Clancy59

Marc may want to hide in the closet in this small, gossipy town, but he is slowly opening the door and stepping out with Sawyer. Yes, Reba is very aware of his extra interest in Sawyer, even if the guys aren’t. She has 2 boys of her own and has a different perspective on looking at Marc. Things will become much more evident when they start working on the house. Who is Sawyer’s friend? He is entitled to have non-romantic friends, Marc! He did have several friends in the city. I’m sure he was close to one of them. Rachel sounds like a lovely person and just the exact friend he needs. She may not be aware of his orientation (at least, I don’t think you indicated that), but when it comes out, she’ll stand by him as a true friend. I am really enjoying this story and looking forward to each chapter!

Ooh! Law school in 1924!? She IS pushing the envelope isn’t she? Will she be a mentor to RBG?

Marc is trying so hard, but the only one he is fooling is himself. Sawyer knew as soon as they met. Aunt May probably knows—she raised him and lived with him. Reba is a Mama to all the boys. She probably knows more than she is letting on, also. Rick may be a bit oblivious, but he’s a bit egocentric Things between Marc and Sawyer are going to erupt much sooner than later.

Weelll, I wouldn’t exactly say ‘no’ mischief! He did butt a few heads and there was the incident with the sailboat….

This was a lovely, wonderful surprise. Thank you! I am looking forward to reading the rest of the segments. Just a comment: There are so many people and it’s been a while. We need a character list!

I love the debates CJ gets into, especially when he ‘schools’ someone. I always learn something new, and your explanations, Carlos, of a wide variety of topics, especially in the realm of politics, helps me understand the issues much clearer. I am not, by nature, a political being, and it takes a great deal of study for me to fully comprehend all sides of an issue, so I love when CJ puts on his teacher hat and gets down to brass tacks. Thank you! The clambake couldn’t be the way CJ pictured it based on movies, with a pit dug into beach sand. The area there is terminal moraine and all rock. The only beach is the public beach at Easton, basically, and there’s no way they could close that off for a private party. It had to be a grill-type setup in some private area. Having said all that, how did we miss you referring to AOC as a ‘he?’ She is most definitely a ‘she!’ Also, ‘…CJ dug into his hoddie pocket?’ How did we miss those!? I looked back at my notes and didn’t see any mention of them.

Yurt is a smart guy and a total professional. Of course, he investigated Tahnee’s background thoroughly before allowing her to come to Makarovia! He would do nothing less. He COULD do nothing less! However, having said this, Katrina and Eric have affected him in both his professional and private lives. They have shown him the ‘human’ side of dealing with people and the difference it can make. Yuri has had that demonstrated by the change in Peter, by watching how Eric’s nurturing turned a shy, withdrawn young man into a vibrant, outgoing, cheerful member of the Royal Family. That was just the first example. There have been many more. Yuri realizes that Eric and Katrina have a different kind of awareness of people than he does, and he is trying to develop his own skills, as well.

I’m glad to see the story continuing. I want to know about Tahnee, also! I hope it goes on for a while. There’s so much storyline for the guys! I know they were typos, but I thought it was funny when there were a couple of instances where you were writing about Tahnee, and instead of using the ‘o’ key, you hit the ‘0’ key instead. So, for example, early on, instead of ‘mother,’ you typed ‘m0ther.’ There was another instance later. Not a complaint. I just found it to be appropriately amusing.

Especially considering CJ’s history with Rubio!

Yes, but the city was very reticent about it. It’s going to be costly because of the location and the extra shoring up they’ll need to do. I think the public had a fit about it, especially the Tourism people, so they had to find a way to find the funding. I forgot this was the Clambake day.

I can just see them ‘borrowing’ the boat for their own escapade! The picnic was lovely, but was quite sedate for these active people. Maybe the wedding consultant was trying to be ‘upper crust’ and show how she can provide elegant experiences, but these are not local people. She doesn’t need to impress them for future employment (although she didn’t know who would participate). Oh, well. They made their own fun! The Chanler probably has the easiest access to the Cliff Walk as it is located right at the start. The thing that surprises me is how FEW people actually walk there at any given time! It never gets overcrowded on the Walk! (Which is probably a good thing after last spring when there was a partial collapse of the Walk near Salve Regina College. Luckily, it was overnight and no one was on the Walk, so no one was hurt. They still haven’t repaired it, however, and don’t know if they will due to costs.). The views are beautiful! Next is the Rehearsal Dinner, right? More backlash from Mr. Fanning’s tirade!

You may have written this as a short story for the Winter Solstice, but it is a great start for a wonderful, more complex story. As @raven1 commented, what about his sisters? How did Jophiel’s existence affect them? Were either of them Dyrpaths? What about his mother who did try to protect him? What about his father? No mention has been made about him. How did he feel/react to his child being a Dyrpath? I, and others, am using a masculine pronoun here, but we still don’t know for certain whether our hero is male or female. What about his avatar? Other people have already raised other questions that I won’t bother repeating. Yes, it is a wonderful short story, with lots of magical elements incorporated in Winter Haven. But it opens the possibility of so much more! Please include me with the others who would love to see this story continued.

I agree with the others who felt so bad for Molly when her father decided to make a fool of himself at her rehearsal dinner, but she was the one who warned CJ about his attitude. Paul also goaded him a bit with his mentions of the past Presidents attending CJ and Owen’s wedding 4 years prior (although he had superb timing—“Oh, did I mention…”). Paul wasn’t afraid to let CJ have a go at Mr. Fanning, either. He knew CJ would be able to hold his own. Maybe they just wanted to get any trouble he might cause over and done with before the main event. That way, they could just enjoy themselves without worrying about what he might do. He’s already done it and gotten himself in a whole lot of BIG trouble with his wife!

Wow! Fairytale Feminism!

It definitely sounds like jealousy from those who who can’t for those who can. The people who don’t have this powerful magic hate that it is unavailable to them, so they’ve made it into something to scorn and hate and those who do have the power should be downtrodden. And while Mama may not have believed such tripe, as evidenced by her actions to protect her child, she was unable to completely shield him/her from the hatred. Unfortunately, the only option, since it seems it is impossible to hide the ability, is to become involved with other magic folk, who seem to be inordinately jealous and greedy of the ability. These Drypaths then become even more victimized by those who should, in fact, be more understanding and protective of them. It sounds as if these 2 (?) owls have managed to direct our hero/heroine into a legendary safe haven. Maybe they’ve been trying to do this all along, but because of the ‘brainwashing’ society has provided, their ‘charges’ have run away from them. We don’t really know what the ‘bad luck’ that is claimed to have befallen previous hideouts actually is at this point. Now that we have arrived at Winter Haven, we’ll find out more details that will help.

Love the twist with the father/beast. The branding of the charm is also a unique idea. Great storytelling.

We have a local place I really like called Brewed Awakenings. I don’t drink coffee, but the have a good selection of chai and hot chocolate and make great sandwiches and pastries.

According to the news this morning, it’s the Starbucks baristas on strike across the country. No skin off our noses here. We’re Dunkin people. Every time I pass or enter a Starbucks, it smells like the beans, or something, are burning. Yuck!

All I said was that I hadn’t expected to see the story today. If you indicated it would be published today in your commentary yesterday, I missed it. I was a bit busy. It took most of the morning just to read the chapter in bits and pieces! I actually snuck time in to write what little commentary I did! Same today! So there!

I hadn’t realized the epilogue was coming so quickly, so it was a surprise seeing it this morning. No, Grandma Pam may not totally approve of how the kids are being raised, but she does have to agree they are not her children. She may offer opinions and advice—judiciously—which may or may not be taken into account. She also has to agree that these kids are better behaved and demonstrate more, shall we say, adeptness at dealing with the world than the majority of other kids, even those older than them. They are protected and loved, but far from sheltered. They are quite aware of many things that are happening around them. They can’t help it. Look who their fathers are and what they do. The three of them also know that if they don’t understand something, they can trust the many adults around them to explain it at their level to the extent they need to understand. They also understand they don’t need to know everything going on around them. They’re kids and are treated as such, while not ‘babying’ them. The boys want ‘Daddy’ to stay with them, even while ‘Papa’ will be with them. They know they are safe and secure, but they are 4-years-old. It’s not surprising. They just spent a solid week reveling in their full attention. They just want BOTH of their parents! It’s breaking CJ’s heart to separate, but it’s necessary. They’ll have to do several FaceTime or Skype sessions, I guess. It will help everyone survive this separation (for what—a month? I can’t quite remember.) In the meantime, I am looking forward to Newport! Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza, Happy New Year and anything else I may have missed! Here’s hoping you all have a wonderful time with family and friends during the festive season. Here’s looking to a better year next year!

I’m not worried about Oz with the kids on the long flight. These kids are experienced travelers and well-behaved, compared to many kids out there. Yes, they will get tired and cranky. They’re young kids. They will be sleeping for several hours of the flight. Oz will make sure they have plenty of their favorite quiet-time entertainment, whether it be reading or electronic gaming, to keep them occupied. If they don’t like the onboard entertainment (read movie/travelogue/sitcoms/news/etc), they will have movies on their own devices, complete with earphones. They know better than to disturb those around them with extraneous noise or kicking the seats. They’re probably flying First Class anyway! Liebe is old enough to take one of the boys for a short walk in the aisles when he becomes restless. One suggestion is maybe he could get each of them journals and colored pencils and they could write and draw about their trip on the yacht, their flights and with their visit with their Aussie grands. They can look at them in subsequent years and remember their trip. No. I’m not worried about them at all. (Sheesh, do I sound like a mom or teacher?!)

It’s funny! I think everyone knows of someone like this. It can be annoying at first, but then, it becomes a joke that everyone laughs at. I love that Ozzie has been pulled in, also, as his recognized partner/spouse/buddy or whatever you want to call him. Will his Aussie family see this happen and smirk? I think it’s hysterical!

A fun night. And, of course, CJ is known by someone there!

Lucy has a special purchase to make in Milan? Could it be fabric-made, long and white, perhaps? Still loving the trip. Tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch! I love it! When we traveled through Ireland, every single place had vegetable soup as the only choice. And it was always puréed! It got to be a joke with us. We even took a picture of a menu board with it listed!