EASIEST FIRE EVER

When we took a 4-wheel drive ride down to the river bottom, we enjoyed the shade of the colorful cool autumn leaves and the sight and sound of running water.

Carolyn was especially willing to be the star of a fashion-magazine-worthy photo shoot.

She knows all the best poses.

When we turned to go, imagine my surprise at seeing the most energy efficient fire I've ever come across.

 Is it the red color that keeps you warm? Or the mental suggestion planted by the hot yellow word, "fire?" Does your food just taste warm because you think it is? Or do you pack a sandwich?

Do you like campfires?

Or are you a forced-air furnace type of person?

I noticed this rock outside the Dixie Convention Center while walking with my sister, but there was something out of the ordinary. An odd lump at the top of the rock caught my attention, so I bent down for a closer look.

I couldn't help but smile at what I saw.

(Did you smile, too?)

Do you look down when you walk? Do you look up? How about overhead? 

Where have you found the nicest surprises?

Graveyard Landscape

I thought this homeowner had decorated for Halloween.

But when I looked closer, I realized that it was a landscape design with upright flat rocks, not a faux graveyard.

I wonder what they have in their house?

At Least the Grass is Short

Have you heard the story about the boy who broke a window, then ran and hid so no one would find out he did it?

That's not my kid!

Michael told Bob and me that while he was mowing the lawn, a rock kicked out the side of the mower and crashed through our front window. (It sure did!)

Now we can get a new window... one that opens! And we can repaint the window sill!

And the lawn in front of the window looks really, really good.

Have you ever had something "bad" turn into something "good?" What was it?

Finding A Rock in an Unlikely Place

Would you be surprised to open your car door and find a rock in your car? I mean, if you didn't leave one there the last time you drove. I was puzzled by the rock I found in my car. It hadn't been there the last time I looked. Sometimes Bron borrows my car, but why would he put a rock in it, especially on the floor of the driver's side?

Hm.

It could be to put behind a tire to hold the car in place in case it's parked on a hill and the brakes give out.

It could be to break out a window in case the car plunges into a deep body of water.

Maybe it's intended for use against a car jacker... although a car jacker just might see a bright white rock coming at him. Yet ducking might not work to totally avoid injury, since rocks are prone to follow the law of gravity, and so could still fall on an attacker's head.

Perhaps it's really a petrified dinosaur egg.

There could be a diamond hidden inside.

Maybe it's an alien skull.

It could be ballast for an unexpected boat ride, or be used to hold down the corner of a tent constructed from the blankets I keep in the back of my car.

I finally asked Bron about it, and he said, "I saw one of those flags the Scouts stick into lawns tipping over, so I found this rock and used it to hammer the flag back in. Then I put it in the car and drove home."

Mystery solved! Now I can write a story about some of the things I contemplated before finding out the truth. 

What did you think the rock was for? 

A Mysterious Big Rock Ball

When writing, you can find interesting things to add to stories just by taking a walk instead of driving. Then on your way back, if you walk a different route, you can find even more intriguing things.

My son Scott and I came across this giant rock ball on BYU (Brigham Young University) campus. It originally came from Costa Rica, but yours could come from anywhere you want it to. Think of all the things you can do in your story with a giant rock!

(For one thing, it provides a convenient arm rest for an author.)

What would you do with a giant rock in your story?