Smokey

Smoky - Author's Picture

Smokey's face looks quite offended. She didn't like that we were paying attention to a puppy rather than her. She's a tabby; maybe mixed with something else. Not my cat, but it is my picture.

Obelisk

Obelisk - Author's Collection

The pictured decorative obelisk was bought at Crafts Etc. or maybe Hobby Lobby. I've had it for many years. I have no clue if the hieroglyphics mean anything or not. In the picture, it's sitting in front of some of my Star Wars "stuff." In Dobbs City, a fictional town that appears in my short stories, there is a weathered obelisk located at the city's old square.

The Harrowgate Protocol

Mercy Anne Harrowgate

I've been working on The Harrowgate Protocol, a story about a vampiress named Mercy Anne Harrowgate. It's been fun. I've been working with MS Co-Pilot and other platforms on obtaining visuals to enhance the story. CP will also make graphics and talk to you about what you're writing. It doesn't write for you, but it's a good tool to bounce around ideas. The Harrowgate Protocol is finished and will appear on the blog. It's currently being edited for publication.

Timber Rattler

Timber Rattler

I've found several of these (but none this big) at our place. "The timber rattlesnake (Crotalus horridus) is a large, heavy-bodied pit viper species native to eastern North America. It is also known by the names canebrake rattlesnake and banded rattlesnake. It is a very poisonous snake with a deadly bite." Source: Google. Image: Meta via Texas Snake Identification.

Find out more on howstuffworks.

Skink

Skink - Author's Picture

According to Google Image Search, the picture of this creature "shows a five-lined skink, likely a Common Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus) or a Southeastern Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon inexpectatus). You can get an idea of its length by the porch boards it's lying on. They are 2"x6". This picture was taken in July of 2025.

5 Facts About Popcorn

Popcorn Stand - Author's Picture

I took the picture of the popcorn stand, but I don't remember the exact location. Curiously, while I was thinking about this post, I was traveling to a town. I saw something ahead on the road and swerved to miss it. When I got closer, I saw that it was a container of popcorn that someone had thrown out onto the road. Or lost, I don't know.

1. Popcorn has been enjoyed for thousands of years in the Americas.

2. Cracker Jack, a type of caramel-coated popcorn (and peanuts), was created in 1896.

3. It is estimated that corn was domesticated c.a. 9,000 years ago.

4. Americans consume about 17 billion quarts of popcorn every year. 

5. One cup of unpopped buttered popcorn will give about 28 cups of popped popcorn.

Sources: Google, ctrlcalculator.com.

Antique Bottle

Unknown Type of Bottle - Author's Picture

I can't find an exact match on Google Image Search. There is embossing on the bottom, but I can't tell much about it. I think it's just numbers; the bottle is made in such a way that you can't do a tracing on the bottom (I tried). I dug this bottle myself, out of an old trash dump in a certain wooded area. Many of the other items I found date back to the 1940s and 1950s. I suspect this one does, too. Anyway, if you're looking to buy something like this, they're going to be pretty cheap.