Cead Fáilte
A thousand welcomes to Crann na beatha Short Stories and Poetry for July 12th, 2024
I am Terrance Ó Domhnaill, your village scéalaí, back again this week with more stories and poems from online authors.
I just have four short stories and five poems this week. We have chapter twenty four of the ongoing story From Beyond the Water Wall, a short story about bureaucracy in the animal kingdom, another short addition to the elementals, a very short story about two human predators, and Zen poems to help ease the stress of everyone’s life a little.
So gather round once more and let me read them to you under the shade of the crann na beatha, the tree of life. (Click play above to listen to the stories and poems)
I more than made up for the lack of poetry last week with this week’s selections. I found some new writers this week, one of them from Substack. I saved hers for last as her poem is deep and dark.
As with every story or poem I strive to strike the right balance with the appropriate sound effects. I will let the listeners be the judge on whether I am doing a good job. Let me know what you think.
I didn’t have any technical glitches this week and I am so grateful that everything worked smoothly for once regarding my sound editing program. I took a little victory dance around my studio when it all worked as it is was supposed to today.
I did run into a different kind of IT problem yesterday that is still unresolved. The Italian company that is hosting my website and custom domain name decided to roll out a major update with a minor changelog that I missed a couple of weeks ago.
In my current application version, I had (had being the key word) an online store set up for my book sales and the blog, along with other pages. With their new update, my old application version no longer allows me to have more than one hundred posts in my blog and no more online store.
I went to add a copy of my The Village Oak Tree newsletter for this week and it wouldn’t let me. I wrote a note to their customer support and they kindly informed me about the changelog and the new changes.
After another inquiry regarding a prorate for the now mandatory upgrade (I had just renewed my annual license a couple of months ago), they were kind enough to grant me a license gratis for the Pro version, good until my old license expires next spring.
Now this is an example of European customer service that you rarely see in the United States.
Meanwhile, they are in Italy which is in a vastly different time zone. So, my custom domain name is still attached to my old version, hopefully only until Monday when they come back to work. I left a couple of messages so I hope someone sees them on Monday, their time.
What this means for the uninitiated is that I will have to update the old blog and the new one until they finally get things moved around next week. More work for me in the short term. I checked this morning and my website at www.crann-na-beatha.com is still up and running like normal, in case anyone wishes to visit.
I think the bookstore is still there in case someone wishes to buy a physical book directly from me. At least I could order one still when I checked, I think. I just couldn’t update the bookstore behind the scenes anymore. This feature will be available again once I have my custom domain name transferred over.
Now that I have bored you all to death with my IT issues, I can add a little bit of good personal news. I finally had a visit from my prodigal youngest son this week whom I haven’t seen or talked to in ten years. He will be turning twenty five later this month so this is a big deal for both of us.
He and his girlfriend came to visit for a couple of days and we talked for hours trying to catch up on those missing ten years. One thing I observed first hand rather than reading about it in the news and blog articles though, is just how badly America’s young people are having it in today’s U.S. economy.
My wayward son told me how hard it is to find a decent job anymore, no matter your education level. There are some places in the country that are still livable within his means but they are becoming harder and harder to find.
He just happens to live in an another boom region where the climate migrants from California invaded with their cash offers for every available piece of real estate, driving the prices beyond what the young local people can afford. This phenomenon is happening all over the United States. I saw these California climate migrants flooding into Texas when we left back in 2020. I imagine this is going on in a lot of other places as well.
Myself and other writers have been saying this for a while now and it looks pretty bad for the U.S. on a whole. Sometimes things like this are right under your nose and you still don’t pay attention. How many readers are living somewhere where there has been a very noticeable uptick in California license plates on the local streets and roads in the last couple of years?
How many readers are now living somewhere where there is a sudden housing shortage in the last couple of years, driving up rental and home sale prices beyond memory?
Ask a young person how they are faring in this economy now? I bet the answer will surprise a lot of baby boomers who tend to live in their own retirement bubble of the old days.
I read about so many boomers moving to Mexico and Portugal because they have money and can afford the good life in those cheaper economies. Or, living in their nice, suburban neighborhoods with little to care about as long as they still have their millions of dollars in retirement pensions and social security benefits.
I don’t take mine for granted. And now that I see first hand how hard it is for the countries young workers, I am ashamed a little about my comfortable life. Because I watch and read the news every day now, I am very aware that my comfortable lifestyle could get taken away soon if we don’t elect a president that is capable of running the country. Something we don’t have right now.
That’s all I the news I have for everyone. Let me post these stories and poems here for everyone to read, so you can clap, highlight and reply with your appreciation for their hard work. Sláinte
From Beyond the Water Wall
Chapter 24/25 — The Last Line
Don Woodby
I Am Here To See The Old Master
A Short Story
Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons
The Last Extraction: The Elementals Pt. 6
Ember doesn’t like where this rescue mission is going…
H.R. Parker
The Worst Kind of Monster
He would’ve fooled anyone else
Hannah Greer
Eternal
A Poetic Conversation on Life and Death’s Endless Dance
Dr. Jason Benskin
Ode to the Sea
A poem
Katherine Myrestad
Daydream
A poem
Alan Campbell
Show Me All the Hidden Stars
A poem about sharing wonder
Ken Martin
As I say good bye this week, I wish to leave you with this Irish blessing as you go about your day. “May your path rise up to meet you and the sun warm your bonnet as you walk down the lane to the pub. May your friends and relations bring you a pint after you retell these stories and poems I give you today.” Slán go fóill — goodbye for now.
T. Ó Domhnaill — Gaelic Seanchaí
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