Monthly Archives: February 2012

February 29, 2012 · 6:25 am

Wild Hair Wednesday – The Truth in False Advertising

When does providing false information cross the line from slight exaggeration to an outright lie? Before heading to the mountains, I check out the snow totals from the ski resorts. Sometimes the differences are negligible and other times it is like a huge storm just squatted on one ski area for the day leaving all the others high and dry. Rumors swirl like snowflakes and soon, through word of mouth, the inches of snow can pile up to feet.

Last weekend, I heard a lot of buzz about one ski resort retracting their snow totals after it was reported they received a mere 4 inches instead of the 22 inches in 2 days. Could it be that a ski patrol took the measurement in a snow drift?

This snafu got me thinking about what else is greatly exaggerated. Continue reading →

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February 27, 2012 · 6:48 am

Eyeing the Charts

It feels like I have a huge test hanging over my head every time I think about my annual eye exam. I begin the countdown by avoiding my reading glasses thus making typos in all of my writing projects. Then I strengthen my eyes by bringing the newspaper close to my face until I am cross-eyed, touch my nose and then slowly draw it back to strain my eyes into seeing the small type, causing huge furrows in my forehead that could hold a pencil.

Continue reading →

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February 24, 2012 · 6:45 am

100 Word Flash Fiction – Jagged Edge

Becky scanned the strange surroundings, but had no memory of how she had arrived. A raven sailed overhead. She stood on an outcropping of rock and tried to shout for help above the din of the pounding water thundering from the rushing river below. Her small platform began to shoot skyward as it began to shrink. There was nothing to hold on to. Her heart raced. She lost her balance and fell. Down through the air, she plummeted towards the jagged rocks and raging river while she screamed.

“What the?” Splash! She fell from the raft into the swimming pool.

~~~

You may have missed this thriller from a couple of months ago… Is Anybody Home? - 100 Word Flash Fiction

Photo by Susie Lindau

For more flash fiction stop by Madison Wood’s blog and check out the comment section

Have you ever had a fear of heights in reality or in a nightmare? 

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February 22, 2012 · 8:28 pm

Small Dog Warnings in Boulder County

Now that is some wind!

Okay. I’ll admit it. I am a weather chaser. No, I am not a lunatic that races across the country with a million pieces of crazy equipment trying to find the center of a tornado, nor do I go out of my way to drive in snowstorms although I love winter driving. However, I do find myself out on the porch (way too long) during thunderstorms and I keep an eye on the sky for tornadoes for I have seen several since moving to Colorado. Continue reading →

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February 20, 2012 · 6:59 am

What’s Your Mantra?

You must have a mantra which is a self-affirmation that causes transformation. Hey! That should be in a song. Anyway, I have had many of them through the years.

I stole one from my college friend Dean who was dared to ride his bike down a steep hill, onto a pier, up a make-shift ramp and into Lake Mendota. He turned to me before launching himself and said, “I am so massive,” and then flexed his spindly arms for effect.    Continue reading →

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February 17, 2012 · 5:20 am

Slipped Away – 125 Word Flash Fiction

What began as a random thought soon became an obsession. Even the under-painting of the affair seemed like more than Christine could bear. She allowed her soul to suck into the madness of it knowing that she lost a little bit of herself with every indulgence. Continue reading →

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February 13, 2012 · 6:56 am

The Stormy Recess of Broken Hearts

I remember my worst Valentine’s Day ever in Madison, Wisconsin as cold, damp and wintery. The night before, I decorated my shoe box with construction paper hearts, rick rack, and sequins much like the other girls in my 5th grade class. My mother had bought paper valentines which I signed, picking the best ones for my closest friends and a boy that I liked.

Earlier that year, a few of us had been switched from one classroom to another. After taking my seat, I noticed a dreamy-eyed, brown haired boy named Bob sitting at the desk in front of me. He must have noticed me too because later in the week, he turned around and asked, “Hey. Do you want this?” He referred to a new invention at the time, the mechanical pencil. Continue reading →

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February 10, 2012 · 6:09 am

An Evening Swim – 100 Word Flash Fiction

She dipped her toe into the placid lake, then stepped in and submerged herself. Her body slid through the water like oil. The cold penetrated her bones the farther out she swam. Storm clouds gathered overhead and rain began to patter. She turned around while slicing through the tranquil surface. Her stomach rumbled. Something moved along the edge of the forest. She sunk back down into the lake and waited. Continue reading →

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February 9, 2012 · 7:03 am

Reflected Addiction – Blogfest

When I read that August McLaughlin would be hosting Beauty of a Woman Blogfest on Friday, I just knew I had to join the party. Last September, I wrote a very personal account about my sick relationship with a magnifying mirror. Now this was no ordinary mirror, but one that I picked up at a garage sale  because someone else was most likely trying to break their addiction. This evil 2ox magnification mirror should have been destroyed, but instead I bought it for $2.00…. Since my only commenter was the GoodGreatsby, I knew he would be a sport and wouldn’t mind if I posted it again.

mirror
Self-Portrait with Mirror by Susie Lindau

Last fall, when my 19-year-old daughter informed me she didn’t want to take her magnifying mirror back to college since she would stare at almost non-existent blocked pores and proceed to unblock them, it made me think. “Whoa! I don’t know if I could give up mine.” Then it hit me. “Am I addicted to the magnification like a junkie in a back ally? Would I be crying out for a fix at the end of the day?” Continue reading →

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February 7, 2012 · 7:06 am

What Doesn’t Kill You… Helicopter Skiing in Canada

In the shelter of a Quonset hut in Kootenay, British Columbia, our guide John instructed my husband Danny, myself and 8 others on the fundamentals of helicopter skiing and how to stay alive over the next three days. I had won the trip with CMH for two. “This is an avalanche beacon. Slip it over your head, snap the belt around your waist and turn it on.” We would each wear a backpack that held a probe and shovel and would take a turn following the group with a satellite radio. “I hope to God we don’t need any of this equipment,” I thought. The guides had already given us our humongous skis.

I hope I never have to use this probe on anyone buried in an avalanche.

While I sat there shivering, my new ski boots pinched at the calf and my toes tingled from lack of circulation. “They felt like slippers when I tried them on in the shop last Monday!” I had broken rule #1. Never buy new ski equipment without trying it out before a trip - and this was no ordinary trip. I reached down and unbuckled them. As the conversation swirled around that frigid metal shelter, I began to sweat. Continue reading →

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