Today I randomly opened Detour on the Eternal Road to page 265. With eyes closed, I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger is “conference.” This is the prompt today.
Conference by John W. Howell © 2026
“Another boring conference.”
“Oh, come on. You say that every year, and then you have a good time in spite of yourself.”
“You’ll have to remind me.”
“Remember last year you took a dive into the pool at midnight?”
“Hmm. I don’t remember that.”
“You don’t? Well, you made quite a hit with the ladies the next day. Everyone was talking about it.”
“Where was I?”
“I think you slept late.”
“See what I mean? Even when having fun, I miss out.”
“The year before you decided to do those belly slides.”
“Now I remember that. Took a week for my belly to stop glowing.”
“You also led the sing-along.”
“Oh yes. The limericks. I remember it got out of hand.”
“The only thing that got out of hand was the fish swallowing.”
“My face turns red when I think about that.”
“I still wonder what made you think you could swallow a whole mackerel?”
“The fact I couldn’t still haunts me. I think it might have been the fermented sushi.”
“And mooning that great white.”
“Please stop. I can’t take any more.”
“We all fell about laughing when he chased you up onto the ice.”
“Lucky for me, penguins are faster on ice than sharks.”
“So loighten up. Everyone’s looking forward to what you’re going to pull this year.”
“I’ll try not to disappoint.
Fiction Favorites 
Interesting choice of birds.
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😊
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I’d like to see this year’s conference!
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🤣 Thanks, Esther.
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Funny one. 😁
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Thank you, Charles.
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Of course I thought this was one of our annual meetings and YOU were having fun. My bad.
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Our meetings might have been a model.
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Fascinating, John, imagining a penguin escaping a shark on some ice!
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A great visual, Tim. Thanks.
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😲 😊
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LOL! What’s black and white and red all over? That penguin after the conference!
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Good one, Marian. 😀
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Pack your lampshade and let’s get started.
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Right behind you.
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Lol! Never would have guessed a penguin. But I like what Craig said. 🙂
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Darn, I was thinking pelican until the end! Got me!
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you chose a great section to thsare – and to narrow it down more – this is my fav of the post
““You also led the sing-along.”
“Oh yes. The limericks. I remember it got out of hand.”
“The only thing that got out of hand was the fish swallowing.”
“My face turns red when I think about that.”
can feel the connection
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Ha ha ha. Thank you, Yvette.
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Doh! I thought for sure we were talking otters, although the ice gave me a clue that I might be wrong.
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Yeah, ice was a big clue.
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😁
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😊
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Oh, this is very close to our meetings. But, the only thing missing is our annual closing sing-a-long of our all time favorite…“tents in the BVDs”! That was always good for a rise from the floor🐳
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🙄
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Oh my….rutt-roe😰🐳
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😊
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They do move pretty fast on the ice. Good one, John.
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Thank you, Dan. 😊
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At “The only thing that got out of hand was the fish swallowing.” it reminded me of a north Swedish fermented herring festival, at “mackarel” I thought it might be pelicans but it was penguins. It is a fun story and Detour on the Eternal Road is a great book.
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Thank you, Thomas. I’m glad you enjoyed it. 😊
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An icy conference with loads of laughs…doesn’t get much better when you’re a penguin. 😂 Loved it.
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Thank you, Monika. 😊
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John, you’re so clever! I find myself rereading your post after I find out what sort of critters are having a dialogue 🙂 … and I’m still laughing of the penguin mooning a Great White … lol.
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Was a pretty dumb thing to do. Thanks, Marie.
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You gotta admire penguins. It ain’t easy to evade ginormous predators whilst all gassed up in formalwear.
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