Spit, Slobber, and Fireworks

Sparks fly like none other when those two cross paths. I mean to tell you, firecrackers have nothing on them. 

How bad you ask? Well, when Jess shot out of the spit and slobber float’n in that cow’s trough, the heat simmering off her flaming cheeks, swear I saw steam. God as my witness. 

Matthew, however, well I don’t think he noticed…at least her cheeks.

Yet Another Thorn

All the beauty it portrays cannot overcome the darkness, of the earth, Jess' broken heart and this day. 

The strength in Jess, it runs deep like it once did in Jonas and Ann, her grandparents. Ann perhaps more. She put up with that old cuss better than anyone. 

He lost the love of his life and their child in the blink of an eye, and Jess, well Jess saved him. Kept him alive…in spirit.

Now, watching her reach out and pull that single yellow flower from its final resting place with the man who had raised her...sums up over three decades of pain, caused by something held all too tightly. Yet another thorn in a beautiful rose.

Gust of Resistance

The biting wind of March reminds you, even at a time of renewal, there are challenges. Sometimes the gust of resistance can be too much. 

I know two people who could be as tough, harsh and resistant as that wind. Directness like none other, snap a wondering soul to attention. 

But every spring melting snow exposes. One finally succumbed. The other continues to stand. 

Everything and Nothing

The winter, bitter at times, can provide stillness like nothing else. Through the tree's dusted branches, set among the random, one of a kind drifts, you can see everything, and nothing. Like looking into the familiar faces that make up this Iowa town…sometimes you see everything… and nothing. Strange to ponder. Bitterness, fear… and love can do that. 

Faith Abandoned

The abandonment felt when she wrote those words one can’t imagine. Not at the fault of the unborn child’s father, but her faith. Rules of a faith that spoke love without limit. Yet, looked away from love in purest form. The life she carried, a gift of that love, she had held fast to. She had chosen to protect, no matter the cost. A precious life, her family and her truest love. All because of a church…that had abandoned her. 

Taking it for A Spin

The kids still jump up on those red vinyl stools as if on a carnival ride. Simplest things can entertain a child.  

Doc and her would hit the door. It would be the first place she headed. And it seemed like the one closest to Hannah was her favorite. They would keep an eye on each other.  

Even as a child she was responsible to a fault. She wore it like a duty, her loyalty to Jonas. They had each other, a girl and her grandfather left to meet the world as one ornery duo. Taking the world, and that red stool, for a spin.

Love Hate Fear Murder Redemption

Every time the locket caught a bit of light it struck him to the core. Its spark shattered the tranquility of any moment and sent him reeling. The light of day had not touched the fragile heart for almost three decades…until now. 

But when it appeared, known to some, a complete shock to others, that tiniest of trinkets took them to their knees. Given as a lie, treasured as a promise, destroyed in jealousy, plucked from death, hidden out of duty

Love, hate, fear, murder, redemption…all in the tiniest spark of gold.