Author of The Starlight Series

                                                THE FLOWER BARREL

                                                                By

                                                  Stephanie Carpenter

 While growing up, I have always looked up to my grandma.  She was so talented.  She could paint beautiful pictures and she could tell the best stories to entertain me.  My grandma loved to write.  She has now written three books.  Whenever I found a book I liked, I loved to show my grandma and hope that she liked it, too.

 One night when my family went to my grandma’s house for dinner, something happened that I will never forget. I had just finished reading a book for school that I really enjoyed.  I brought the book with me to show my grandma, but I left it in the car.  After dinner I decided to run out and grab it.

 My grandma lived out in the country, and they had seen several coyotes; so I was nervous about going outside by myself when it was dark.  Cornfields surrounded her house and I was always afraid I would see a coyote.  I decided that if I ran fast enough, nothing would be able to get me.  As I opened the door, I felt as if something were waiting around the corner to grab me. 

 The car was about twenty feet away, so I built up some courage and went for it.  As I crept across the deck, hoping not to make a sound, I began my journey.  When I reached the concrete driveway, I stopped to check my surroundings.  Our car was in total darkness. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a curved figure that looked like a coyote.  I took off sprinting to the car and before I knew it I was on the ground.  I had run right into a stupid flower barrel and it took my legs out from under me.

The Flower Barrel

 My mother heard my screams of fear and pain and came running outside.  She could hear me crying but it was too dark to see me.  She kept running and next thing I knew she was on top of me.  My mom had run right into the same flower barrel and bounced right onto me. 

 Not long after she had fallen, my dad came outside to see what all the commotion was about.  He could hear laughter, but it was so dark he couldn’t find us.  I started to tell him to watch out for the flower barrel, but it was too late.  He ran right into it and landed on top of us.  My grandmother walked outside and turned the light on.  My family followed her and busted up with laughter. 

 That night I learned an important lesson.  One should never run from fear.  Fears should be handled by facing them head on.  By running from my imaginary coyote that turned out to be nothing but a plant, I ended up hurting myself.  If I would have just faced my fear I would have realized that the shadow was a plant and saved myself and my parents from bruised shins.

This morning I rose earlier than usual, in order to visit and have coffee with one of my very dear friends.  While I enjoy grabbing an extra half hour of doze-time, my friend is up at 4:00.  The only exceptions occur on weekends, unless he is on call at the hospital, for my friend is a physician, a truly dedicated one.  On Saturdays, like today, he arrives at the Courtyard Coffee House after 7:00, instead of 6:00.  As a rule, he begins rounds at the hospital at 5:00, before he takes his first espresso break at the cafe.  Between 6:30 and 7:00, he goes back home to have breakfast with his wife; and then he’s off to his office to do paper work until patients arrive at the clinic where he works every day.

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I drink coffee and tea, but this month’s poll is a tea poll. 

First, this month’s winner: Stash’s Licorice Spice Herbal Tea.  I don’t like licorice but this tea is excellent; it’s naturally sweet and very tasty.

“Licorice root, cinnamon, orange peel, star anise, sarsaparilla and natural flavors of vanilla, orange clove, cardamom and cinnamon.”

Remember:  Black teas and many herbal teas should be seeped in boiling hot water.  Green tea doesn’t need water quite as hot.

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I’ll start my first post as a guest blogger with good news!  We’re always on the lookout for quality content to publish on Barb’s site and thanks to the other cousin John we’ll be seeing a wide range of art (including of course, Barb’s art).   Check out the “guest blogger” page  for more info.  In the mean time I have to apologize (to the Lee Clan) for ignoring my Facebook and Myspace pages.   I’ve never really liked those sites… I was popular in high school and for me a little notoriety goes a long way.   Still, I’ve decided to put all my social networking efforts into Barb’s blog where I risk even more fame as “Barb’s cousin”.   To Barb’s fans, I’m also the tech support staff; if there’s anything I can do to make Barb’s site better please let me know.