Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Editor's Corner

 


By Mary E. Adair

April 2025

"April was just beginning,
and after the warm spring day
it turned cooler, slightly frosty,
and a breath of spring could be felt
in the soft, cold air."
--Anton Chekov


We are hoping that April will have kinder weather since March really "went out like a Lion" wreaking havock with tornadoes and fires across the states. Our prayers are with those affected and with the Responders who are coping with a multitude of problems.


Everyone, whether directly suffering, or offering aide, must endure ongoing weather problems. Our authors haven't had time to process the many dire situations, so the compositions published do not reflect any phase of the difficulties.


On to our issue where Marilyn Carnell's "Sifoddling Along" column tells why she chooses the items she defines as cherished when furnishing her abode. Thomas F. O'Neill's column "Introspective" has the interesting origins of our current month of April.


Mattie Lennon's column "Irish Eyes" focuses on two Irish authors and their most recent publications. Pauline Evanosky's column "Woo Woo" explains her "method" to experience feeling auras.


Judith Kroll's column "On Trek" expresses how ones thoughts can improve ones wellbeing, or adversely deter it. Melinda Cohenour's column "Armchair Genealogy"  updates the recent findings and upcoming hearings in the Gilgo case that has made investigative strides in new uses of DNA. "Cooking with Rod's Family" presents a suggestion for your Easter menu Melinda Cohenour's son mentioned after enjoying an entree at one of his daughter's home.


Walt Perryman's poems are "My Morning Thought on Hill Country Water," "Sometimes You May Not Get What You Pray For," "A Love Story," and "Morning Thought about Living Life." John I. Blair has three poems: "Irises," "Comfortable with Myself," and "The Wild Swans of Arlington."


Bud Lemire's poems are "A Beautiful Soul" and "What's Bugging You?" Bruce Clifford's poems are "Today" and "Across The Sea." Yours truly reprises "Our Wagon Train Rolls On."


Thank you, Mike, for keeping us shipshape and sailing along into another year. I can't express how vital your knowledge is, or how much you are appreciated.


See you in May!


Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


Armchair Genealogy

 

By Melinda Cohenour

UPDATE: Gilgo Beach Serial Murderer


It seems the entire nation is currently following two murder cases involving shocking and grotesque evidentiary details:1) the slaughter by stabbing of four popular and bright Idaho college students, with charges filed against Defendant Bryan Kohberger; and 2) the serial murder case involving torture, dismemberment, and a common dumping ground with seven victims currently charged against Rex Andrew Heuermann. The Heuermann case is referred to by various acronyms and labels including the Gilgo Beach Serial Murderer case and the LISK (Long Island Serial Killer) case. At least three additional victims are expected to ultimately be charged against Heuermann as their partial remains were found in close proximity to six of the seven victims presently slated for trial.


Several issues must be decided by Judge Mazzei in the Heuermann case before the trial can be scheduled.


First question before the Court involves a challenge by the Defense for the Judge to deny the nuclear DNA test results on hairs recovered from several of the victims which identify Heuermann as the perpetrator with a probability that defies current mathematical enumeration. A pivotal hearing in the Rex Heuermann serial murder case commenced Friday, March 28, designated as a Frye Hearing.


A Frye Hearing is a standard procedural for introduction of scientific evidence that has not previously been accepted in a specific jurisdiction. Named with reference to a famous case brought against a defendant whose surname was Frye, it involved the first introduction of results of the then-new lie detector in a murder case in 1923.


The first day of what is expected to require up to a full week to complete involved the introduction of the prosecution's first expert witness.

The South Shore Press covered the appearance of star expert witness  Dr. Kelley Harris. Unfortunately, the reporter mistakenly referred to her as Kelly Davis or just Davis in his report which read as follows:

Advanced DNA Steals the Show in Alleged Gilgo Beach Killer Court Appearance


By Michael J. Reistetter | Mar 31, 2025 | Crime


As expected, it was a madhouse at the Arthur M. Cromarty Criminal Court Complex on Friday, March 28th, with major media members and countless others turning out to gauge the state of the County’s prosecution of alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuremann.


Though the 61-year-old Massapequa native was in attendance, the star of these proceedings was Kelley Davis, an associate professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington with an impressive resume that took literally all day to comb through.


Davis was the first expert witness in the hearing, called upon to determine the admissibility of “nuclear DNA testing.”


The Magna Cum Laude Harvard and Cal State Berkeley graduate provided contextual overwhelm by describing her studies, fellowships, and peer-reviewing highlights.


She also detailed the high authenticity of nuclear DNA readings—particularly in narrowing down hairs beyond certain family members of a direct bloodline relation.


According to Davis, Mitochondrial DNA rules out a certain percentage—99% as it pertains to the Gilgo case.


DNA evidence concluded the hairs found on each victim allegedly belonged to Heurermann, his ex-wife, Asa Ellerup, and daughter, Victoria.


The former NYC architect’s family are not suspected to have been involved, as they were out of town during the time-frame in which the seven murders currently linked to Heuremann took place.

* * * * *


According to CBS News, NY:

Genome scientist Dr. Kelly Harris took the stand Friday. After listing credentials from Harvard to Cambridge, she gave hours of complex testimony validating that genetic sequencing has dramatically advanced with high-precision nuclear DNA, now considered widely-accepted science.


Nuclear DNA was used to match Heuermann to hairs on belts, tape and burlap found with the seven victims he is charged with murdering.


Harris told the court it is, "embarrassing that a method like this wasn't the state of the art years ago, but better late than never."


"If we look back to the O.J. Simpson case, actually, we saw the introduction of a new technology called PCR-based testing, which is now the gold standard for forensic DNA testing," (s)he said. "Whole genome sequencing is available in private companies right now for use in criminal investigations. It's not widespread, but this could be one of those critical moments in moving forward in forensic DNA analysis that brings this to the mainstream."


...Nuclear DNA testing is common in forensic science, according to Michael Marciano, director of research for Syracuse University's Forensic and National Security Sciences Institute. He said it's used for everything from at-home DNA kits to disease detection and identifying human remains.

* * * * *


Testimony in this Frye hearing is expected to continue for at least this week. A total of eight expert witnesses, representing both the prosecution and the defense, are scheduled to testify.


DA Ray Tierney argued nuclear DNA is already used to identify complex diseases, identify human remains and "at-home" DNA kits that proliferate today.


Additional motions before Judge Timothy Mazzei are the defense motion to sever the trial so that individual trials would be held rather than covering all seven victims charged against his client currently. DA Tierney has offered compelling arguments that due to the nature of the case, these seven victims are tied by evidentiary materials, modus operandi, geographic location, and require the State to produce the same expert witnesses for each victim. Not only would individual trials cost significantly more, it would cause scheduling issues for the numerous expert witnesses and place an additional burden of proof on the prosecution.


Of note, although not material to the case itself, is the announcement by Asa Ellerup's attorney Robert Macedonio that a settlement agreement has been reached to finalize Asa's divorce from defendant Rex Heuermann. It believed she and her two children have already moved out of the now infamous house believed to have been the site of the serial torture killings of several of Heuermann's alleged victims.


After 29 years of marriage, Asa finds it difficult to accept that her husband is "capable" of committing the crimes with which he is charged.


Your author will continue to follow the daily reports in connection to the Frye hearing. Judge Mazzei's ruling could set a precedent for the State of New York and establish an historic acceptance of this new process for extraction of nuclear DNA.


Stay tuned ...


Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


Irish Eyes

 


By Mattie Lennon

Leaning on Gates and The Championship 2024

Are you familiar with Seamus O’ Rourke and his podcasts from YouTube or elsewhere or have you read his first memoir Standing in Gaps? If your answer is no let me introduce you to this award-winning playwright, actor, director, poet, and an independent producer with his own company Big Guerilla Productions. His latest work, Leaning on Gates has been described by a better brain than mine as, “a cross between To School Through the Fields and The Catcher in the Rye.” He has been Holden Caulfield-type Salinger’s fictional character, but there is nothing fictional about this work. It is an honest autobiographic account of a thinking man marooned in rural Ireland, the centre of which is Carrigallen, Co Leitrim, where Gaelic football and Sunday mass are the highlight of the social calendar. Living at home with his traditional Irish family, he is a dreamer and talented footballer.


Every line in the book rolls off the tongue when read aloud. There is the description of sitting on his father knee as a child, “He rarely went unshaved, but this day he had growth on his face, and I was fascinated by its roughness to the touch. Yet it felt like I was taming him with every stroke. As close and as intimate as a father and son could be. I didn’t feel pride or love or joy . . . it was just being on my daddy’s knee and stopping him from having his tea. I only touched his face once after that.”


Many decades when his mother returned from the Poor Clare nuns in Drumshanbo and asked him if he was in the IRA. "No. . . . I said with a bemused look on my face."
“Well it must be the only thing you’re not into. I was with the nuns in Drumshanbo this morning and they’re praying for you and I’m going to pray for you because I don’t know what else there is. I’m afraid you could be too far gone, but I hope some of us gets strength from somewhere soon.”


Seamus O Rourke did a lot of living between the well-remembered touching of his father’s face and the day his mother returned from the nuns.


Apprentice carpenter, playing full back For Leitrim, sharing a damp bedsit on the North Circular Road in Dublin with two other Leitrim footballers, saw the good points in Joe “Clamping+” Maguire in Garrigallen, who could “make good fodder out of bad hay” and visits to Mullen market where “the cheap outweighed the useful and the shiny outshone the wise.”


He was a better welder than his father but he felt that he didn’t outshine him in anything. He felt that he wasn’t as good as his father and at 20 years of age, was asking himself “Is what I’m doing good enough.” He couldn’t be sure. “I wasn’t sure of anything.”


On page 153 Seamus tells us, “There is no romance between these pages because I was useless at romance-never got the right run at it.” Despite the fact that he had a red sports car at seventeen years of age he wasn’t a big hit with the young ladies of Carrigallen and the surrounding areas. And then . . . in the mid-eighties he headed to America as part of a Gaelic football team. “Our young farmer’s mickeys were wrung out from watching Baywatch and Wonder Woman- they needed to go forth and sin for Ireland."


He spent a short time in New York initially working as a labourer for “Shovels” McGrath, “ . . .a thick Connemara alcoholic.”


Did his romantic life improve during his short stay in the States? You’ll have to read Leaning on Gates published by Gill Books.


Even when the author left Leitrim his heart didn’t go. When James Joyce was asked, "Will you ever return to Dublin?" he replied “I never left.”


Part of Seamus O’Rourke was still living and socialising with the motley crew of fellas he grew up with. It could be said of the book that, all Leitrim life is there.


And the humour? Veteran Irish broadcaster, who is not known for splitting his sides laughing said of it, “Absolutely wonderful, I laughed out loud so many times.” I can second that.


A friend of mine from Mayo once told me, “If Wicklow and Leitrim ever meet in an All-Ireland final it should be played in Knock, because it’ll be a f…..g Miracle.” So, coming from west Wicklow, which has so many things in common with Leitrim such as the quality of the land a certain style of football, I could identify with almost all of the author’s experiences apart from the fact that I didn’t have a fancy car when I was seventeen--I managed to get a second-hand Morris Minor when I was 32 and I certainly didn’t win any medals for my country.

* * * * *


Speaking of sport, Patrick Kavanagh was no great shakes as a goalkeeper and didn’t have all that much interest in sport but he did say that no one could write a comprehensive account of Irish life that ignored the Gaelic Athletic Association. Likewise nobody could write a comprehensive history of the GAA who ignores Brian Cathy. This man of many parts from Ballymore, near Strokestown, County Roscommon, was a Gaelic games correspondent and was a commentator for RTÉ, specialising in Gaelic games. When RTE decided to “downgrade" him in 2011 numerous Gaelic games figures, including Mickey Harte, Kieran McGeeney and Justin McNulty, expressed their disagreement with RTÉ's treatment of Carthy, by writing a four-page letter to director general Noel Curran and boycotting the organisation. The same year Brian launched a podcast in August 2022, focusing on Senior Club Championship results.


Brian has written some 30 books, including the best-selling 'Football Captains, The All-Ireland Winners'. His latest offering The Championship 2024, omits nothing pertaining to the Football and Hurling Championships. It contains the results of every single game in both senior codes. It contains 35 spectacular photos and is a must for anyone with the slightest interest in the GAA.

Details from: sliabhbanproductions1@gmail.com

See you in May.


Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


Cooking with Rod's Family

 



Easter will be here April 20 and many of us will be entertaining family and want to serve a delicious meal that is not only tummy filling, but is also a meal that shows some extra effort went into its preparation.


Last Fall, I bought a nice pork loin and was looking for a little different recipe. Over the years I've come up with some very tasty roast loin recipes using various marinades and unique gravies or sauces.


My son, John, spoke up saying, "I recently was invited to eat with my daughter, Faith. Her best friend and long-time roommate Ivy prepared a pork loin that may have been the best I've ever had." I inquired as to how the loin was prepared but John told me he had no clue but I really should get her recipe.


I immediately reached out for Ivy to share her Stuffed Pork Loin recipe. She immediately responded. The recipe looked really tasty! I decided we should try it.


Of course, being me, I began rereading the recipe and an idea for adding my favorite flavors began forming in my head. Cranberries! Oranges! Onion flavor ... These would sparkle in the recipe Ivy had created. And I must always have a lovely sauce or gravy to complement a roasted meat.


The recipe provided here is the combination of Ivy's delicious stuffed loin and my flavorful additions to both the stuffing and the ingredients for a lovely Cranberry-Orange-Onion Sauce. It would make a stunning Easter dinner for your family and guests.


Thank you, Ivy DeLaRosa for your fabulous Stuffed Pork Loin and permission for me to publish it as modified by my love of CRANBERRIES.


Readers, try this recipe. I believe you will be proud to serve our collaboration to your guests.


Bon appetit~!

Ivy n M's Stuffed Cranberry-Orange-Onion Pork Loin

Ingredients:

    * 4 - 5 lb pork loin
    * 2 tsp. Mrs. Dash (or to taste)
    * 2 tsp ground black pepper (or to taste)
    * 1 box Stovetop chicken stuffing mix
    * 1 package dried cranberries
    * 2 cans jellied cranberry sauce
    * 1 can frozen orange juice
    * 1 pkg. Lipton Onion Soup mix
    * 1 Tbsp. Prepared Yellow Mustard
    * 2 cups chicken broth
    * May need water to maintain liquid in roasting pan and/or to reduce pan liquid to gravy before serving
    * Slurry of white flour and water to thicken gravy (or use 2 tablespoons cornstarch added to boiling liquid as shown in gravy instructions below)
    *Butcher's twine

Instructions:

    1. Rinse loin well and pat dry
    2. Cut away thick fat leaving a small bit only. To prepare to roll, must fillet the loin and roll out flat, remove silver membrane.
    3. Season well with Mrs. Dash and ground black pepper
    4. Prepare Stovetop stuffing mix per box instructions.
    5. Mix dried cranberries with prepared stuffing mix. Spread over inside of filleted loin evenly.
    6. Roll loin back up. Secure with butcher's twine.
    7. Place in large roasting pan
    8. Mix 2 cans jellied cranberry sauce, 1 can frozen orange juice, 2 cups chicken broth and 1 packet Lipton Onion Soup Mix and tablespoon yellow mustard. Simmer in saucepan and stir until cranberry sauce and orange juice melts.
    9. Pour cranberry-orange-onion sauce over loin.
    10. Roast covered in 350° oven for about 2 hours.
    Uncover and continue roasting until nicely browned on top and NO PINK LIQUID runs out when thickest part of loin is cut into.

    Meat should be WHITE in light meat portion, nicely browned and firm in dark meat portion.

    Minimum 165° internal temp. Internal Temp MUST BE 165° to be safe.


    CRANBERRY-ORANGE-ONION GRAVY:

      Pour all liquid from the roasting pan into a narrow container and place in freezer for a few (up to 15) minutes to cause fats to rise where they can be removed. Once the liquid is clear, pour into a saucepan. (Measure the liquid to ensure it is sufficient to make about 4 to 6 cups gravy. Add water or more chicken broth to bring to proper quantity.)
      Bring liquid to a boil then add slurry of flour and water or cornstarch to thicken. Stir constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps from forming, Keep warm for serving over loin and potatoes.
      Rest loin for 15 minutes on counter before slicing to serve.


    To serve, accompany with mashed potatoes, green beans or asparagus or broccoli and a warm crusty bread.


    Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
    This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


Woo Woo

 




 

 

By Pauline Evanosky

Seeing and Sensing Auras

I recently wrote a story at Medium.com about seeing auras. I can remember it was a big thing when I was first learning how to be psychic. In those days, I was trying to do all things psychic and there are quite a few things people of a psychic nature can do. Of course, there is no regulatory agency, but one might think of tarot cards, the runes, the Akashic Records and channeling like I do. There are also auras to read, to see and to feel.


As it turned out, I have never been really very good at seeing auras preferring to limit most of my psychic contact to channeling. However, I have seen them a few times, so I can say that they are real. At least what I’ve experienced about them.


You can also feel your aura. What comes first? Feeling or seeing? It’s going to depend on the person, I suppose. I’ve done both. For me, the feeling was the first thing I experienced.


Keep in mind that a blind person who has necessarily lost one of their senses will use their other senses to come to the rescue. Those remaining senses get beefed up. The goal is to take your place in the world and be a part of it no matter what senses you have.


As a blind person, it’s just not going to be the same as a sighted person. One of the things that a blind person is conscious of, more so than a sighted person might be, is air pressure or their sense of feeling. If you watch a blind person walking alongside a building at the corner of the building, they will move more slowly and be ready for the next thing. How do they know that’s a good place to be wary? It’s where the air cushion between themselves and the building changes. Something sighted people don’t notice much at all. At the corner of the building, they are suddenly no longer next to it. So, they pause, tap their cane, or communicate with a guide dog, or whatever a blind person does when they are preparing for the next thing. It could be a busy road. It might be an intersection. It could be a driveway. It’s where they need to decide where to go next and how to proceed.


As a sighted person, the way to build up this sensory awareness is to start where you are. Even if you are standing in line at the grocery store you could do this.


Close your eyes and rub your hands together. In my energy Reiki healing course, I was told to do that, too. Rub my hands together. It’s like we’ve all seen pictures of somebody getting ready to do something really good, like diving into an all you can eat buffet. You warm up your hands to wake them up, to get a bunch of tingly spider senses activated. Now, as your hands lay flat against each other, palm to palm, slowly pull them apart a few inches. Not a yard apart. Just a few inches. From that separated position, slowly, very slowly bring your hands together. All this while your eyes are closed.


Did you feel anything? No? That’s not surprising. It takes time. Keep your eyes closed. Rub your hands again if you want to. Or not. But, slowly, ever so slowly, draw your hands apart again. Same distance. Because you’ve got your eyes closed, you could peek if you wanted to. Is it about five inches? That’s good. Is it three inches? That’s fine, too. Just a bit apart.


Now, bring them together again. Slowly. What you are waiting for is a small pressure like tug, like you’ve squashed a marshmallow between your palms. It’s not an earthshaking kind of thing. There are no ringing bells or trumpets going off. Just something a little different.


Perhaps, you think you might have only imagined it.


Strike the word “only” from your vocabulary. This is where you want to encourage your imagination. This is where the 56-year-old self you are pulls on childhood memories and gets to pretend again. This is where pretend is critical to the process.


Hold your hands close together. Not touching. They are just about an inch or so apart. And, yes, you can peek. From that small distance of an inch, slowly take ten seconds or so to bring the surface of your hands together again. Slowly pull them apart.


Wait! Did you feel something? Yeah, like gummy bears now. Play with this exercise. It took me three days to begin feeling the first push and pull of the aura between my hands. I didn’t walk around all day doing the exercise. It was just sporadically during the course of the day that I did it. The thing is, is that as I began to feel something happening I began to switch to a different gear as I did the exercise. I can’t describe how that gear feels. It’s the difference between consciously making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to unconsciously making one. Just a different gear. Maybe you could describe it as being tense and then not being tense.


As the days passed and I got better at feeling my aura, I began to draw my hands farther and farther apart until I could feel a resistance. I could feel the heat of one hand against the other without actually touching them. I could take my hands to a distance of 18 inches to two feet apart. Then, to play with this, I put each of my hands down, palm up on my legs as I sat in my chair. I angled them up so that they were pointed toward the cheeks of my face. I felt that, too. A real pressure against my face.


What I never did was look in a mirror and see if I could actually see an indentation on my cheek. Now, that would have been awesome.


So, that’s the feeling part of your aura.


These days, it takes me a bit of practice to feel my aura again. I suppose it’s like riding a bicycle. I know that it happened before. I can wait patiently, do the exercises again, and eventually, probably within a couple of days, begin to easily feel my aura again.


Being able to feel an aura doesn’t have much practical application unless you get into energy healing, such as Reiki, or exercises like Tai Chi or Qigong. But it sure is weird. And fun. Once you’ve got it down, you can teach others. Be the most popular person at your next party.


The seeing of auras is slightly different. If you were to go around practicing this for a long time, I’m sure you would begin to see colors in people’s auras. I’ve never gotten that far. What I saw was a grey foggy cloud that would settle upon the outside form of a person as I looked at them. The funny thing was I was able to see it in photographs, too. I never thought that would happen.


One of the things I did was to get some Magic Eye books and practice seeing the hidden pictures in them. At first glance, these pictures are much like a movie theater carpet. Lots of tiny, busy patterns. Personally, I can’t walk on carpets like this because they make me dizzy, and I sometimes want to throw up. But I can look at the Magic Eye pictures.


If you Google Magic Eye pictures and look at the images section of the search results, you can pull one up on your computer to examine. It looks like a mess. Busy, zig-zaggy patterns that mean nothing. They might even make you slightly sick like they do for me sometimes. But you keep gazing at them, and suddenly, whoosh, you can see the hidden dinosaur. For me, there is that shift when I go from not seeing to seeing the hidden picture. You almost wonder what happened. Once seen, you cannot unsee it. In fact, as I was writing this, I went back to Google to look again at my dinosaur picture only to discover there were three dinosaurs. Once again, there is that hesitancy where I cannot see the hidden picture, but the images appear a lot more quickly for me after the first longer wait.


There is a shift in how you see very much like the psychic shifts I make when I channel sometimes or if I just want to see something of a psychic nature. Where I “go deep” as I think of it.


Is being able to see people’s auras something that could enrich your life? Maybe. Maybe not. Have you ever seen heat waves? It’s sort of like that. Is seeing a heat wave useful? Sure. If there’s a hot stove in front of you, you can be warned not to approach it too quickly or without a hot pad in hand. It’s just something different. Or, if you are out in the desert, you will know that you are looking at a mirage in the distance and not a body of water.


You know, if you thought of being able to sense auras to be on a similar level as being able to whistle, that might make it an easier skill to discover. Or perhaps it might be described as the balance and timing a person needs to play jump rope or learning how to wink or make clicking noises with your tongue.


How is this useful to anybody? I’m not sure. I know, for myself, it was just something I learned to do. If I were doing psychic readings, it might very well be helpful for something like that. I could say, “You seem a little tense.” Or, maybe, “Have you been worried about money?” I would not want that to be my only source of information, for at heart, I am a channel.


Come back next month, and I’ll have another article for you. The articles I publish on Medium are now accessible to non-members. There is a link at the top of my articles that directs the reader to my entire article, which is available with a non-member link. Just google me. Most of what I write for them turns up there.


Thanks for reading.
Pauline Evanosky


Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


 

Introspective

 


By Thomas F. O'Neill

Goodbye, March, and Hello, April ... ❤

Life is an ever-renewing cycle of love and rebirth. So let the month of April reveal that to us with nature's blooming blossoms.


The name April is rooted in the Latin Aprilis, which is derived from the Latin aperire meaning “to open” —which could refer to the opening or blossoming of flowers and trees, a common occurrence throughout April in the Northern Hemisphere.


Since months are often named for gods and goddesses, and since Aphrilis is derived from the Greek Aphrodite, it is possible the month was named for the Greek goddess of love (the goddess that the Romans called Venus)! Even now, April is a popular name.


The month of April goes way back, before January and February were added to the end of the year by King Numa Pompilius around 700 BCE. April was already the second month of the Roman calendar year (March was the first). It was around 450 BCE, when April was rearranged into the fourth slot and assigned 29 days. But with the introduction of the Gregorian calendar by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, an extra day was added, “30 days hath April” has been on our minds ever since.


People who are born in April tend to be energetic and active. They have huge enthusiasm and passion for food, science, books, and travel. Apart from this, they pay more attention to actions than words. The people surrounded by April-born people will often have a bright smile with them.


Always with love,
Thomas F O'Neill

    Email: introspective7@hotmail.com
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Click on the author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
This issue appears in the ezine at www.pencilstubs.com and also in the blog www.pencilstubs.net with the capability of adding comments at the latter.


Sifoddling Along



 

By Marilyn Carnell

The Little Blue Chair


I prefer to be surrounded by things that have a story to tell. New things are nice, but I prefer knowing the history of an object to be reminded of stories about the past.


I have and love some interesting things in my home. One is a small, mule eared, cane-bottom chair that belonged to my grandfather Bunch.


The chair has a story to tell. My Grandpa Bunch (all titles required an additional descriptor to keep all of my many relatives sorted) was a farmer in the Ozarks. He and his bachelor brother, Uncle Sam, managed 80 acres of mostly bottom land in the Big Sugar Creek Valley.


The farm was largely self-sufficient and outside the money economy. It was called the Scots style of farming. Each place was a small kingdom unto itself. They made, raised or found food and materials needed to support an extended family of eleven people – my great-grandmother Bunch, Uncle Sam, Grandpa and Grandma Bunch and their seven children. They had cattle and sheep, horses and mules, chickens and guineas, raised a big garden, grew corn and wheat, even tobacco. From the land they hunted and fished and found nuts and berries and sassafras for a spring tonic. They traded milk, cream and eggs for small items like spices, sugar and coffee.


One day about 1940,Grandpa was driving a team of mules home from Southwest City on the Oklahoma/Arkansas border with a load of cornmeal ground at the local mill. As he began the steep descent down Pine Hill Road into the valley, something spooked the mules, and they ran away. He was tangled in the reins and when the wagon finally came to a stop, he was severely injured, including a broken pelvis. When he was found by nearby neighbors, they carried him to their cabin, probably making the injuries worse. After three days of pain and misery, a doctor was located, but he had to be sobered up to give Grandpa Bunch any medical care. His cuts and bruises healed, but the broken bones were not set properly, and he walked painfully with a cane the rest of his life.


In addition, he was unable to sit comfortably. As a resourceful farmer, he sawed off the legs to the little wood chair constructed by a neighbor to a height he could tolerate sitting on. One of my memories is seeing him sitting in the chair in the front yard, reading the Kansas City Star. The bright sunshine helped him read the small type with his failing eyesight,


After he passed away, my Aunt Etta inherited the chair. Aunt Etta was also resourceful in making things useful. She also had an innate artistic ability. She liked to paint anything that stood still for more than 5 minutes, so the chair was coated with light blue paint and used as a plant stand for many years.


I was given it by my Aunt Etta more than 40 years ago when I returned to live in the Ozarks once again. I used it for a stack of extra towels in the guest bathroom. The chair has an honored spot in my new apartment and continues to remind me of the dear people who are no longer with me and brings history alive to me once again.


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On Trek

 


By Judith Kroll

Memories

What a beautiful gift we have in our memories. Stored with all the precise facts and energy, feelings, smells, etc.


Recalling a Good memory is a real treat. I have many of them that brighten my day, wearing a smile of love as I remember each detail.


If we remember a bad memory, every detail, feelings, energy, and smells come back. That is why we need to bury our bad memories, let them go.


Our trash has pieces of good meals, and some not so good. When we empty the trash we take the memories away.


We can remember a bad memory if it brings us to a belly laugh because we did something "stupid". Good memories should be kept in a good memory compartment in our brains.


When we give birth to a child, we tend to forget the pain, and dwell on the beauty of the experience, and hearing that first cry. That first cry was a beautiful cry. Cry of life. I am here, and I am ready to meet you and the world.


A good memory can be triggered by a smell for example. Or someone's laugh, or the feel of the sun. Embrace that tender moment. Love is the key.


We are all energy that reacts to the frequencies of the Universe. We are all part of those frequencies. We are those frequencies.


We live to the beat of them. We are all connected. Picture yourself wrapped in the hum of the universe. Flowing and glowing with it.


We truly are a miracle. We matter. Always remember the love.
Judith 3/22/25


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Our Wagon Train Rolls On

 

By Mary E. Adair

See photo of my daughter Kathy,
hubby JL Brice, and her four children Melinda,
Amanda, Luther, and Joshua, Dressed Up like Old Times.

We are a People with Purpose
     Forever setting some goal
Striving through calamities
     And stormy skies black as coal.

Bonding together as needs arise
     Finding answers to let all survive
Sharing talents and devolving ways
     To brace each other keeping hopes alive

Like those who moved westward
     Seeking a better life of their own
Long trains of covered wagons
     Bearing dreams in heart, mind, and bone

When for some dire reason
     One or more wagons must stop
Others shared space and kept traveling
     Not allowing their vision to drop

Still today we move forward together
     Through inventive manner hard to believe
Sharing concern and solutions for our health
     That our forefathers could never conceive

And as a Nation we stand Solid
     Individuals as one moving ahead
There are still glorious times beckoning
     Yet we shall remember to mourn our dead

Those who led toward the future
     Leaving their doubts and fears on the trail
Will ever awaken new determination
     To not allow our own dreams to fail

So let us still strive for the summits
     For new compassion in our actions
Blessing our descendants yet to come
     With our whole lives without distractions

Forgetting no one, leaving none along the way
     Together is the answer and always has been true
Mock no one's dreams, slight no individuality
     And we will stay strong, melded as One, me and you

Our lives move intrinsically onward
     Bearing sights, beliefs, plans, and victories won
Do not fear the tomorrows, my friends,
     Our Wagon Train rolls on.

©January 27, 2019 Mary E. Adair
Encore


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A Love Story!

 

By Walt Perryman

Can anyone relate to my morning thought?
Maybe it depends on the truck you bought!

Somehow, I can’t believe how life can suck,
How many of you men loved your old truck?

As you bicker about the price of a new one,
Next you become sad after the deal is done.

Your memories of your old truck and you,
And about all that you‘all have been through.

Your feeling for your old truck is hard to believe.
When you have a tear in your eye as you leave!

Then as you’re driving your new truck off the lot,
You discover it’s a computer that you’ve bought!

Later, you’re driving your new truck crying tears,
As you’re reading the book on how to shift gears.

We all miss our old truck, and I know this to be true,
We wonder if our old truck’s new owner loves it too.

©3/22/2025 Walt Perryman


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Irises

 

By John I. Blair

Like leaves of grass

The irises

Shoot sharply up to

The spring occasion,

Then stab a stalk

High in the air,

Flaunting their flowers,

Fresh and fluttering,

Filling the garden

With fragrance.

©2002 John I. Blair
Encore


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Morning Thought about Living Life

 

By Walt Perryman

You can spend a lifetime building a life,
With love and trust, by husband and wife.

But if you do not nurture it from the heart,
Your wonderful little world can fall apart.

So give your family food, love, trust, and you,
Then with God’s help you just might make do.

It has to be a team effort, one cannot do it all.
But it all can be damaged if one drops the ball.

Life will always have rough spots this is true,
To smooth it out ask God and he will help you.

You must work on it constantly whatever the cost,
If it is not maintained, it will be damaged or lost.

©3/01/2025 Walt Perryman


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Comfortable with Myself

 

By John I. Blair

My soft-bellied, bulgy, bony self
Caused me grief when I was young.
Shy beyond belief, I hid,
Sure I was gross, awkward, fat.

Today I’ve survived the awkwardness.
At times I’m gross indeed, no doubt,
But at my age I’m at peace with that.
At my age I’m just glad I’m here.

Now when I look into a mirror
I pause to smile at what I see,
Long since rid of my fear, no more
Hostage to another’s tongue.

I’ve no one to answer to but me,
No one else to live up to—
And though a hard critic I can be,
Of critics I’m the quickest to forgive.

©2003 John I. Blair
Encore


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A Beautiful Soul

 

By Bud Lemire

Beauty lives, within the soul
When you feel it, you will know
A great body, is a work of art
But the beauty of the soul, will touch your heart

Sure, they have a great smile
Touching the soul, is what's worthwhile
When looking for love, what do you seek
Someone who has, a beautiful butt cheek?

I feel a presence, that I know in my soul
Touching me deeply, making me feel whole
Someone to spend hours with, day in and day out
To me that is “Soul Beauty,” and what love's all about

Too many people, confuse love with lust
That's like not seeing the pie filling, only the crust
You need to love that person fully, not just what you see
It'll take you so much farther, it'll be your true destiny

Take time, to know the person behind the bod
Their personality, that resides in their pod
Look deeper, if you choose a lifetime to be
With a beautiful soul, for that is the key

©Mar 04, 2025 Bud Lemire

                      Author Note:


Feel the connection of their soul to yours. Know
their full personality and accept them for all they
are, and how it affects you when you are with them.
When it touches you deeply, and you just want to
spend more time with them, that is a beautiful soul
that has merged with yours.


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My Morning Thought on Hill Country Water

 

By Walt Perryman

For many years we have been in a drought,
And our ground water supply is running out.

We have fires breaking out all over the place.
We have people moving here at a rapid pace.

I believe we are issuing building permits too fast,
When we don’t know how long our water will last.

We have wineries everywhere that’re doing fine.
We need to learn how to make water out of wine?

Some may believe that our prayers are in vain,
You better believe differently and pray for rain.

©3/18/2025 Walt Perryman


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Today

Today is my day to cry. Thought it was my time to shine. Life goes on and I carry on. Today was a blink of an eye. Today was another day. Lost and feeling alone and afraid. Life goes on and I try to remain strong. Today was another day. Another day I once had a day to shine. I reflected on all that left me behind. Now I am so lost and afraid. She never cared about me in any way. By: Bruce Clifford 3/6/2025

The Wild Swans of Arlington

 

By John I. Blair

There they float across the water,
Drifting silently in the mist;
Behind them half-seen rushes
Shelter their secluded nest.
Mute, as their kind have always been,
They lend the pond an air
Of timelessness, like lines
From Shelley, Yeats or Synge.

But no; reality roars in,
The trucks upon the Interstate
Hard by their nesting ground.
Just as well the swans are mute;
Their songs would not be heard
Above the din, nor their cries
Above the thunder of the jets that pass
On final to the airport north of town.

Yet I am glad we have the swans
Here in the park; they represent
The magic we have thrown away,
The past that we have shunned,
The stories we no longer tell,
The wisdom of another day
When mystery dwelled around
And our minds were not bound.

©2003 John I. Blair
Encore


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What's Bugging You?

 

By Bud Lemire

You may think, some things are done to hurt you
If you understood it all, you'd know it's not true
It's done to protect you, and everyone who lives here
So they don't spread it around, and we won't live in fear

Nobody, wants the bad stuff that's going around
They don't want it to be, their place where it's found
By eliminating gatherings, it helps prevent...
The little things, that try to invade your rent

The staff are doing their best
To keep control of the pest
So just sit back, be patient, and hang tight
Let them know, if you have a bite

Working together, will get it done
In time, we'll return to the fun
For now, do what you're suppose to
Between us all, we will all get through

If you see anything, please go and let them know
Because everyone here, is fighting a common foe
Sit back, relax, and the more we cooperate
The sooner we can get back, to what's great

©Mar 30, 2025 Bud Lemire

                        Author Note:


Check the bedding and furniture before you move in here.

Don't have group gatherings in apartments, because who
knows what you are carrying into their apartment. A clean
apartment, and a clean body will help. Stay alert and
aware. Because we care.


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Sometimes You May Not Get What You Pray For

 

By Walt Perryman

Sometimes you may not get what you pray for!
Because God knows what you need and more.

God works in ways beyond our comprehension.
And anytime you pray you can get His attention.

One of his greatest gifts Is when we truly believe,
Is peaceful inter feeling with no need to deceive!

When God takes over, major problems become minor,
And your load becomes lighter and your life a lot finer.

Once you allow God into your heart, it becomes true,
You will never be perfect, but God wants you to try to.

©2/12/2025 Walt Perryman


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Across the Sea

By Bruce Clifford

Is there anything out there across the sea?
Is there anyone out there, but you and me?
Are we all alone on this island in space?
What is our purpose if we are the only humans of our race?

She said there was nothing else across the sea.
As I stare out at the waves, I wonder how this could be.
Are we here all alone on this island of light?
Will we ever know if there are others of our kind?

Are there heartbeats and love across the sea?
As I look down from above, I only see you and me.

Is there any hope out there across the sea?
Am I only dreaming of this possibility?
Are we drifting alone on this island in space?
We might never know if we'll find peace and grace.

What are we protecting if this is all we could see?
Are there places and creatures far across the sea?
Are we dreaming alone on this planet in space?
We might never know unless we had the steps to retrace.

She said there was nothing else across the sea.
As I looked towards the horizon, I wonder how this could be.
Are we here all alone on this island of light?
We may never know but are we willing to fight?

©3/21/2025 Bruce Clifford


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Saturday, March 1, 2025

Editor's Corner



By Mary E. Adair

March 2025

"Keep your face
always toward the sunshine,
and shadows will fall behind you."
— Walt Whitman


Although we ended our February in our area with an afternoon 4.8 Earthquake about 75 miles or so from our western desert town, the worst the month dealt to us was the below freezing weather for four consecutive days. Older homes, and I might add older citizens, are not built here for such weather and our water pipes and brittle bones take offense. But we also followed that with some mid 80s temperatures to soothe our tempers.


We are looking forward to more normal weather for March which slams us into Daylight Saving Time when our clocks spurt forward an hour. Interestingly, this is always done during the wee morning hours as if we are being spared such a shock.


Walt Perryman's poems are "All Alone with A Windmill," "Almost Daylight," and "What I Take for Granted." John I. Blair has two new poems for March: "Millipede" and "Ten O'Clock Train To Texas."


Bud Lemire's poems are "Rectify Any Wrong Doings," "Time Doesn't Stand Still," and "That Darn Keyboard!" Bruce Clifford's three poems are "Without You," "Purple Waters," and "Day To Shine."


New to our pages but not to our family, being the youngest grandchild of the late Leo C. Helmer, we welcome Christina Heisler with her poem "Flaming Cloud." We are again showing the informative article by Helmer to assist you in plans you may be making for Easter.


Marilyn Carnell's "Sifoddling Along" column discusses her new abode and some of the reasons for her decision. Thomas F. O'Neill included a moving picture of an American soldier taken in WWII as the basis of his column "Introspective." However, we are still publishing written material and a few pictures previously shown in our pages and no new photos. Our Webmaster Mike Craner who keeps us online has not chased down our photo uploading problem so far. Being snowed in for awhile didn't help his search.


Mattie Lennon's column "Irish Eyes" relays an interesting talk and demonstration he recently attended and extends an invitation for another such in the near future in his area. He also shares some info presented by a colleague about Saint Patrick. Pauline Evanosky's column "Woo Woo" explains her "new habit" and discusses why she's pleased.


Judith Kroll's column "On Trek" expounds on some personal beliefs and their impact. Melinda Cohenour updates further findings and upcoming decisions in the Gilgo case that has made investigative strides in new uses of DNA. "Cooking with Rod's Family" presents Melinda Cohenour's daughter Melissa as featured cook this issue.


Thank you, Mike, for keeping us shipshape and sailing along into another year. I shall continue to place our confidence in you as we have in the past.


See you in April!


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Armchair Genealogy

 


By Melinda Cohenour

Latest News On Trial Pending for Serial Killer Rex Andrew Heuermann

Rex Heuermann and his Defense counsel, Michael Brown, were back in court this week, February 25 2025, to support passage by Judge Mazzei of their latest Motions.


The hearing was relatively short and revolved around these key issues:
1. Motion to sever trial: The defense has moved the court to sever the cases for the murders of seven women to not one, but five separate trials: one for three of the women referred to as the Gilgo Four, and individual trials for the four other victims currently projected to be tried in one serial murder trial


Prosecutor, Ray Tierney, argued the State's case that the evidence pointing to Heuermann being the killer charged with all seven victims has undeniable proof of Heuermann being a serial killer. That in order to prove the allegation of serial murders, the State will present applicable evidentiary materials showing how Heuermann targeted specific victims, set about luring them into his trap, planned in advance how each would be tortured and killed, and carried out these murders using a planning document of his own creation.


Direct quote from ABC 7 in New York concerning the inadmissibility of severing the seven cases as follows:
The Suffolk County district attorney's office said severing the cases is "inappropriate as the victims are inextricably interwoven by geographic proximity, victimology, digital and physical evidence, forensic analysis, and defendant's own planning document" that allegedly contained detailed instructions for killing women, dismembering bodies and burying them. https://abc7ny.com/post/gilgo-beach-serial-killer-suspect-rex-heuermann-appears-court-judge-weighing-dna-evidence/15954067/


That to support applicability of each piece of evidence, the State will rely upon expert witnesses each of which will be possessed of knowledge specific to their scientific speciality. That to have these same expert witnesses schedule five separate trials would not only present those witnesses with a scheduling issue but would also be extremely costly to the State. That to be required to present the evidence in separate trials, references to similar killings and modus operandi would be excluded by law in trials focused on a single victim, placing an unfair disadvantage to prosecution. Further, that the whole of the evidentiary materials provides proof of similar methods used by the defendant in carrying out his serial murders.


Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, who is prosecuting the case, when asked about the prosecution's opposition to severing the cases, responded: "The theory of our case is, this defendant is a serial killer who meticulously and methodically hunted down and murdered seven women. That is our case. He did use the same methodology. He utilized a planning document in which he laid bare his intention to do this. And so, as such under the law, a lot of the evidence of one charge would be admissible in court as evidence of the separate charge. Specifically the DNA evidence, the phone evidence, some of the financial evidence, the searches he made, some of the mementoes he was alleged to have kept — all of these pertain" to all seven victims, he said.

SOURCE: https://patch.com/new-york/riverhead/accused-gilgo-killer-meticulously-methodically-hunted-women-da


Additionally, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Lee with the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office argued in two documents filed Tuesday that the cases should be tried at the same time rather than split into five trials requested by Heuermann's defense attorney.

SOURCE: https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/rex-heuermann-gilgo-beach-murders-norwich-20187202.php


2. Motion by defense to exclude nuclear DNA test results calling it "magic" and arguing the methodology has not been proven accurate.


According to the prosecutor Tierney, who argued for continued inclusion of the nuclear DNA test results:

“It’s prevented people from dying from disease, it’s detected diseases, it’s used in amniocentesis, it’s identified war dead, it’s identified remains of 9/11 people,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “This science has been around for many, many years and, if the defense wants to call it magic, that’s fine, the defense can call it whatever it likes. But we will determine that at the hearing, and we look forward to that hearing and, I can tell you, this is sound science.”

SOURCE: https://keyt.com/cnn-regional/2025/02/25/gilgo-beach-murder-suspect-rex-heuermann-back-in-court-for-hearing-on-dna-evidence-request-to-separate-trials/


However, it is your author's belief this type testing of DNA derived from hair samples with no root follicle will require a Frye Hearing since it has not to date been accepted in any case in New York state.


3. Change of venue motion previously filed by Defense counsel Michael Brown:
In a surprise complete reversal of his prior filing requesting a change of venue declaring Suffolk County to have a jury pool that has been inundated with negative news publications there could not exist a panel lacking preconceived beliefs as to his client's guilt.


At court, Defense counsel Michael Brown voluntarily removed his Change of Venue motion from the Court docket. Brown was quoted as saying:
“One of the reasons we did not file a change of venue motion is because we are looking forward to 12 people in Suffolk County, the residents in Suffolk County who are familiar with what goes on in Suffolk County,” Brown said.

“We are looking forward to having them sit in that courtroom and listen to the evidence,” he added. “Listen to the lack of evidence. Listen to the whole picture as opposed to just snippets that you may have heard.”

SOURCE: https://nypost.com/2025/02/25/us-news/accused-gilgo-beach-killer-rex-heuermanns-lawyer-drops-bombshell-that-theres-no-dna-in-alleged-basement-kill-room/

* * * * *


Justice Mazzei has ordered the parties back to court March 12 when, presumably, there will be a date set for a Frye hearing on the admissibility of the nuclear DNA testing methodology.


Mazzei has indicated frustration and a growing impatience with the slow progress of this case. He could establish a tighter time limit for completing exchange of evidentiary materials. It is highly unlikely in your author's opinion the Judge will actually set a date for the trial to begin.


The proceedings of the March 12 hearing will be reviewed and reported here. ~

* * * * *


In the meantime, I hope to have results back from Ancestry for our grandson Shaun. He was three years old when my son introduced Shaun. Rod and I found Shaun to be a bright and engaging child who stole our hearts. We ultimately moved for custody after learning disturbing information about his mother, which was obtained when he was eight years old. His biological father has been said to have fathered additional children and Shaun is hopeful he will find those siblings through DNA matches.


Hope you enjoy your own Armchair Genealogy research in the coming month.


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Irish Eyes

 



By Mattie Lennon

The Forager and Saint Patrick

On Thursday 20th March I attended a meeting of Lucan Toastmasters which is reputed to be the best club in Ireland. The first speaker was a fairly new member Aisling Moore, with a speech titled The Forager.


When I saw the title of the speech I asked myself, “Am I a forager?” My question was prompted by the fact that I take items out of skips. But the opening words of Ms Moore’s speech convinced me that retrieving broken pedal-bins or lengths of two-by-one planed timber from refuse wouldn’t qualify me. What did she tell us?


"I am passionate about truly living life. I am a forager and I make products from what I gather. I have been doing that for several years. I started doing workshops last year and I am dedicated to helping people reconnect with nature and remember the healing power of the land. The earth provides medicine to nurture us, but we have forgotten its origins. We have lost the ability to identify herbs and understand how they support our bodies."


"In losing this knowledge, we have also lost our belief in nature’s medicine. The spirit of the herbs struggles to reach us because our minds are clouded with constant thought. True connection with nature happens when we become fully present. It is time to remember, to listen, and to heal with the wisdom of the land."


Each member of the audience was given a small cup of “Haw-Tea” and we were instructed how to “Listen to the Hawthorn”


The forager told me how as she was walking through fields, " . . . with a heavy heart. Each step carrying the weight of a memory. Sorrow pressing against my chest. Suddenly I felt something, a sound, faint as a whisper, it felt like a dream. My whole body shuddered. As I came closer to the bright red hawthorn berries, the messages became clearer. A voice spoke 'I can heal your heart.' The words moved through me, flowing into every part of my body. I stood beside the hawthorn tree. Staring at the twisted branches, its sharp thorns. I knew deep in my soul that this tree held wisdom. I felt it merge with me. It’s spirit connecting with my spirit. More and more messages followed, visions flooded my mind.


Showing me exactly what to do. The power held within the berries, leaves and flowers. I quickly gathered them offering my gratitude to the spirit of the hawthorn. As I did lightness spread through me my sorrow lifted. The hawthorn had spoken and I the forager had listened. It is time to remember, to listen, and to heal with the wisdom of the land, and to heal with the wisdom of the land."


If you happen to be visiting this green and misty island for the feast of our National Apostle and you are in the vicinity of Kildare this committed forager will be having a workshop on March 22nd in Celbridge and it would certainly be worth visiting. . If you are staying at home Aisling’s Instagram is Moore.aisling and her email address is, aislingdaybyday@gmail.com


Please go to your nearest Saint Patrick’s Day parade and for a few lesser known facts about the saint’s influence I’ll hand you over to Maggie Zackowitz.



How St. Patrick became the patron saint of Nigeria
By Maggie Zackowitz


As Americans prepare to observe St. Patrick's Day with pub crawls, parades, corned beef, and green clothing, beer and bagels, let's not forget about that country for which Patrick is a patron saint.


Irish bishops in Nigeria named St. Patrick, who is said to have died on March 17 in the year 461, as the country's patron in 1961, the same year Ireland opened its embassy in Lagos. The Irish actually have a long history in the country: Irish nationalist Roger Casement — executed in Dublin in 1916 for his role in the Irish rebels' Easter Rising — served as a British consular officer in Calabar, in southeastern Nigeria, during the 1890s. Casement's interest in and sympathy for Africans under colonial rule was unusual for a European in the Victorian era, and likely helped shape his views on social justice.


In the early 1920s, Irish priests of the Order of the Holy Ghost established their mission in southern Nigeria. Later St. Patrick's Society for Foreign Missions, dedicated on March 17, 1932, became one of many Catholic groups in Nigeria providing education both religious and secular.


These days Catholics in the country number some 20 million, and Nigerian seminaries send their ordinates all over the world to serve as priests. In fact, since numbers of clergy in Ireland have long been in decline, Nigerian priests have recently been assigned to churches there.


Though St. Patrick's Day is not an official public holiday in Nigeria, plenty of Guinness stout will be consumed anyway. It's the second most popular beer in the country, brewed with sorghum or maize instead of the European recipe's barley, and packs 7.5 percent alcohol content.


And "Irish diplomats of course celebrate St. Patrick's Day," says Eoghan McSwiney, deputy head of mission at the Embassy of Ireland in Abuja. "The Embassy organizes high-profile St. Patrick's Day celebrations in the capital Abuja, and in Lagos, as well in Accra, Ghana. We are joined by friends and colleagues from the diplomatic corps and from the highest levels of the Nigerian public and private sector."


There is one big difference from American St. Patrick's Day celebrations, though, and it's not green bagels. In Nigeria, says McSwiney, "We don't organize a parade."


See you in April.


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Cooking with Rod's Family

 

By Melinda Cohenour



My daughter Melissa makes THE most delicious pasta dish using her specially seasoned chicken. I have yet to find anyone who has tasted this dish who did not hanker for MORE.


Note: Delicious alone but Garlic bread or bread sticks are a nice accompaniment. A basic salad with your favorite dressing will please. We like to eat with iced tea or even a fruited lemonade.


Bon appetit~!

Melissa's Chicken Spaghetti


Ingredients:


Meat mixture:

    * 4 to 5 lbs. Boneless skinless chicken breasts
          * Mrs. Dash salt free original seasoning sprinkled evenly on all surfaces of chicken pieces
      * 2 tsp. Garlic powder
      * 2 tsp. Onion powder
      * 2 tsp. Cumin
      * 2 tsp. Dried ground Cilantro


    Sauce mixture:

      * 2 (10 oz.) Cans Spicy Rotel
      * 2 (14.5 oz.) cans Cream of Chicken soup
      * 2 (14.5 oz.) cans Cream of Celery soup
      * 2 cans Campbell Cheddar soup


    Pasta:

      * 1 lb. Pasta shells
      OR
      * 1 lb Spaghetti pasta
      OR
      * 1 lb. Angel Hair pasta
      OR
      * 1 lb. Penne pasta
      OR
      * 1 lb. Pasta of your choice. ( We prefer the pasta shells or Angel Hair)


    Instructions:

      1. Prepare the meat mixture and sauce according to below: Baked/sauteed/boiled chicken
      However you want to cook your chicken & season with pink Himalayan salt just a tad or your salt free seasoning garlic powder onion powder cumin and cilantro.
      2. You'll need two cans of Rotel spicy, cream of chicken cream of celery and cheddar soup.
      3. Mix all together with the chicken and this is your meat mixture and sauce.
      4. Use your pasta of choice you can use angel hair you can use spaghetti you could even use penne pasta if you want. Prepare using directions on pasta.
      5. You might mix together or you can lay your bed of pasta first and then on top put your creamy cilantro & cheese chicken mixture.



    Here is your chicken spaghetti enjoy!!


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    Woo Woo

     


    By Pauline Evanosky

    Jump Up and Down and Make Some Noise

    It’s been an upheaval of sorts. When you begin a new habit, however small and seemingly insignificant it is, it will make a larger change in your life. It is a snowball effect. As a snowball rolls down a hill, it picks up more and more snow with each revolution. So, what started out as a tiny little snowball ended up as the base for a snowman.


    What is my new habit?


    I’ll tell you. It is after every hour that I am working, which for me is writing; I will get up out of my chair and hoot. I make some noise, I move around. I punch my fists in the air. I shake myself out. I breathe deeply. It’s like a mini-session at the gym. It’s like taking a run around the block.


    It shakes out the cobwebs.


    I’m just now trying it out. The idea of interrupting my forward momentum is unusual for me. Hence, getting used to this new, perhaps unorthodox, habit is the disruption. I am focusing more of my attention on the movement, I stop myself perhaps half an hour into my work to see, “Is it time yet?”


    There are also lots of places on YouTube where you can find timed sessions with instrumental music. Some are an hour, others are longer. It is easy for me to slip into the headspace I like to go to when I am writing. In fact, right now, I am writing this article to an hour-long writers Zoom meeting I go to once a week. Nobody talks. We just write. For an hour.


    To that end, today, I will hang my kitchen timer around my neck and set it to that golden hour. I need not worry if the bus is coming, is it time yet? I can move into the headspace where all my characters live.


    Right now, they are waiting, allowing me to speak what is on my mind. I’m not psychotic. I’m a psychic, and I see things.


    Right now, one of the gentlemen in spirit has touched his finger alongside his nose, just standing looking at me. Like Santa Claus is supposed to have done, now, he is smiling and has opened his arms to me. It is a comfort over and over again to have my Folk in Spirit. Many times, I don’t know who they are. They are friendly. They are welcoming. And they will help me time and again to center, to focus, and to tell my tales, or sometimes their tales.


    So, this new habit? How did I learn of it? I watched a presentation by Tony Robbins. If you don’t know who he is, he is a self-help person who, in the 48 years he’s been working at helping others to achieve their goals and dreams, has become quite a famous person. Look him up on the internet. If you have access to YouTube, he recorded our four-day, three-hour-a-day virtual Time to Rise Summit. If you even just listen to the first day, you will learn at least one thing to help you move closer to your goals.


    Sometimes, we just need to be in the presence of that one person who can help us with one or two words to move past that moment where we seem to be stuck. Of course, there were many other tips and tricks he told us about, but that one thing, to help me as a writer, to loosen up my writing muscles, was worth it.


    The event was free. Evidently, Tony has been doing these virtual Time to Rise free events for the last four years, since Covid disrupted our lives, our businesses, and our dreams. Every January, at the end of the month remember and look for the places to sign up. As I said before, there is no cost to you. There were 195 countries represented at our event and 1.4 million people. San Antonio, Texas has a population of that much. That’s a lot of people.


    Tony’s personal story is also something to consider. At the age of 17 he fled from his mother who was trying to attack him with a kitchen knife. He was homeless and that first night slept on a hill. After that he slept in his car. With beginnings like that he was able to emulate the successful people he met, to build his confidence, to eventually help famous people along with us not so famous people to achieve our own dreams.


    The idea is, if he can do it, from hideous beginnings, so can we.


    My job, as I see it, is to help people too. The dream I had and have of being a writer has come a long way from when I was eight years old. The dream I had of having a personal relationship with Spirit has come far. The dream I had of the courage it would take to buck all of the mis-guided advice I got from people growing up is something I wake up with every day and ask myself, “What can I do today?”


    Thank you for reading. You can find me on the internet at TalkingToSpirit.com, at Substack.com and at Medium.com.
    Pauline Evanosky


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    Introspective

     



    By Thomas F. O'Neill

     

    This is a historical photo of an American soldier during WWII.


    He had just killed a Japanese soldier on the island of Iwo Jima in 1945. The American soldier went through the dead soldier's pockets and found photos of the dead man's family.


    The American soldier then realized that the man he killed was a human being, not just an enemy combatant; at that realization, he began to cry.


    Most war propaganda lies, and hatred comes from those who have never stepped foot on a battlefield. That day, the American soldier had wounded a part of his humanity, which that photo reveals to us.


    Always with love
    Thomas F O'Neill

      Email: introspective7@hotmail.com
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    Sifoddling Along

     


    By Marilyn Carnell

    On February 12, 2025, I began a new chapter in my life. I moved into a senior living apartment in Minnetonka, Minnesota. After almost two years on waiting lists, an ideal apartment became available. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity that suddenly presented itself, so I made a quick decision to move within 30 days. Then I developed an epic case of flu that knocked me back for about ten of those days. Nevertheless, the move was accomplished with the help of a team of people.


    Like the flu bug, the weather did not cooperate, we had a cold “snap” the first week I was here. “Snap” is a good example of Minnesota minimalism. It means a lengthy period of life-threatening subzero weather. Anyone with the slightest excuse stays indoors and sips coffee. My movers did not have that option, so they bravely hauled my possessions to my new home.


    Today, I am sitting at my desk looking out on a new and different snowy landscape in suburban Minnesota. At my house, I looked out on a hiking/biking trail and the near constant motion of runners, bikers and dog walkers. This view is from the treetops (I am on the 4th floor).


    Movement is supplied by squirrels, birds, rabbits and occasional deer. The sun shines brightly through the windows of my office. I find myself floating in a transition period of postponed appointments, clinging to memories of my past and the warm greetings of my new neighbors. This leads me to reminisce about past homes.


    The first eighteen years of my life were firmly anchored in my parent’s small bungalow in Pineville, a village in the center of McDonald County, the southwestern most county of Missouri. Our home was part of a two-block addition to the town created in the 1920’s. Pineville was platted in 1847 and both sides of my family have lived there since shortly after the Civil War. Despite a long history, time had largely stood still in that part of the Missouri Ozarks. We got indoor plumbing in 1940 – the year I was born. I suspect it was not a coincidence. There were no street addresses, everyone knew where the Carnells lived, because we were related to most of them. We had a party line phone. I remember our signal was “two longs and a short”. When I lived there again in the late 1970’s I still had a party line, but progress had produced a big black dial phone instead of one hanging on the wall.


    Despite a stable beginning, my life changed considerably after that. I pursued an education and charted a career path. Thus, moving became the norm. I have counted more than thirty different addresses I called home in the intervening sixty-six years, but with time the moves became less frequent.


    Once when I have gone through a rough patch, my brother called me with some advice: “Come on home honey” he said. “they can’t whip us all.” We both knew that our family was the rock that we could count on and that concept continues today. I still have family members who will offer help, support and encouragement when needed. I learned that again last week when I moved once again.


    My husband, Al and I lived on Big Sugar Creek for eighteen years. Once again, I was living near Pineville and was convinced that I would be there until I left feet first.


    Fate had other plans. A “five-hundred-year flood” turned the normally benign stream into a raging beast that burst into our home uninvited. My husband and I were rescued by a neighbor who pushed a canoe through the muddy roiling water to reach us. We clung to it while slogging though a chest deep current to safety. I had time only to grab a purse that held our meds and credit cards. The story of the flood and its aftermath is too long to tell here, but I will write about it in more detail another time.


    Even though I now live in a new place, McDonald County will always be “home” to me – the place I returned to time after time. The place where my ashes will go in my final journey.


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    On Trek

     


    By Judith Kroll

    Everyone’s Life is A Story

    The second we are born we start our journey into the world. We are labeled Male or Female. Fingerprinted, foot-printed, washed, and finally wrapped in a soft blanket with a hat to match.


    Being claustrophobic, stretching would seem delicious!


    Our life in this world is ours for the taking.


    When we choose to come to earth, with our life in the flesh, we all make our own life map. That is why many decide to be good or bad here. We don’t all come to have the same experiences. Each trip I am sure is different.


    I had a realistic dream one night. You know Universal Studios, there is a TV show in each building, and each show is made in that same building. What I was shown, is people can come to earth and experience the time of the civil war, or the time of the dinosaurs, etc. It depends on which “building” they choose to experience. There is no time in space.


    If we played the piano in one life, but decided to become a fireman in the next life, (if we choose to come back), then we might not even look at a piano., Or there may not be a piano if we chose the stone age.


    When we come to earth, we are like players in a video game. We experience different things, always learning, always growing.


    There is no death. Our bodies die and we transform back to spirit. Then we remember everything. Again. If we remembered everything, while we were here on earth, what would be the point?


    Enjoy the love of the planet, it has so much to offer: people, animals, amazing scenery, and us.


    What an honor.


    Love Judith, 1/27/24


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