Author: Tony
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Jonquils in the Shade
I have decided to exercise my God given right to whine and moan a little bit. I have had enough of winter; of sullen skies, of dank afternoons, of frigid nights and of cold-hearted mornings. With a little more time, I could come up with some even more depressing adjectives with a bit of alliteration Read more
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Laundromats Are For Swingers
I’ve got a picture that keeps running around in my mind. I don’t know why it’s there. It just kind of appeared a few days ago, and for the life of me, I can’t seem to shake it. As memories go, it ain’t much. It’s just a snapshot of a moment in time when life Read more
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Tattoos and Muumuus and a Jukebox
Several years ago I was having lunch at the new Waffle House, the one over next to Publix. It was new then, at least; but new or not, it still held that special ambiance particular to Waffle House. Perhaps the floor was a little cleaner, the windows a bit less opaque and the “How you Read more
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Great Expectations
It seems to me that everybody and their mother is offended these days. The number of people wearing their feelings on their sleeves and then wondering why they get their feelings hurt is astronomical and amazing to me. That is probably something I shouldn’t say as a loving Child of God, but then again the Read more
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Christmas Dinner, Bobbie Jean Style
My momma was a lovely Southern Belle born and bred in the backwater of the Florida panhandle. She was beautiful in a country girl sort of way. With her emerald green eyes, jet black hair and lithe form, she could turn a head or two with no effort at all. I will never forget the Read more
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The Blessed Table
Those of you who have read my writing before know that when I was a kid, back in the early nineteen sixties, I spent most of my summers down on the panhandle of Florida with my Granny and Grandpa Tharpe. For a little boy who loved the outdoors and fishing in particular, I could not Read more
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Ms. Belle’s Most Excellent Adventure
If you had to be stuck on the side of the interstate, it was a lovely day for it. It was one of those midsummer days, somewhere near the middle of July. The sky was a beautiful sapphire blue, with the occasional cotton ball floating in it. Behind me there was a meadow filled with Read more
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Check Your Seams
Many years ago I was driving down an old dirt road in Lexington County when I noticed what appeared to be the nose of an old Carolina Jon boat winking at me from underneath a tattered tarpaulin behind a dilapidated outbuilding. So I pulled to the side of the road to take a closer look. Read more
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The Bullfight
The upward angle of my memories reminds me of just how young we are when our brains begin to crinkle; when thoughts, feelings and memories start slipping down into the crooks and crannies; when our consciousness begins filling the crevices of our mind. I couldn’t have been more than three or four, perhaps younger, as Read more
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Reflections on a Windshield
It was out of context, and it bothered me. Miles away from any sign of civilization, it was the last thing I expected to see as I made my way toward an obscure bend in the Congaree River, my goal for the day. It was early spring, and I had been hiking for several hours Read more