I look forward to seeing photos of this most unusual event every year. It has been staged at the same site annually since at least 1826. I think this falls into the “Bubba, hold my beer and watch this” type of crazy adventure. I applaud the zaniness!
(And, no, I have zero desire to risk life and limb chasing the cheese ball.)
With love and gratitude,
Russ
I love patiently planting seeds of kindness in prickly hearts and watching great beauty bloom.
With love and gratitude,
Russ
Not long ago a friend shared a simple lesson with me that has had a profoundly positive impact on my life. When confronted with what at first feels like a chore, we can turn our mindset around simply by replacing the phrase “have to” with “get to.” That Jedi mind trick (actually, an important lesson from 12-step programs) turns what would have been a chore into things to be grateful for.
I’ve used the idea to great effect. Now, even cleaning dog excrement from our backyard becomes the opportunity to focus on all the blessings my family and I receive from the dogs in our lives. The love and gratitude I feel overwhelms and completely replaces what might have felt like a boring and unpleasant chore had I not chosen to focus on “get to” instead of “have to.”
I often see things of great beauty during my frequent poop patrols, and I take some of my best photos during such efforts, including all the images in this post.
With love and gratitude,
Russ
Our daughter Stephanie invited the rest of our local family to visit recently born kids and lambs at Deer Hollow Farm nestled in Rancho San Antonio Park. A good time was had by all.
With love and gratitude,
Russ
I’m proud to announce that I have just released what I believe is my 64th book to date. It’s titled The Edge of Darkness. It’s an anthology of stories in the vein of O. Henry and Twilight Zone. Twists abound. Here’s the book’s blurb:
Hopes, dreams, and fears collide in this spellbinding collection of short stories by bestselling author Russ Towne. Find mystery, adventure, and romance in unexpected places, mixed with twists of irony and the supernatural in the 21 tales compiled from Towne’s previously published collections, The Jagged Edge of Shadows and Shattered Darkness. Included in this collection are:
Listen to the Whispers of Your Heart
Shadow
Revelations from a Stranger
A Turn of the Page
Fedderman’s Folly
Skin Deep
Who Are Those People?
One Upmanship
Only Human
When Justice Prevailed
The Invitation
It Had Been So Easy
“Ain’t None of My Business, But …”
Death by Butterfly
The Message
Sticks and Stones
Harmony
Leap Year
It’s All in the Numbers
A Chance to Prove It
The Gift.
The Edge of Darkness and nearly all my books can be found on Amazon.com.
Yesterday our daughter Stephanie helped to rescue a fawn and help reunite it with its mother. She then got to hold a recently born goat kid. Stephanie loves her job and the perks that come with it as a heavy equipment operator and maintenance mechanic at Mid-Peninsula Open Space District. She lives on-site at the park and preserve.
With love and gratitude,
Russ
I’m pleased to announce that after a nearly three-year hiatus in book publishing, my latest book titles Shattered Darkness is nearing release! Its nine stories often feature O. Henry- and Twilight Zone-style twists. Shattered Darkness is my fourth book of this type.
My other books featuring such stories include The Jagged Edge of Shadows, Touched, and Palpable Imaginings. All three books can be found on Amazon in a variety of formats.
Palpable Imaginings features the work of seven other writers whose stories touched me and who accepted my invitation to have their work be included in the anthology. Our tales often featured Mystery, Suspense, Sci-fi, Fantasy, Action, and Thrillers! Stories of redemption, retribution, murder, courage, hope, love, new beginnings, alternate history, unusual powers, science gone wrong, nightmares, fate, narrow escapes, shoot-outs and survival. You’ll find them all here in 17 selected stories from 8 writers in Palpable Imaginings!
All three books can be found on Amazon in a variety of formats.
Touched: Terror, love, chills, hope, magic, thrills, and fantasy await you. Come inside and be Touched! These stories will inspire, haunt, amaze, and delight listeners who love to experience the wide array of speculative and flash fiction genres. Journey from inner hearts to outer space, utopias to dystopias, and many worlds in between. Experience the hope, strength, perseverance, despair, and heroism of ordinary people as they face breathtaking odds with their lives and, sometimes, the fate of whole worlds hanging in the balance. Touched is a celebration of life!
At the Jagged Edge of Shadows:
Best-selling author Russ Towne sends tingles down the spine with 12 short stories evoking the twists, irony, horror, and startling insight of O’Henry, Alfred Hitchcock, and Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone television series.
Listen to the unintended consequences of “eternal” youth, the mystery of a child’s toy, the power of the spoken word, and what happens when what you wish for comes true. With touches of the paranormal, this collection of stories makes you wonder what really goes “bump” in the night and invites you to peer more closely beyond the jagged edge of deepest shadow where our hopes, dreams, and fears collide.
An image of the cover of my most recently published book is shown above. A cover for Shattered Darkness hasn’t yet been created. I plan to have an image of the new cover to share with you in two to three weeks.
With love and gratitude,
Russ
I promise to soon post about something other than flowers but these day-brighteners grabbed my attention and I wanted to share them with you.
With love and gratitude,
Russ
At the corner of our home facing our two primary entrances sits a sight that makes me smile every time I pass them: Radiant Narcissus greet our family, friends, and other visitors.
With love and gratitude,
Russ
My Beloved, our local grandchildren, and I took advantage of perfect weather to see some sights at our local Japanese Friendship garden. It was a relaxing and quiet adventure.
Riley was so enchanted by the many huge multi-colored Koi that I startled her when I called her name to take her photo. She recovered quickly and smiled.
A lone mallard hen was getting a lot of attention from four males. That’s a recipe for at least three unhappy males. I believe the stern look in the above photo makes clear what this male thinks of the situation.
May your days be filled with blessings.
Love,
Russ
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Russ Towne's A Grateful Man 