The Sparrow's Nest

Item one: The story was inspired from a weird out at a real ranch that I went to. Item two: They were playing The Beach Boys. Item three: Not sure where the main character came from. Item four: I had issues with the creepy Christmas lights floating around the place. Item five: I took out some of the structures and added my own, but the gas pump and nasty green marshmallow salad was there, along with the locked pop case in the creepy shed. Item six: Cousin Lucas's appearance was based on a guy who used to live down the street. Item seven: I mentioned covid in passing and chuckled, because lost of magazines made it taboo to mention it. Since I'm flying solo, ha! Item eight: Lorelei's rambling didn't need much editing. Item nine: Men who don't take care of their beards look like Big Foot. Item ten: The part of the dance where everyone was dressed like trashy cowboy and cowgirl was based on a 4th of July dance that I went to and lived to regret. It was in a barn and it

Faith is not bravado, not just a wish, not just a hope. True faith is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—confidence and trust in Jesus Christ that leads a person to follow Him. But If Not … By Elder Dennis E. Simmons o f the Seventy April 2004 general conference from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Why are so many female characters such garbage? Annoying, selfish, ungrateful--and yet those in their stories seem to love and respect them. "What a woman!" When she pulls apart a gun he needs because she can't handle weapons of cruelty--then she'd better shut her mouth, because witty shouldn't be cruelty. She better not opt for a bow and arrow, either, because those really hurt. "I can respect that" with a stupid grin on his face after she gives a spiel on modern sentiments--which, by the way belong to a small percentage of the population--in a time period where that didn't exist. "That's some woman!" Because she slaps him for saving her stupid life--ingrate, die already. Ever want to work with someone like that? What five-letter word comes to mind instead? Men and women both hate her. How about a complete wretch bringing up old news in a time and place where that issue didn't exist? Or in a time and place where that would have got

I was studying the "Come Follow Me" book from my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and I was brought to Isaiah 53. It's about the sorrows and sins that Jesus Christ bore for us. It said that while I'm reading, to replace "we" and "our" with "I" and "my." So I did, and here is a snippet of what it looked like. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and (I) hid as it were (my) face from him; he was despised, and (I) esteemed him not. 4 Surely he has borne (my) griefs, and carried (my) sorrows; yet (I) did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for (my) transgressions, he was bruised for (my) iniquities; the chastisement of (my) peace was upon him; and with his stripes (I am) healed. After I read the whole chapter like that, I felt like a worthless punk. How could He love someone so cheap as myself? As soon as I thought it, the clea

Heads up, I hate the heat. It doesn't agree with me. Too much of it means fire season and danger of evacuation. Everything wilts and everything gets dusty. When it's cold, it's called a jacket. When it's hot and you have no AC...uh...get naked? I'm not about that life. Having lived in Arizona heat down in Mesa, with nothing but a swamp cooler was like, how am I even alive and lucid today? Okay, maybe not too lucid, BUT... I've realized something. Where I live, heat is a harbinger of weather conditions. People always say the old Natives know about the weather no matter where they live or what sort of climate. My grandpa used to be able to tell the weather and he was always right, unlike the weather station. One day, legit, they thought there wasn't a cloud in Arizona. They said this while a snowstorm was blasting outside my window. For any of you who don't know, Arizona has cold parts with pine trees and mountains. Many think this weather knowledge is los

Fun facts about "Toni's Land." The story takes place in Whiteriver, Arizona, on the Fort Apache Reservation. At the time that I wrote this story, a meteor actually did fall in Whiteriver. "Toni's Land" is in a trilogy involving "The Cowboy Cabin" and "The Hairy Man." Marlo's make-up is based off of a random girl's make-up I saw at a gas station. I thought the story was hilarious, so imagine my surprise when it was picked up by a horror magazine. The editor of the magazine later unfriended me under mysterious circumstances on both Twitter and Facebook. "Toni's Land" was the only story I wrote that year, and the only story that got published. The name Zena Antoinette Alfonsina Jun was inspired from a bunch of Apaches who named their kids some seriously random names. Zena calls Marlo Mrs. Baylish, using the last name of Marlo's crush. The concept came from my high school years in Alchesay, when girls would call them

The other day, I woke up, and noticed a chill in the air. My blood started rushing and the spirit of fall fell heavy on me. The clouds have that fuzzy look, which means they're cold. While it isn't time for sweaters just yet, the nights are whispering of autumn and all of its delights with pumpkins, apple cider, coloring leaves, cooling weather, tons of baking, and fuzzy socks. Come September, we're going to decorate early, and bask in the happy scarecrows and orange wreaths that we made last year. The aroma of pumpkin and apple pies will fill the house. Hunting season is coming and the elk will be whistling out there in the night. This year, we'll go out under the diamond sky and listen, snuggled in warm jackets and snacks at our side. If we're crazy enough, we'll hit the fence with sticks and make them come charging in. How I love the changing weather! It stirs the muse and makes it sing. I'm so thankful to Heavenly Father for autumn.

I've been studying more about Jesus Christ, our Savior in a manual called "Come Follow Me." For those of you who don't know what that is, here is the link:  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/come-follow-me-for-individuals-and-families-old-testament-2022?lang=eng The study I did today was reading Psalms 8, 19, and 33. The question posed for the reading was: How do the Lord’s creations declare the glory of God to you? My answer: They are a pure, mighty, and sure testimony of Him that can’t be disputed. When I look upon them, I know that He is, and that gives me more comfort than anything, when I’m all alone and frightened. Looking at the stars tells me that He is real and that He is there. From there, all that I’m told is true of Him. He loves me and will always be with me. He made all those things and He made me, and I am His daughter. I am His baby. Nothing can make itself, and that’s a fact. He had to make it. Matter can’t organize itself, it has no br

"The Little Man" was based on two bizarre stories that took place in the same room of my grandma's house and later was my dad's house. When my parents were newlyweds, still in college, and my mom was pregnant with me, she and my dad had to live with my grandparents for a little while. They were designated to the smallest bedroom in the house. My mom had nightmares that I'd be born as a walking, talking little man in a black suit, about two feet high. Of course, that never happened and I was a normal squishy baby. Fast forward a few decades, and the house belongs to my dad now. My youngest sister was now in that same middle room. She woke up in the middle of the night, feeling like something was there. She glanced at her shoulder and a little man in a black suit was perched by her face and looking at her. In a fit of panic, she seized him and threw him across the room. She tried to go back to sleep, but then sat up, freaking that he was angry and would bite her fee

The last few years have been extremely dry and hot. Smoke, sometimes ashes falling out of the sky, and the whir of helicopters have become routine for the summer months. Evacuation is a possibility. It could be followed by bedbugs and other gross things, like itchy chicken blankets and allergy attacks. The rains have come early this year. They fell in June, which is usually a giant blister on the calendar. Lots and lots of rain! The fields have become green and the trees have stopped crying. The air has cooled off, which is an especial blessing for a house with no AC or swamp cooler to speak of. How I love the rain! I love the formations the clouds make. I love how it turns everything green and springy. The scent it brings is one of my favorite aromas in the world. Near the end of the monsoon season, the mushrooms pop out. Flowers bloom and return to life. Scorched skies are washed azure blue. Rain falls instead of ash. The water becomes sweet and cold, as if all the chlorine and bleac

I've tried to sew before. I even posted my failures on this blog. There was a hideous blue skirt that turned into a duster, and then I busted my sewing machine. I put my sewing machine away, but after a while, the words came into my mind: "Try again." This time, I went onto YouTube channels in search of tutorials and found some really easy ones. I learned to steal the patterns from my own clothes. I had one skirt that made me look elegant. Guess what, it was a straight skirt. Sew up two rectangles and you're ready to go. With my first skirt completed, I took my broke hide to Walmart and dug around in the clearance rack for decent fabric between 2 and 8 bucks. I hunted through my closet and found this gorgeous fabric that had been used for a Halloween costume when I was little. I dismantled it with a thread cutter. Pretty soon, I had tons of pretty fabric to make the dresses I wanted, and not what the stores or perverts in high places dictated. I could own dresses both

I have a pet jumping spider named Little Frank. I discovered him in my window. Flies kept coming in, but as soon as they got to the window, they vanished. Beetles, moths, flies, every one who went to the window never came back out again. That's when I found Little Frank. He hunts around in my room, jumping anything that comes in. I spotted him yesterday, and now he's Little "Fat" Frank. I have yet to get a picture of Little "Fat" Frank. He's quite tiny. I'm thankful Heavenly Father sent him to me.