic place that you love to hate and can’t wait to leave but feel great when you come back to. It’s a paradox of emotions and experiences……. I promise you that if you decide to visit, you will not be disappointed, just ask Tony Soprano, he’ll make you an offer that you can’t refuse…..

Come here and be entertained on so many levels. 😎

                        “Boston is the only place that you can have a cold Sam Adams while looking at a cold Sam Adams” or so my grandson Augustus said to me as we were looking over Samuel Adams grave in the Old Granary Burying Ground in Boston. I’m fairly sure that he had been waiting quite a while to use that phrase in it’s proper location and context.

                        We spent the better part of the day walking the Freedom Trail in the older sections of downtown Boston with the grandkids Gus, Adelaide, and Eleanor. Boston has done a particularly good job of saving and restoring the landmarks from our Revolutionary War period (and before), immortalizing places such as the site of the Boston Massacre to the Old North Church. Every kid in America learns at one time or another about Paul Revere’s Ride or the story of “Old Ironsides” the U.S.S. Constitution.

                                    It is quite different actually being here.

                                    To be certain, this is where it all started.

                                    The Freedom Trail starts in/on the Boston Common, itself quite the landmark as the oldest public space in our country. The Trail is easily followed by walking an indicated red brick line that has been placed in the sidewalks and streets of Boston. Along with an accompanying pamphlet-style guide map and well-placed markers along the way, the stories and history of the exploits of many of our Founding Fathers really come to life.

                                    The series of events that eventually led to what became our Revolutionary War with Great Britain did not happen overnight, nor was it compact in nature. This hostile environment festered for many a year as England continued to squeeze more and more money (in the form of taxes) and exert more and more control over the Colonies that made up the eastern part of our portion of North America. The infamous and very unpopular, (think Taxation without Representation) Stamp Act was passed in 1765 by Parliament, so the Colonies were already not happy when the Boston Massacre occurred in early 1770. The first shot at Lexington was not fired until five years later in the spring of 1775 and, the War lasted another eight years until Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown in the fall of 1781, which was the beginning of the end as the Treaty of Paris was signed in1783 which finally halted the hostilities between what is now probably the two greatest allies on the planet.

                                    1770 to1783, that’s thirteen years of fighting for the freedom to control our own destinies. Thirteen years, one for each original colony…… maybe that was Destiny.

                                    More likely it was fortitude.

                                    But it all started here in Boston!

                                    Without the Sons of Liberty, a few of which were Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Paul Revere from Boston, and others from most of the other colonies, that spark may have never been ignited. But it was, again, right here in Boston and you can visit and see for yourselves the close proximity of them all just by spending an afternoon walking in their proverbial footsteps here where it all began.

                                    A humbling experience to say the least.

                        If any of you have traveled to the coast of Maine, then you have an idea of what Cape Ann in Massachusetts is like. But it’s hours closer to the northern New Jersey area so, unlike Maine where, “Ya can’t get theah from heah”, Cape Ann is easily reached via I-95, and it is just forty-five minutes north of Boston. This makes it an ideal Day Trip if you’re spending some time in that incredible city.

 Or get a VRBO and spend your time right on the Cape.

                                    I promise that you won’t be disappointed!

                        We get up here once a year to visit my son Donny and his family, Hilary, Augustus, Adelaide, and Eleanor, their dog Mali, and about eight chickens who all have names, but for obvious reasons, they will go unlisted. Please don’t tell them.

                        For those of you that have joined us just recently, I will give you a brief primer on Cape Ann and its environs, just as a matter of reference (and so you can see how cool this place is!)

                        Cape Ann consists of four main towns which all have their own ‘downtown port’ aspect to them. These will also remind you of any famous New England local port complete with commercial lobster boats and gorgeous pleasure boats, most of which are moored to buoys in the harbor as the tide swing here is between nine and eleven feet, making marinas difficult to have on a practical level. These towns are Essex, Rockport (out on the tip), Gloucester (where the ill-fated Andrea Gail of The Perfect Storm fame sailed from) and Manchester-by-the-Sea, our town of choice as that’s where Donny and fam reside. (BTW, the movie, which was filmed here, has nothing to do with the town itself!)

                        Cape Ann is strewn with great restaurants, very interesting local museums, and crazy popular beaches which boast crystal-clear waters that are cold (!) but folks dive in any way!

                        Yesterday was spent on the water, courtesy of a new acquisition of the family, namely a sailboat. Eleanor, Adelaide, and Augustus have had summers full of sailing lessons ever since they arrived here. This will be their fourth summer here and yes; Sailing Lessons are on the itinerary. Even Donny and Hilary have been enrolled in adult classes, all with the idea of procuring their own sailboat, which will now come complete with an experienced crew!

                        The sailboat is a 32-foot Sabre (which is a tad larger than what may be considered a ‘beginner’ boat) but Donny had years of maritime experience as a kid at the Jersey shore where we always had a boat. So at least he knew the difference between Bow and Stern, and Port and Starboard! And his crew now has three years of sailing under their belts (or life vests!)

                        Getting one of those mooring Buoys in Manchester Harbor or Gloucester is rather difficult as there are a finite number allocated to those areas. That makes the Waiting List long.

Very long.

One of the ways to short-cut that list is to get on the shorter list of Magnolia Harbor. Magnolia is not as desirable for several reasons, it’s not as protected (Harbor is a misnomer here), there are no dedicated services that bring you out to and back from your mooring (you need to do that yourself) and the dock that you would go to to pick up your family and passengers is only available at high tide.

                                    But…. when you get on this list you get first pickings of moorings when one becomes available in Manchester. Even over someone who is on the Manchester list!

            So Don, why don’t people just get on that Magnolia list first?

            I’m glad you asked that Mr. Harbor Master!

Because…. if you are on the Magnolia list and procure a mooring there you must utilize it and put a boat there! You can’t just use it to fake your way into Manchester!

So off we went with the Zodiac inflatable lashed to the roof for the short drive to the Magnolia section of town where Donny put it in and rowed over to that dock to pick us up so we could get out to the boat.

                        Her name is Selkie, which is a mythical sea dwelling being with mainly Scottish and Irish origins. It has the ability to change from human to seal. The movie The Secret of Roan Inish is based on this legend. The movie is quite good.

                        Selkie proved to be an inviting companion for our several-hour foray along then rocky coast. The day was gorgeous, even the early foreboding clouds gave way to bright sunshine and gorgeous blue skies. This was only the family’s third (or so) outing on her, so lessons still needed to be learned, but the pupils were willing and at least experienced when knowing when a sail was properly trimmed, and the boat was being sailed correctly.

                        Paula and I wisely stayed out of the way.

            I did get a turn at the wheel. I’ve always wanted to pilot a sailboat with one of these large wheels (instead of a tiller) and a mainsail and genoa jib!

            I was not disappointed 😊

After our sail, we went to a nice place in Magnolia for lunch where the food was delicious and as you can see, the portions were sizeable!

An afternoon spent in the backyard relaxing eventually gave way to dinnertime and some neat ways to barbeque!

After that we wisely went back to our site at the Cape Ann Campsite as we were all tuckered out.

It’s a good thing that Paula was driving because I don’t think I even made it out of the driveway before I dozed off!

                        We took a quick trip to Greece yesterday.

                        Courtesy of Tommy (of Yetter’s Diner) and his family.

                        Ever since our one-day Port-of-Call visit to Monemvasia on the Cruise, we’ve wanted to go back, especially with Tommy’s family as we all know that visiting somewhere with the folks that live there, is the best way to experience a place.

                        Particularly one that has a potential language barrier.

                        “It’s all Greek to me…”  has never rung truer!

            Everyone we were introduced to was genuinely friendly and happy to meet us. It was really nice watching Tommy’s Mom and Dad (Roula and Spyro) laugh and have a good time with their old friends. We paid a visit to their hometown church, St. Andrews, it was a sight to behold, icons, beautifully situated on all of the walls and up inside the domed ceiling, were just gorgeous!

                                    And then there’s the food.

                                    And lots of it!

                                    There is nothing better than consuming a location’s ethnic specialties, made by the residents themselves, primarily for your (and their) enjoyment!  It was Friday night; the workweek was over, which means that the Mythos (a Greek beer) and the Ouzo were flowing freely! The music was lively and loud, and all were having a great time. Just watching everyone was enjoyment enough for us!  😊

                                    But alas, all good things must draw to a close and the day was over before we knew it. We can’t wait til we can return and enjoy this level of genuine hospitality again, which fortunately for us will be next year at the same time because that is when St. Andrews holds its annual Greek Festival!

                                    C’mon…. admit it!

I had you fooled for maybe just a second or two!

            I guess that my point is this, go find an ethnic festival, (they’re all around) and sample at least the foods.

Stay for the entertainment.

Watch the older folks, the ones who ‘remember’.

I promise that you will not be disappointed!

And then you can say…..

            “We went to Greece yesterday and…..”

This is really our first “Official Sojourn” after landing in New Jersey about two weeks ago, but we left our ‘House on Wheels’ back at Yetter’s Diner because we are fortunate to be the guests of Barb, one of Paula’s oldest (in the terms of longevity!) and dearest friends.

Barb lives directly on the eastern shore of Otsego Lake. This is significant as there are just three homes on the eastern (nine-mile) shore once you leave the little hamlet of Cooperstown. Three homes all snugged together on a parcel that defies a reasonable explanation of why they are here except that maybe back in the day someone knew someone and snagged this property. The entrance is steep, scary steep, like no one winters here cuz ya ain’t getting out if it snows deep.

And there are no sewers out this far….. and no septic systems either because of their proximity to the Lake, which is about as clear as it gets until maybe the Virgin Islands or someplace like that.

That means that…. Yup! You guessed it!

Pump/Holding Tanks!

It’s like having the motorhome here in a way except our tanks are about fifty gallons while Barb’s are several thousand!

This area of New York State is familiar to all of us in so many ways but until you delve into why it’s familiar you cannot make the connections.

The first is the name of the local municipality:

Cooperstown.

We all know that one!

Baseball’s Holy Grail is located here, The Baseball Hall of Fame is ensconced right in the center of town. Why here? Well… more on that later.

Second, we need to go back to Required Reading List in high school for this one, (and this never hit me until I figured out where I was…..) we’re smack-dab-in-the-middle-of the Last of the Mohican’s territory and the stomping grounds of Natty Bumpo or Leatherstocking, of the combined stories that make up the Leatherstocking Tales.

And we all know who wrote those stories back the early 1800’s…… James Fenimore Cooper….. as in Cooperstown!

Man, did I feel like an idiot for not making that connection!

So, Cooperstown has not one, but two (!) great reasons for visiting the area, not to mention the gorgeous countryside and the pristine lake.

            This area has it’s very own philanthropic well-to-do (that’s an understatement!) family that is the backbone of the region. The Clark family (who?) has called this area home since the early 1800’s when the family had a law practice located here. The Clarks acquired large tracts of land (about ten-thousand acres) that were formerly owned by James Fenimore Cooper, thus cementing the familial relationship to the area forever.

This is where it gets interesting as this Clark Family’s economic tendrils wove a web that was far-reaching, but at the same time, so local. I’ll just throw out a few aspects of this so we can “cut to the chase”.

Issac Singer (sewing machine, grandaddy Clark was a partner)

Abner Doubleday (baseball)

The Explorer’s Club (NYC, he built the original building)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art ( The Met – NYC)

The Modern Museum of Art (MoMA – NYC)

And many more! (just to name a few)

As you can see, the “Art” side of this family runs deep and that is reflected in the next enterprise that calls this area home and that is the Fenimore Art Museum nestled on the western shore of Otsego Lake. As with any type of organization, having an “Old Money” benefactor goes far especially when that Money acquired many a piece of collectible art along the way. The Fenimore’s collection is a wonderful example of this with many an American “Master” being represented, along with the requisite “Old World” Masters. You may recall (or you may have quietly dismissed 😊) our Art History lesson about the Hudson River School of the mid-1800’s that are housed in the Albany Institute of History and Art (see ‘Journey or Destination’ blog date 08/21/2021). Anyway, as you can imagine, there is something special about seeing revered artwork in the place that it originated, and that region is right here!

Let’s get back to the biggie around here and that has to be the Baseball Hall of Fame. I always wondered why it was located in Cooperstown, New York.

What was the relationship?

Did baseball start here?

Just wait… it gets better!

We’re going back to the Civil War and a very successful and likeable general by the name of Abner Doubleday, who had roots in this area. As baseball grew in popularity and teams became more and more “official” and rules and leagues were being formed, someone needed to know how and where the game started. We’re not going to delve deep into the resulting controversy of its origins but results of this erroneous claim made the local farmer’s field in Cooperstown the site of Abner Doubleday’s “first” game being played.

But…. enough damage and false information was perpetrated that eighty or so years later, when the town of Cooperstown was suffering deeply from the Great Depression and the demise of one of its best industries, the growing of hops for beer (Oh no! Prohibition!) one of the prominent locals, Stephen Carlton Clark (there’s that name again!) founded and paid for the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. His goal was to bring tourists to his little hamlet and thus help the local economy. He was also a newspaper man, the owner of three Albany newspapers, including the Albany Evening Journal, hence the convenient tie-in with the Baseball Writers Association with the nomination and election of prospective members of the Hall of Fame.

I’d have to think that by any definition, he was very successful!

To this day, the Clark Family owns the Baseball Hall of Fame (not Major League Baseball) and his granddaughter, Jane Forbes Clark, is the current Chairperson. If you follow international Equestrian Events, you will recognize Janes name as she has been influential not only as a rider, but also with her position of leadership in the United States Olympic Equestrian Team organization.

Jane has continued to follow those philanthropic steps laid down by her forefathers and her generosity around here is well noted. When the hospital (which her family built) suffered a fire, she brought all of the patients over to the Otesaga Hotel (which her family started) and housed them until all was remedied. Jane is the last of that direct family although the family foundation is very well established to continue the work that they started those may years ago.

Sorry for the rambling, there are so many integrated storylines here that it is difficult to separate them as they are all related in some wonderful way! It’s way more fun to just come up here (only three hours from Sussex County!) spend a few days and find it all out for yourself!

                        So I wrote a book.

                        Let me clarify that.

                        I wrote about 21 stories that I’ve compiled into a book.

                        It’s a big book….. about 650 pages.

                        It was going to be titled: War and Peace

                        But someone’s already used that one, so I settled for:

A Collection of Short Stories for Young Bookworms.

The reason that you all are seeing this now is that I’d be a fool not to reach out to folks that I already have an acquaintance with. It’s like the guy who becomes an insurance salesman…. the first people he speaks to are his family and friends, who in turn refer him to what eventually becomes his extended business family, etc. etc. etc.

 Make no mistake here, this is a self-published project. Simon and Schuster did not compete with Random House for the honor of getting the publishing rights and in turn send me a hefty advance for my troubles. I used a wonderful indie-publishing outfit called BookBaby, which happens to be right here in New Jersey but may as well be in Timbuktu because everything is done on-line. They offer many tutorials to help authors write, organize, and promote their books. One of the first things that they recommend is to reach out on whatever social media platform that one may have and start there.

That would be here.

Now the backstory……

About ten years ago, my (at that time, seven-year-old) granddaughter Madeline, came to me with some questions about the Titanic. Mostly questions about a big diamond and Jack and Rose, but I was able to set records straight and answer her other questions as I’ve been a student of the Titanic for as long as I can remember.

An idea came to me to take Maddie, her brother Andy, and parents Heather and Jim, and insert them into a custom storyline with the Titanic as the focal point. This is similar to an old book series that I read as a kid called “We Were There at / with….” This series took a young girl and boy and inserted them into historical situations and told the story from their point of view. A classic example of Historical Fiction that was very successful in its quest to have young readers experience history from their points of view.

That story, Maddie makes a Friend, is about Maddie meeting and making a friend of Thomas Andrews, the designer of the Titanic whilst they were aboard. When you write about people that you know, you get to weave their personalities into the fabric of the story, which in turn makes that story just a little more special than just placing them there. That became my goal in this and all of the subsequent stories that followed.

After I wrote that story, I needed to write one about Andy. And then about Augustus, and his sisters, Adelaide, and Eleanor, and then my grand-cats, CubScout and LingLing (who you already know from Critter Sitting). This developed further when I added Nieces, Nephews, and Others into this family of stories. Not all are historical in nature, as matter of fact, most just revolve around those particular person’s interests. These range from princesses, unicorns, and orcas to Top Gun, big trucks, F-18’s, and furry animal families. I don’t make up the kid’s interests, they already have those. I just get to write a story about them and their particular fascinations.

            That’s how one gets to over twenty different stories just itching to be compiled into a book! This book is suitable for anyone that can read from youngster to adult, and the stories also lend themselves to being read to kids even before they learn how to read.

This is not just any book mind you…. this is a hard-bound, complete with dust jacket, real, no cheap imitations of, hefty tome of stories that are good for all to read. You need not be one of the subjects (as the stories stand well on their own) just as any story would with characters that have names attached. It’s just that these are a little more special to those that are the subjects.

            I need to go on about the dust jacket for a moment as this alone is a work of art, no pun whatsoever intended, it truly is. I commissioned Erin Brady who is an artist/website designer/graphic artist who designed our new website and menu at the Chatterbox. She is absolutely wonderful to work with. I asked her to come up with a hand drawn rendition of the subjects of the stories and incorporate them all into a book cover. She succeeded in doing so, way beyond my wildest dreams! She read each story and worked all of the subject matter into a seamless front and back of the cover and dust jacket. It is a sight to behold!

I elected to go the Hardbound, dust jacket route because if there is one central theme to my life, it is probably books. I have had a library in one form or another for as long as I can remember.

With mostly hard-bound books in my collection.

 If I came across a book that I liked in soft-back, I would scour the internet in order to find the oldest (First Edition!!!) version of that book, procure it, and add it to my Library.

            Hence my affliction of Hardbounditis.

            Thankfully there is no cure for this malady.

There is a cure, however, for my desire to propel this endeavor to the top of the New York Times Best Seller list and that’s where you all come in!

Well, not really as I don’t harbor any anticipation of that becoming a reality, but I’d be a fool not to admit that it is any author’s aspiration for that to occur!

But….. if you so desire, here is how you may procure a highly-prized First Edition of this relatively unknown Literary Masterpiece 😊

            First, I need to let you know that this is not an inexpensive book.

It is considered rather pricey at $48.00, but if you do the math, there are twenty-one stories inside which makes it just $2.28 per story! What a bargain! (FYI, I don’t set the price, it’s a formula based on size and binding)

            But wait!

If you order now I will add to your order a free Ginzu Kitchen Knife Collection and an additional one-hundred square feet of your choice of floor covering!

            Order now! Operators are standing by!

Ok, really, here is how you may order this book. It is obviously print-on-demand, as no one is inventorying it!

            And….. yes, there is a discount available for you and anyone that you care to forward this to (think friends and relatives that have kids, grandkids, etc. that you think may enjoy some fun stories)

This book does have an official ISBN # but you do not need it to place an order.

Go to:  www.bookbaby.com

Find their ‘Bookstore’ and enter my name (Don Hall) or the title, A Collection of Short Stories for Young Bookworms, and it will bring you to my “page”.

Order a book (or several!) use code Chatterbox to get $15.00 off of that $48.00 cost which brings it down to $33.00 or just $1.57 per story!

            If you do decide to purchase one, I would truly like to get your feedback on any aspect of the book. My personal email is in the front pages of the book, so there’s no secrets, but here it is again now for you, donhall930@gmail.com I welcome any comments or questions even before you may decide to procure one.

Thanks for reading this! (and hopefully the book!)