Enter 2018 OHC Writer's Guild Writing Contest!

Enter

Fifth Annual Okefenokee Heritage Writing Contest

Submission Deadline:  October 12th, 2018

Winners Announced:  November 4th, 2018

Four  Different Contests

Mid/High School:  Story:    max 1,000 words

                              Poem:  max 250  words

typewritten, double-spaced only

Adult:  Story:  max 2,000 words

           poem:  max 400 words

typewritten, double-spaced only

Submission Guidelines

Submit story or poem with the submission form, answering the personal information questions.  Please DO NOT put your name on the story itself.

Submission forms can be obtained at the Okefenokee Heritage Center or at other locations to be announced as the contest progresses.

Submission Limits

The limit per author on Mid/High School will be three total, story and poetry entries combined.  There is no limit to adult entries, but they will need to pay the $10 entry fee for each story entry, or $5 for each poetry entry.

Submission Locations

Please send submissions to the Okefenokee Heritage Center.  Some schools may have submissions gathered at a school location and then sent at one time.  If you are in school, please check with your teacher or with school administration.

Submission Fees

There are no fees for elementary and secondary submissions.  There is a $10 per story entry for adults, and $5 for each poetry entry, and it should be included with the story and submission form.

No Plagiarism

Original author entries only.  If a plagiarized entry is found, that writer and all their entries will be expelled from the contest, and they will be banned from participating in future years.  If you are a student, teachers and parents will be notified.

Prizes

There will be cash prizes for all contests. :

First prize:  Story $50 Poetry $25 (School)

                   Story $100 Poetry $50 (Adult) 

Second Prize:  Story $30 Poetry $15 (School)

                        Story $50 Poetry $25 (adult)

Third Prize:  Story $20 Poetry $10 (School)

                    Story $25 Poetry $10 (Adult)

Judging

There will be at least three judges at each level.  Each entry will be judged on a blind basis, only being identified by number and not by name.

Tallying and scoring should be completed by November 2d with winners to be presented November 4th.

Please send entries to:

Okefenokee Heritage Center

1460 N Augusta Ave

Waycross, GA  31503

Fifth Annual OHC Writer's Guild Submission Form

OHC 2018 Writer's Contest Submission Form

Okefenokee Heritage Center

Fifth Annual Writer's Contest

Submission Form

This form must be attached to all story and poetry submissions.

Name:  ___________________________________

Address: __________________________________

               __________________________________

               __________________________________

Contact:  __________________________________

    contact can be phone number, e-mail, or school

Please check which contest your entry is submitted for:

           

          Secondary:   Story _________        No Entry Fee

            (6th - 12th)             

                               Poetry ________         No Entry Fee

             

           Adult:          Story _________        Include $10 Entry Fee

                               Poetry ________        Include $5 Entry Fee    

Submission Deadline: October 12th

Winners Announced: November 4th

Original Entries Only – no plagiarism

Please submit this form return attached with your story/poem.  Please be sure you do not put your name on your story - only on the submission form.  Please deliver or send to:

Attention: OHC Writer's Contest

Okefenokee Heritage Center

1460 N Augusta Ave

Waycross, GA  31503

Didn't You Read the Memo?

There it is.  The most chilling five words in the business and bureaucratic world - Didn't you read the memo?

It doesn't matter whether you're in the private, public, or non-profit sector.  Those words said to an employee, can send shivers down their spine, as they quickly try to review in their mind what they've missed.  It could be a change in the dress code, a different office procedure, an adjustment in the software you use, even how you are supposed to address management, fellow employees, or customers.  You've missed something vital, and your supervisor is looking at you with a self-satisfied grin that gleefully says, "Gotcha!"

Some people are more attached to rules and procedures than others.  I'm currently preparing to be in the play. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, where Nurse Ratched controls a mental institution with a cold eye and a firm grasp of manipulating regulations to dominate the patients and staff.  Her desire to be in charge supersedes the needs and health of the patients.

Most of us are fortunate enough not to run across someone as dangerous as Nurse Ratched, but we've all probably had to deal with someone similar.  I know my conservative friends will rail against government bureaucrats, and my liberal friends will berate those who manipulate in large corporations and the business world.  But the truth is they can exist and thrive anywhere, no matter the structure.

Rules and regulations can be a valuable thing.  I'm glad somebody's inspecting the meats, for example.  Workplace safety rules can help protect us all.  It's when middle management uses those rules, both the ones that come down from others and ones they make up themselves, that they become dangerous.

With the advent of email, memos become even harder to track and ferret out.  I get an avalanche of email every day, and sometimes it's hard to search out what may be significant.  There are days where I don't even want to go through all that.  I'd rather concentrate on the work in front of me.  And, of course, that will be the day I hear the dreaded words. "Didn't you read the memo?"

Not all memos are deadly.  Some are just plain weird.  Like one from a manufacturing company I worked for a couple decades ago, with the "You Should be Committed" memo.  It stressed how you should be dedicated and loyal to your job, and come in every day and on time, and that availability to work the varying swing shifts was more important than your commitment to do things with your family.  The fantastic twist was at the end of the memo it indicated that although your complete loyalty was needed, the company still reserved the right to terminate your employment at any time for any reason. Commitment, it seems, was a one-way street.

Another classic was the "As you know, this year Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday" memo.  Yes, it really did say that, explaining that meant that everyone would be expected to come to work on the Friday following Thanksgiving. Yeah.  Uh, maybe you should just let us know when Thanksgiving doesn't fall on a Thursday.  Good luck with that!

There's not much we can do, except being alert that any of these crazy memos could come at any time, from anywhere.  And when you hear those dreaded words, try not to take it too personally.  Just shrug your shoulders, say "My bad," and try to move on with your day.

If you're not a bureaucratic personality, you're always going to be behind the eight ball.  Just grin and bear it, and be happy you're not the one who has to come up with the crazy memos.

Limbo Stick Lowering Wednesday Wanderings

Well, it looks like the limbo stick has lowered again.

Can you still fit under there, Trumpeteers?  What will be your excuse this time?  Whatever, it is, it may take me a while to find out.  You don't talk to me about it anymore.

In fact, the silence on this from the President and friends has been rather incredible.  As the negative news swirls around him, Fox News is busy saying, "SQUIRREL!!!"

But have no fear!  Someone, Hannity or his like, will eventually figure out talking points (or distraction points) and for those of you who have active Trumpeteers on your social media, you'll slowly get the memes and irrational discussion points that try to fight back.  They'll double down on attacking NFL athletes who act like this is a free country or something, or blame it on the fact that teachers can't lead indoctrinating prayer in school, or how everything is really the fault of Hillary and Obama.  How this is all Cohen's and Manafort's fault, that the President had nothing to do with their crimes.  According to Trump, one of the things he does best is pick the best people.  Yeah, maybe if he was in the mob he does.  Government service?  Eh, not so much.

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Enough about politics!  Ok, that doesn't sound like me.  Well, enough for right this second, anyway.

My foot pain is held in check.  Going to the doctor Monday revealed no miracle cures.  It's just going to take time and a lot more Ibuprofen than I feel comfortable taking.  But it's enough to get me back to work, and to play practice, so it's gotta be what it's gotta be for a while.

Playing off rodeo, this is not my first footy-o. It happens every couple of years or so.  It just takes time. Hopefully, I'll be over it in a week or two.  At least for this time.

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I'll repeat this elsewhere (trust me on that), but please note that if you purchase Crowley Stories as an ebook or paperback, and you get a chance to review it, please do so. The placement on different sites is dependent on sales and number of reviews.  History of the Trap has 8 reviews on Amazon, and I'm told it takes 10 reviews to get bumped up in placement.  So close and yet so far away!

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I'm trying to take my weight and blood pressure in the morning, and so far it's not pretty.  There may not be any dramatic changes until the summer audit is over, but I'm trying to get in the habit of doing it.  I'm also trying to walk a little in the morning, even though right now that is very painful.  I'm trying to scream too loud as I walk so as not to wake the neighbors.

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I may have wandered enough.  Return to your regularly scheduled activities, and I'll try to have a more coherent message soon.

Senior Picture Monday Musings

There he is!  Super sophisticated man about town!

This is just one picture of dozens of Senior pictures that we will be considering.  Benjamin and Alison went to downtown Waycross for a special photo shoot on Thursday night.  The photographer is Janet Roberson of BluMoon Photography.  Many more great pictures to come!

He is sitting beside the side door of the Ritz, the downtown theatre where Waycross Area Community Theater performs its plays.  He's been in an about a half-dozen plays with them, including last season where we played the Costazuela Brothers in the female version of The Odd Couple, and later were part of The Addams Family.  Being able to act with Benjamin on stage is the highlight of my acting career.

Where was I?  At home, resting my damn foot.  The weekend for me was mostly a blur of pain.  For those tired of me fussing, I intend to call a doctor today.  I'm still not sure what he can do, but something has to happen.  I'm starting to lose my ability to even drive.  And I need to get to the audit location and practices this week.

This is about as much as I can write right now.  Starting to lose focus.  I'll let you know later if the doctor can help.

Until next time,

T. M. Strait

Eat Me Drink Me

John 6:51-58 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

Eat me

Drink me

Not just something for Alice in Wonderland.

This is the lectionary Gospel reading for August 19, 2018.  Probably.  At least according to the online Episcopal Church Lectionary.

Thankfully, we don't literally eat the body and blood of the Son of Man.  We're not vampires or cannibals.  Even in the Gospel, at the Last Supper, Jesus is taking bread and wine and calling it his body and blood.   Various Christian sects determine this as either symbolic or, in some sense, transubstantiation, in which the essence of the bread and wine become the body and blood of Christ. 

The Eucharist, this sharing of Christ's essence,  is an essential part of the Episcopal Church.  The concept of the open table, where all believers can participate, is a transforming, unifying, and spiritual experience.  It is my favorite part of our service, and when I feel closest to God.

Sharing his essence brings me closer to the Christian community, and it brings me closer to the spirit of Jesus.  He is within me and all about me.  He dwells within me, a spirit and faith I can connect with, aide me in times of need, draw strength from, and be at peace in quiet reflection.  It sends me out into the world for the next week, more open to be the hands and feet of Christ.  I want to contribute to my church and help build the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.

As John says, do you indeed live forever?  Unfortunately, no.  Not at least your physical body.  But you are part of Christ and the Christain community, a bright light that will shine forever, as long as there are those open to his spirit, willing to take the body and blood into themselves and give themselves over to his faith and love.

It is important to note that I am not a theologian or clergy. These are just some of my thoughts on the lectionary reading of the day.  They are not meant to be the official view of any group or denomination.  Heck, even I could look at it differently if I just turn the setting on the kaleidoscope.

It's Time to Visit Crowley!

You deserve a trip to someplace special!

Come away today to the town of Crowley, a quirky village right on the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp!

Living at the swamp's edge isn't always easy.  Nature isn't the only challenge.  There's also the people.  Sit and read a spell in the delightful, passionate kaleidoscope that is the town of Crowley and its residents.  You'll treat yourself to romance, mystery, drama, and even a whiff of the fantastical!

Meet Franny Goodkind, the young, kind-hearted waitress at the Honey Dew Cafe, where she witnesses a great cross-section of Crowley's who's who, including that Yankee CPA, Gariton Hollander.

Meet Sheriff Alan Steel, a decent man trying to cope with the craziness of Crowley's political and religious maze.  

Meet Kayak Kelly, the retired biology teacher, who explores the swamplands, and has found a magical blue drupe.

Meet Reggie Crowley, the richest man in the county, worried about handing his business down to his ne'er do well sons, Freddy and Digger.

You'll witness a unique crime-solving duo, a Yankee CPA and a Southern Sheriff, as they try to solve an insidious murder.

Developers plot the destruction of parts of the swamp.  The Ghost Squad searches for apparitions.  A farmer's daughter longs to take off in the Starship Enterprise.  A dance instructor dreams of an acting career.  A woman struggles to get away from an abusive husband.

Awake to Crowley today, and let the townfolk swing into your heart!

Available as an ebook everywhere (literally, everywhere)!  This includes Kindle, Nook, and Google Play.

Paperback currently available from the author, but as other sources become available, I will let you know.

The town of Crowley awaits you!