Shelly D Templin

I was in my yard when something in the sky caught my eye. I looked up to see a large black bird, aka buzzard, flying toward me. And then it scooped down and then up again and then to the right and to the left and down again. I stopped what I was doing and watched the bird dart and dive. Curious. As the big bird flew closer to me, I realized what was causing it to fly so sporadically. A little bird. Since I am not an ornithologist or even a “birder,” I’m not sure what type the little bird Keep Reading...

I absolutely love watching the hummingbirds come to feed this time of year. I anxiously wait for the first little flyer to show up in the spring and I spend the summer mesmerized by the tiny hummers. They are tiny but they can be fierce. There are enough spots for all of the birds to sit and drink at the same time but there is always one bully bird waiting nearby to chase the hungry birds. I never tire of watching the tactical maneuvers of the hummingbirds as they fight for a spot at the Keep Reading...

He was on the last fight to Denver. He was the last one off of the plane. He was the last and only one on the train taking him from one terminal to the next. The train voice came on and said, “Please exit the train. This is the end of the line.” He thought, “What if I don’t get off? What will happen? I wonder where this train goes at night.” And then his actions followed his thoughts. He stayed on the train. Alone. At 1am. The doors closed and the train started to move. The train Keep Reading...

Last Friday was a special day for me. It’s the day my high school English teacher and I connected after 34 years! I tracked her down and sent her a letter last week. Why? Because I wanted to thank her for believing in me as a writer. When I was in middle school, I had a teacher who made us keep a journal. I sort of liked it and so I continued writing in spiral notebooks for a few years. I’m sure they were filled with teenage angst and if I find them, I will be sure to burn them. But the Keep Reading...

I cleaned my daughter’s apartment when she was moving out after her first year at school and I found black, dried up bananas on the top of her fridge. I didn’t immediately recognize the fruit. The sticker on the stick-like, black mass helped solve the mystery. The bananas were right next to onion skins. A whole bag of onion skins. Just the skins. The onions that were once inside the skins had rotted, shriveled, dried up and disappeared. Disappeared. The only thing left was a bag of onion Keep Reading...

Tonight as I slathered on the cream from a jar that is supposed to keep me from feeling my age and cream from another jar that is supposed to hide my wrinkles, I see two other jars that are filled with “good for me” things. The other jars don’t offer promises of youth. They are healthy. The others jars are gummy vitamins! Chewable, gummy vitamins. When I was in my 20’s and my grandmother was diagnosed with osteoporosis, I was told I needed to take large amounts of calcium. I ordered the Keep Reading...

I kind of live in the country. By “kind of” I mean that I live in a neighborhood with land between my neighbors and a bit of a drive to “town.” Well, it’s only four miles away but I drive past pastures to get there so it seems further and feels like the country. It is quiet in my neighborhood so I was a little shocked when I heard what sounded like a helicopter flying low over my house. It sounded like it was going to land on my house. I ran outside to see what was happening. Nothing. No Keep Reading...