The coffee machine is slow to wake up today. A check of the vitals shows no problem, but the command buttons, once pushed, seem to have no effect on performance. Thinking back to the day when working a farm, the most reliable way to motivate a recalcitrant piece of machinery was a sharp physical rap with a heavy wrench.

In the kitchen, the meat mallet is the moral equivalent of a heavy wrench. One quick blow with the wooden mallet morphed the sleeping genius into a veritable fountain of hot, aromatic, nerve-quieting elixir. The triumph was mine.

After a few sips, the clock caught my attention. Turning it to August 12, 1877, setting the location for Menlo Park, New Jersey, and the time of two hours, we are off.

We arrive at the Menlo Park Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison. He has just put the finishing touches on his tin foil cylindrical phonograph. He waves us in and explains that he has figured out how to take a stylus and replicate the human voice on a rotating cylinder covered in tin foil.

He believes that this kind of machine will revolutionize the way offices will dictate letters. He envisions the worker putting the thoughts on the cylinder and then someone transcribing the words into letter form. Although my mouth was sealed, Edison will face a formidable challenge from the stenographers who will no doubt be put out of work with this scheme. Perhaps he is a little early with that phase of the office revolution and will stick to music instead. Speaking of music, the alarm sends us all to the couch, and luckily for her, no one landed on Twiggy.

My phone signals the arrival of a test. Yes, it is from Linda Hill and says, Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: starts with or contains “ph.” Find a word with the letters “ph” in it and use it as your prompt. Have fun!

To see how other bloggers handle this prompt, visit Linda’s post. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2023/12/29/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-30-2023/

PH by John W. Howell © 2023

“Phenomenal.”

“What?”

“Your PH words.”

“Didn’t notice.”

“Oh sure. You just happened to select phonograph and 1877 by random.”

“Oh that. I read about Edison and wanted to go there.”

“I see. Means nothing that the prompt is words with ph in them.”

“Well maybe a little.”

“You are so busted.”

“I suppose. How about hitting the pub for a couple of Voo Doo Rangers?”

“You change the subject so nicely. About that couple of Voo Doo Rangers.”

“What?”

“If I can’t have all I want then no use going.”

“A figure of speech. A commom phrase.”

“Okay then. Theres our ride.”

“I’m afraid to look.”

“It is right up your alley. Look by the curb.”

Photo – Beverly Hills Car Club

“What is that?”

“A 1929 Ford Pheaton. Get it?”

“You are too good to me. Let’s go.”

The aroma of coffee fills the air, and while a spruce-up of the machine takes place, a thought comes to me. When the machine delivers the coffee, there must be another trip into the past. The coffee pours forth from the spouts into my cup as if answering a wish. The crema finish lets me know the sipping time is near.

Drinking coffee and setting the clock to December 23, 1620. This is the day the pilgrims started the permanent settlement in Plymouth Massecuctiuts. The time on site is set for two hours; before the coffee is done, we are here.

There is much activity as the Mayflower dropped anchor two days ago in Plymouth Harbor. Today, the pilgrims begin work on dwellings that will shelter them through their brutal first winter in America. Miles Standish is leading the building efforts. The task is formidable since housing will be required for 102 passengers. In the meantime, the Mayflower will be used as the dwelling while the houses are built.

Miles Standish is agreeable to an interview. Getting past the awkwardness of trying to explain my presence, one question is asked. What is the biggest challenge so far? His answer is”Finding enough food for all these people.”

The alarm interrupted the conversation, and my warm living room displaced Plymouth’s cold and windy coastline. A text is coming, and it is from Linda Hill. It reads. Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “spruce.” Use it as a noun or a verb, use it any way you’d like. Enjoy! You can visit her post if you want to see what other bloggers have done with the prompt. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2023/12/22/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-23-2023/

Spruce by John W. Howell © 2023

“I thought you would go see Howard Hughes’ Spruce Goose.”

“That never occurred to me.”

“It was a giant plane built out of wood.”

“I know the story. I’m just saying it never came to mind.”

“So what were you thinking?”

“I focused on December 23 and remembered the Pilgrims were starting to build a permanent settlement.”

“I’ll bet the houses were made of spruce.”

“We don’t know that, but pine would have been more available given the location.”

“So, how was it at Plymouth.”

“Windy and cold.”

“I read where only 53 passengers and half of the crew survived that first winter.”

“Yeah. It was a tough one for sure.”

“Lucky for us, we have an established pub to go to.”

“And let me guess, you have ordered the Uber.”

“I sure have. It’s right over there.”

“Near that airplane.”

“The spruce Goose, you mean?”

“Where did all that water come from?”

“What’s the title of this blog?”

“Fiction Favorites.”

“Fiction means we have water.”

“So we fly to the pub?”

“No, we glide on our water. That’s allowed in fiction.”

“Well, okay, it should be fun.”