Dan Antion

Back to Normal? – SoCS

The perfect lime wedge.

Welcome to Saturday. It’s been a busy blogging week for me, and I am ready for a cold beer and a chance to score some bonus points. Linda G. Hill is going to help me with the latter via her Stream of Consciousness Saturday prompt.

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘product/produce.’ Use one, use them both, use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Have fun!”

If we were having a beer, you’d come very close to insulting me. In fact, I think you did.

“Hi Dan. Things, back to normal yet?”

“Things? Normal? Well, I went to the firemen’s carnival for dinner on Thursday, that seemed like normal.”

“He’s having a Corona with a wedge of lime. That’s normal. What about you, David, John Howells’s Bourbon, snifter of seltzer and a glass of ice – a.k.a. normal for you.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean, yes to the bourbon, Cheryl, but no to the normal. I wanted to know if your blog is back to normal.”

“If you mean a place for high quality entertainment, yes, it’s normal.”

“With all due respect to your own high opinion of your work product, Dan, I was referring to a week of endless posts arriving in my inbox. Are we going back to one a day anytime soon?”

“One a day and not every day. Yes, David, very soon. There are two more scheduled stops on the launch ride and then we’re done.”

“Two more? Today and tomorrow?”

“Nope, I’m taking, er, giving you the weekend off.”

“And kicking back with a beer. Here you go, Dan. And David, here’s your collection.”

“Awww, and three cherries. Thanks Cheryl.”

“Well, two are ‘normal’ and one’s for showing up at my blog this week.”

“I forgot where you were hiding your blog, Cheryl, until Dan pointed to it. I love your photos and videos.”

“Thanks.”

“Cheers Dan. Here’s to a successful launch tour and an excellent book.”

“Wait, you read my book, David?”

“Yes, and for all the grief I give you, I have to say, I enjoyed it.”

“Well, thank you.”

“There is one thing I’ve been meaning to ask, though.”

“And that would be?”

“Well, there’s a point where Abbie says: ‘I love how people your age always add the ‘transistor’ part to that description,’ in one of her interruptions – I love those scenes, by the way.” 

“Yes, I remember that scene. What about it?”

“Well, that’s very similar to a remark Skippy made here last month. I was wondering if you borrowed that comment from him.”

“Whoa, David. Are you suggesting that Dan plagiarized a comment from Skippy? That kid can barely read the label on a wine bottle.”

“I wasn’t accusing him, Cheryl. It’s just that, well, it reminded me of Skippy.”

“David, I assure you, I produced that bit of dialog in the book long before Skippy said something similar.”

“You have to admit, it’s a coincidence, Dan. And we really only have your word for when you wrote it.”

“I can offer proof that I wrote it first. It’s circumstantial, but that works on Law and Order.”

“And what would your proof be, Dan?”

“When I wrote that section of the book, I had to research when transistors were actually invented. You know, to make sure my timeline was correct.”

“Sometime in the early sixties, I think. Am I right?”

“No, David. They were actually invented in the nineteen-forties.”

“How does that prove you didn’t steal the line from Skippy?”

“Because, once I found out it was in the nineteen-forties, I offered it as one of the three things for, ‘The Armadillo Files,’ Teagan Geneviene’s current serial story.”

“Isn’t her story set before or during World War Two?”

“Yes, well with Fang at the controls, it’s hard to tell where they might end up. It actually started later when Dilly first got tangled up with him in human-form. That, by the way, is my proof.”

“I don’t follow you, Dan.”

“I gave Teagan ‘charcoal grill, transistor radio, and root beer’ as my three things. Now, if I had given her three things when the story was in the time before that date, say in tenth century Bagdad, I wouldn’t have included the radio.”

“I believe him, David, except maybe for the root beer. I guess they didn’t have Corona back then. Which would you like now, Dan?”

“Corona, Cheryl.”

“That is compelling, albeit, as you say, circumstantial evidence, Dan. But how do I know it’s true. I mean, I’ve met Teagan here at the bar, but it’s not like I know her well enough to ask her to corroborate your alibi.”

“You don’t need to, David. It just so happens, ‘The Armadillo Files’ is back. Episode twenty-eight was published this morning, and Teagan used my three things in today’s adventure. You can read it for yourself.”

If you haven’t already been to Teagan’s blog, I urge you to head over there now. Her serial stories are wonderful, and this one is fast becoming a favorite of mine.

Next week, here in the US, we will be celebrating the 4th of July holiday. I thought it might be fun to invite Ritu Bhathal to join us from the UK.  You know, now that our two countries have made nice with each other. I have some questions for Ritu about her writing. I hope you can join us.

Lily of the Valley plants after the rain.
Cactus rose in full bloom in a neighbor’s yard.
Yeah, I won’t be offering to her my neighbor weed these.
Mom (perhaps dad) bunny eating clover at the curb.
The rain held off during the opening night of the carnival.
Seeing it in motion only confirmed that I wasn’t taking a ride.
It looked like it would rain, but it didn’t.
This was my destination. They weren’t offering sausage grinders this year.
Not my favorite list. ‘High Life’ was actually Miller Lite – that was my choice.
Fair food – nothing better on a summer evening.
It’s Miller Lite and a dog with mustard and onions.
The old fashioned playground
This hotel has changed hands several times, but I think they’re there to service the cell tower equipment.
This little guy is in our backyard
One of the babies
This is the third location they’ve tried for the benches. I hope this one sticks.


If you like magical realism with suspense, action and a bit of family sarcasm, you will enjoy these books:

Knuckleheads
The Evil You Choose
When Evil Chooses You

Series page on Amazon

My profile page (and books) on Lulu

All available on Kindle Unlimited!

72 comments

  3. Thanks for including the playground with that thick summer shade. I confess I immediately wanted to start climbing. Even looking at a playground is therapeutic — great places, those!

    Liked by 1 person

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  5. You’ve had a great book promotion week Dan well done.
    I like Tegan’s blog too. I do hope Ritu can join you next week she is a lovely person and a friend of mine, we have met at the Bloggers Bashes.
    Oh! Those photos are amazing….as always!💜💜

    Liked by 2 people

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  7. Old Glory looking particularly spiffy. But I have to ask you Dan, has my mother-in-law been reincarnated? You know, the woman who changed her furniture around hourly! 🤗

    Great bunny pictures, especially the first one featuring his cute little tail. I love watching them play. They are so entertaining.

    So glad the opening night of your carnival came with perfect weather. Looks like a good turnout. Nice to see “normal” again. Carnivals are the summer backbone of small towns. Long may they prosper and bring people joy.

    Have a great weekend.
    Ginger

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Oh, Ginger, your mother-in-law and my mother were cut from the same cloth. I remember one Friday night, my dad came home late after bowling. Trying to be quite, he changed in the bathroom and went to bed in the dark. He didn’t realized my mother had rearranged the bedroom. I learned new words that night.

      I think this is a permanent home for the benches, as they are anchored into the new concrete.

      We have bunnies everywhere right now, which probably means more bunnies are on the way.

      The firemen had a good turnout on Day-1 and a good crowd and good weather for the fireworks last night. I will walk over tonight for the parade. I won’t venture too far into the crowd, but it seems normal enough just to see one.

      I hope you can stay cool this weekend.

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      Reply

  9. Plagiarizing something Skippy said sounds kind of funny, doesn’t it? 😆 You could read him his Miranda rights–oh, wait–you don’t need to! I’m sure it was a lot of work for you, but this week on your blog was fun. I really enjoyed everyone’s different questions about your book. Job well done, Dan. Enjoy the weekend.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. Good job with the prompt, Dan. I.m sorry you didn’t get your Grinder. Or a ‘real’ beer. And I didn’t see any corndogs or nachos there. 🫤My favorite carnival foods.i did see some rides I could enjoy though. 😉Thanks fir reminding David how to find me. I get lonesome over at the new place sometimes. Your blogging book tour has gone so well and I couldn’t be happier to have been a part of promoting your books. Thanks for the bunyas.So cute. I saw them every day in Nebraska. Not so much here. Have a safe holiday.

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    • Dogs, burgers and fries were all good, Cheryl. And, as light beers go, I like Lite the best. I stuck with the food from the firemen. The carnival company never seems like a good place to buy food. The tour was excellent. I have two more stops, then I’ll be done for a while. With two more releases in the pipeline, this is going to be a busy year. I don’t think I’ll do an entire week again for the next ones. I do worry about wearing out the welcome mat.

      Liked by 1 person

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  21. You did have to take a few shots today, Dan, but I’m convinced you’ll rebound, and you handed out one or two yourself. . :-) Looks and sounds like the carnival was fun and I also enjoyed the bunny photos. Hard to believe it’s almost July. The year seems to be speeding by, at least for me.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • This year has seemed to go by fast, Janet. The carnival was fun, but it was also great to see it back in full swing after a two-year absence. We have lots of bunnies this year. They are fun to watch..

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  22. Teagan’s episode was terrific. I’m glad she included your three things, Dan. Ritu next week? Yahoo! Flags, bunnies, and fair food are wonderful in your photo gallery.

    Liked by 1 person

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  24. Hi Dan, A most entertaining post. I was pleased to find Cheryl’s blog although it is more difficult for me to remember to visit blogs that aren’t on WP as I can’t put them in my Readers lists. I was also pleased to see an episode of Teagan’s latest serial this weekend and I remembered where we left off perfectly, which was even more pleasing.

    Liked by 1 person

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