Editor's Corner

September 2010

Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks.--Phillips Brooks
Assembling this issue was a challenge. A welcome one, for it brings great variety within it. Building blocks are a good analogy as the Columns and Poems and Articles and one Story go together with the synchronicity that surprises but is always pleasant when it occurs. Much of it you'll discover yourself when you find Blair's poem, "Salathael" with its appropriate image then glance at LC Van Savage's column "Consider This." Unplanned pairings that blend for a classy effect are the blessings of an editor. And at this point new contributing author June Hogue's article "Reflections on Blessings of Aging" must be mentioned. We are pleased to introduce her this issue.
LC Van Savage's article "Here’s To the Guys Who Brought it Over," and Leo C. Helmer's latest "More Western Swing-Bill Boyd" details those subjects these authors wrote while thinking of your enjoyment.
Helmer's column "Cookin' With Leo" shares his find, "Maple Mustard Pork Roast." In the column "Angel Whispers" Peg Jones tells how to make your own gratitude and/or blessings box, and what to fill it with while Gerard Meister works at keeping up with cell phones in "Thinking Out Loud."
John I. Blair in "Always Looking" tells some family stories to emphasize how fascinating genealogy can be. Thomas F. O'Neill decides it might be his time to learn Chinese, and explains how he came to that conclusion in his "Introspection." Mattie Lennon's column "Irish Eyes" gives a neat review on Mayo County musician John Hoban's "From the Plain of the Yew Tree".
Mark Crocker adds the third installment in the Stories section of his "Rabbo Tales," and if you haven't seen the first two, you'll want to catch up to this engaging fantasy.
With 14 poems - seven from Bruce Clifford and John I. Blair with six, your editor added her own "Routine" to avoid having 13 poetic offerings. The others are:

By Bruce Clifford:

"How Many Ways," "I Think," "I Would Give You The World," "If I Could Bend the Time," "Nothing to Believe in," "This Love I Have For You," and "Parallel World."
By John I. Blair:

"Rosewaistis," illustrated; "Summer Garden," also with image; "Enough is as Good as a Feast," "The Dead Woodpecker," "The Neglected Garden," and previously mentioned "Salathael," with picture.

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See you in October!
Click on Mary E. Adair for bio and list of othe r works published by Pencil Stubs Online.