Transfixed

BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE

TRANSFIXED

 Patricia Orendorff Smith

 

On a glistening day

leaf color became vibrant.

Leaves fell like rain.

Autumn touched ground,

crunched and rustled beneath my sneakers.

A scarlet maple leaf

floated by.

A deer approached from the woods.

I did not tread on his territory,

nor he on mine.

Transfixed,

our eyes locked in a stare

of respect,

reverence.

Ephemerally,

I breathed, breathed in the toasty

brown whiff of autumn.

Too quickly the day faded

into winter white.

The cold sting on my ears

advanced my pace.

I rushed home to a steaming

cup of cocoa,

thinking,

I need no more than this.

To read more of Patricia Orendorff Smith’s work click on http://beanerywriters.wordpress.com/category/wrbw-pat/

Time

BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE

TIME

Patricia Orendorff Smith

Time for a child is
measured in seasons:
Spring, splash the puddles,
Summer, shed the shoes,
Fall, dance the leaves,
Winter, stack the snowman.
Perception of time is limitless,
forever in a child’s mind.

Time is a paradox.
When we have the most

Idlewild Amusement Park Memories

BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE

IDLEWILD AMUSEMENT PARK MEMORIES

Patricia Orendorff Smith

     Many of us have visited Idlewild Park in Ligonier Township, Pennsylvania. I asked my friend, Jackie, to recount her memories in the late 1950s to the 1970s.

     “Since I was a baby, my dad attended Rockwell Manufacturing, Inc. picnics at Idlewild,” Jackie said. Her family has slides of their time spent there. “I wonder if I remember the occasion or if my memories come from the pictures.”     

     Jackie’s first memory at four years of age revolved around the roller coaster. She thinks she was too young to ride the tall ride.

     “My sister and I always wanted a gold fish at the Goldfish Pond,” Jackie said. “My sister got one.” Jackie was determined to get a goldfish. She saved money and when she was eight, she won a goldfish. “I had to walk around the park all day (carrying it).” On the ride home, Jackie remembered

Easter Surprise

BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE

EASTER SURPRISE

 Pat

 
      I remember the day clearly in the 1950’s. Brooding clouds threatened our trip as we piled into our wood paneled station wagon.
 
     “Hurry, we have a long way to go!” Daddy yelled as we bustled into our seats.
 
     Over hills and mountains our German family of twelve children trekked from Glenville, West Virginia to Lake Parsippany, New Jersey to visit our Italian friends the Macchiaverna’s. It felt like

Finding Ben

BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE

FINDING BEN

Pat

     A press release on Finding Ben states, “Everyone needs love and affection—no matter what. For any parent who has ever experienced disappointment in their child’s failures comes Barbara LaSalle’s Finding Ben: a Mother’s Journey through the Maze of Asperger’s.
     Finding Ben is an honest portrait of parental love. Written in novel form, the book tells the story of what it is like to suffer from what the author calls ‘disappointed mother

Path to Peace

BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE

PATH TO PEACE  Path to Peace

Pat

     Let me live to raise my five children, I pleaded with God. Let me find peace, I prayed. Only twenty-nine, I was shocked to find that Hodgkin’s disease had invaded my body. I felt I was too young to die. I thought no one could raise my children as well as I. “At least let me live until my eldest could help the little ones and my youngest could remember to brush his teeth,” I prayed.
     Little things surfaced, hit me in the face. I took delight in the rising sun, the distinctive smell of rain, the beauty and aroma of rose petals, the smell of fresh cut grass, the fortitude of old maples, the magnificent blending of pinks and violets in the sunset over Lake Erie, and my children’s smiles bright and wide. All these things became

STOKING THE COALS

BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE

STOKING THE COALS

Pat 

     Think back to 1958. Do you remember the clunky coal furnace that lived in the basement?  I vividly remember when Dad announced, “We’re moving to Indiana, Pennsylvania. I purchased a large house for $6000!”  Dad had accepted the position of Chairman of the Music Department at Indiana State Teacher’s College, now IUP. 
     “We’ll have a large yard, lots of property, lovely roses, daffodils, walnut trees, and weeping willows,” Dad said with a wide grin on his face.  What Dad forgot or refused to mention was

ALWAYS IN THREES

BEANERY ONLINE LITERARY MAGAZINE 

ALWAYS IN THREES

Pat

             In life things break down when we least expect it, be it appliances, health, marriages, or relationships. I was reminded of this when I purchased a new windshield wiper. I thought of how things break down in threes: broken windshield wiper, broken dryer, and really banged up knees. When my washing machine refused to work, my kitchen faucet broke and my hot water heater wouldn’t start!
     Always in threes. These little annoyances made me chuckle, because