[At this time of year (late July, early August), the redwood tree next door
is continuously dropping its cones on the ground.]
All day long
The redwood rains.
Its cones, they drop
On concrete,
Wood, and dirt,
On tiled roofs,
On weedy grass.
It is their task …
To reproduce,
To bear much fruit —
But, alas …
They’ll rarely come
To new green shoot.
The lonely redwood
Planted there,
In city, town,
In suburb brown,
Will boast a solitary crown.
No seed will sprout
On concrete, wood,
On tiled roofs,
But maybe dirt,
Or weedy grass.
Then soon is trampled
Underfoot —
No room for more.
clarakatalin 
Book Review: Vikings at Dino’s
My friend Will Duquette has written a fun, frolicking, time-travel fantasy novel entitled Vikings at Dino’s: A Novel of Lunch and Mayhem. The hero, a small man for his age, endures encounters with Vikings, ancient Romans, and Mongols, all within his own little American town of Corey’s End. Or are these invaders really who they seem to be? And the poor man never seems to be able to eat his lunch in peace.
There’s danger, adventure, romance, and a thread of humor throughout the hero’s first person narrative. What more could you ask for? The violence, barely hinted at (no gory details), is of the comic-book type, mainly there to create the conflict and challenges for the hero.
Did I mention that the hero is a software engineer? Computer geeks and other assorted nerds should have no trouble relating to this story. This includes my husband and 23-year-old son, who both enjoyed the novel. (They might object to my classification of them, though.)
Perhaps my only quibble with the book is that the author makes the Roman types seem nicer than what I know of ancient Romans; for example, they perfected the practice of crucifixion (although it seems to have begun with the ancient Persians).
At any rate, when you’re small for your age … anything can happen. Well worth the read.
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