I believe we do birthdays wrong! To celebrate the start of my 6th decade, I honor those who raised and tolerated me, and those who’ve helped to make me the person I am now.
Thank you, Marilyn Hintsa, for my awesome birthday crown!I’ve been a lucky girl.
In addition to pieces I wrote about my Mum and Dad, there’s also a poem I wrote for them while they were still alive called “Don’t Leave Me.”
Please help keep me, Laurel McHargue, host of Alligator Preserves, on the road! Would you treat me to a monthly cuppa tea? And by that, I mean please become a patron! “Please and thank you”~Ron Swanson
If you enjoy my podcasts, you might enjoy my books!
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
Watch for Waterwight Breathe: Book III of the Waterwight Series in 2019!
More Links:
Please help keep me, Laurel McHargue, host of Alligator Preserves, on the road! Would you treat me to a monthly cuppa tea? And by that, I mean please become a patron! “Please and thank you”~Ron Swanson
If you enjoy my podcasts, you might enjoy my books!
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
Sign up for my newsletters (or read them from the Newsletters tab in my menu bar!) and email me at laurel@strackpress.com with your fruitcake story!
More Links:
Please help keep me, Laurel McHargue, host of Alligator Preserves, on the road! Would you treat me to a monthly cuppa tea? And by that, I mean please become a patron! “Please and thank you”~Ron Swanson
If you enjoy my podcasts, you might enjoy my books!
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
I read my version of “The Night Before Christmas” (The Lead Ass Inn is the name of our home, Klaus is our life-size nutcracker, Charlie is our guest cat, Melanzana is a Leadville shop which makes hoodies and all kinds of good wear-gear right in shop)
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
Jerry interviewed me at his radio studio last August! He is a wonderful supporter of local authors.
Jerry Fabyanic–author, columnist, radio show host, and denizen of Mother Earth–talks with Laurel McHargue about his novel Sisyphus Wins and about growing up as a gay man in a time when coming out was not acceptable.
He discusses his philosophy of life, strides in the LGBTQ community, and the Georgetown Christmas Fair where he and dozens of other authors will have their works available (December 1-2 and 8-9, 2018).
Listen Here:
Watch the YouTube Interview Here:
Show Notes with Links:
Jerry talks about his relationship with Mother Earth
and about “bagging 14ers”
He discusses how his novel Sisyphus Wins–“a novel about self-acceptance, forgiveness, and triumph”–reflects his love of nature
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
Paul Thaler, author of “Bronxland,” discusses his new coming of age story and the tumultuous decade of the ’60s in America. His story will bring you back to your middle school years, regardless of where you grew up.
Who is Paul Thaler and how did the idea of Bronxland emerge?
Paul, author of Bronxland and other books, shares classroom stories with Laurel, author of “Miss?” and other books.
Discussion about the environment in schools in the ’60s and relationships…in the courtyard, with classmates, with teachers
School orchestra award medal story and lessons learned
The true “crush” Paul had on his math teacher and the art project no one will ever forget
Sex in the laundry room and the creepy guy in the theater
The big fight and the idea of respect
A time of innocence and heartbreak
Coming of age story, discovering one’s place in this world
JFK was a Bronx boy and greatly influenced PaulPaul Thaler sent me this JFK Bronx school photo (Riverdale Country Day School). Can you guess which one he is? Hint: he’s the one who already looks presidential!
Lots of history in the novel…a special place in time…the tragic decade of the ’60s
Where did Paul learn compassion?
Story of the missing boy (Etan Patz) and how it’s handled in Bronxland
Writing a novel and the “avalanche of memories” that come into play
Black Opal Books and how publishing is sometimes more difficult than writing (because of the letting go)
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
In this episode, I share some writings in poetry and prose on the topic “The Body” for a special project and discover something about reading instructions!
A body batik, the most stunning creation on earth
Wrung from a lifetime—begun with a thought and a prayer
Lined by a hand unseen, wax designs sketched before birth
Patterns present themselves often before we’re aware
Skin of an infant, luminous, fragrant and pure
Hiding within it adventure and challenge and grief
Never foreseeing the hardships we all must endure
Born to exposure—a lifetime, though surely too brief
Teenage perfection with makeup and primping routine
Taking for granted the glowing of health and fresh youth
Carefree and negligent, no need to mind the machine
We were invincible, now we can laugh at the truth
Growing maturity, comfort and pride in our skin
“What are your secrets?” they’ll ask, as we gracefully age
“Having accomplishments, balancing yang with our yin,
We’re the creators of joy in our lives at each stage!”
Old age surprises us, creases appear to unfold
Splotches and patches of skin we expect to stay smooth
Thinning, translucent and bumpy, a sight to behold
Pricey medicinals, daily required to soothe
A body batik, the most challenging canvas from birth
Etched with experience, pleasure and pain and repair
Creases and wrinkles embellish us, value their worth
Live in them lovingly, cherish your internal flair
Crafted with purpose and care is our body batik
Each one unveiled as a masterpiece, each one unique
Enigmachine (a 200-word challenge about “The Body”)
This faulty machine I inhabit remains an enigma. “We can send a man to the moon,” but this arthritic bump on my finger and, and, and. The ands are too trite to discuss. I wrote a piece about menopause in which I addressed my Mum’s droopy cheeks, among other sagging things, when I became keenly aware of my own floppy parts. Her sister took umbrage. How could I be so disrespectful to my aging mother?
Mum laughed.
I watched as she disappeared, her hair and skin thinning, until finally she was gone. A breeze might have carried her away. I held her hand, a near duplicate of my own, and as her engine fluttered to failure, I marveled at the framework that had carried her through 89 years.
Will my framework carry me as long? Will my frequently fluttering heart match the mileage hers endured? Will I be as prepared as she was to leave the burden of a broken machine behind when new parts are no longer in stock?
Perhaps. Until then, I’ll (try to) control my displeasure as each new “and . . .” hijacks my machine. Until then, I’ll service and lube as necessary.
And I’ll smile.
Me and Mum. We’d laugh about being twins separated by 30 years!
More Links:
If you enjoy my podcasts, you might enjoy my books!
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
June Trop, Associate Professor emerita at the State University of New York at New Paltz, talks about the inspiration for her Miriam bat Isaac Mystery Series, her years of teaching middle school science, her twin sister, and lots more!
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
Laurel recounts the craziest race her husband, Mike, ever participated in: A pack burro race up Mosquito Pass and back during a Leadville Boom Days weekend. He raced with a rent-an-ass from Curtis Imrie (RIP) and met the legendary Ken Chlouber for the first time as well. This is a crazy-ass story with some poignant moments.
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
Alison Sandoval is a “Silver Queen” after completing the Leadville Race Series two-day race: a 50-mile mountain bike race on a Saturday followed by a 50-mile foot race the very next day, starting at over 10,000′ elevation and climbing through mountainous terrain from there! And she is the one who inspired her husband (who is the current record holder for the Leadman race) to start competing!
Alison Sandoval starts her new career as a magic paper artist!
Listen Here:
Show Notes with Links:
Alison tells us who she is
How she got into racing, her first race, and inspiring husband Wesley Sandoval (current Leadman record holder) to get into a fitness routine.
If you enjoyed this episode and others, please subscribe to Alligator Preserves on iTunes, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts, and tell your friends about it! I’d love it if you “liked” the episodes you listen to, and I’d love it even more if you’d post a quick comment!
He discusses how his novel 
