Today’s treat is a steaming cappuccino made right here in the kitchen. The whole milk is steamed, and the shot of espresso is delivered, and here it is. A couple of shakes of cinnamon and a sip of the foamy goodness turns my mind to the clock.

In a discussion with Resa McConaghy, she mentioned that returning to July 27th, 1940, might be interesting. Looking up the date, it is when Bugs Bunny made his first appearance. I asked Resa why we should visit that date, and she said, “Just do it.” So the clock is set for the date, and the time is set for 7:00 PM. We will stay a couple of hours. The cappuccino is drained, and we are off.

™Warner Brothers

So we arrive at the movie theater in West Orange, New Jersey. The crowd has just started to go into the theater. It now occurs to me why the CEO of Warner Brothers gifted the clock. It was so we could go back and enjoy the Bugs Bunny debut. Let’s all relax and enjoy Bugs’ big moment. Thanks to Resa for the idea.

The alarm goes off as the lights come up, and I’m sitting on the couch with an empty cup. A text comes in from Linda Hill. It reads. Your prompt for #JusJoJan the 6th and Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “Just do it.” Use the phrase “just do it” somewhere in your post, or write a post in the spirit of the phrase. Enjoy!

If you want to see what others do with the prompt, visit Linda’s post

https://lindaghill.com/2024/01/05/the-friday-reminder-for-socs-jusjojan-2024-daily-prompt-jan-6th/

Just Do It by John W. Howell © 2023

“That was fun.”

“I agree. It was good to see Bugs in his first feature.”

“He certainly has had a career, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, he has. He is the most popular Warner Brothers character.”

“It is hard to believe he has been around for almost 83 years.”

“I don’t want to say anything, but it is hard to believe the author of this blog has been around for about the same time.”

“Yeah, I think we should leave that one alone. Changing the subject for a minute, I noticed the prompt is “Just Do It.”

“Yup. That’s what Linda came up with.”

“A company had that as a slogan. Which one was it?”

“It was Nike.”

“Oh yeah.”

“How about you and I just do it and get to the pub?”

“Uber is sitting over there.”

“Wow, that’s a 1940 Ford Deluxe. What a beauty.”

“I thought you would be pleased.”

“I don’t know where you find these Uber drivers, but I’m not going to complain.”

“Today, that is.”

 

 

 

 

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.”

 

With a cup of coffee, one can conquer the world. Or so it would seem. My machine is being very kind to me and producing the best of the best. After half a cup, the alarm comes to mind. Taking one last safty excursion to December 16, 1923. Notwithstanding all the advice last week from my dear friend the safe road is it. I certainly don’t want to bake my time travel cake half way.

The clock is set to December 16th 1923 ,7:00 PM, and the duration is set to two hours. The scene is a darkened theater and the movie Our Hospitality is playing. It stars Buster Keaton and is one of the most popular. The audience loves it  and can’t seem to get enough. Also appearong is the movie is Natalie Talmadge, Joe Keaton, and Joe Roberts. It is very strange to be in a movie with people smoking. The screen gets harder to see as the movie finishes.

Moving to the lobby there is a  poster for the movie playing next.

Slow as Lighting is playing next. It stars Kenneth MacDonald, Billy ‘Red’ Jones, Edna Pennington, Gordon Sackville. Not a title that is familar to me.

The alarm goes off and I land back on the couch. I receive a text from Linda Hill. It says Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is: “bake.” Use it as a noun or a verb, use it any way you’d like. Have fun!

If you want to see what other bloggers do with the prompt visit Linda’s post. Here is the link. https://lindaghill.com/2023/12/15/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-dec-16-2023/

Bake by John W. Howell © 2023.

“Well I see your 100 year deal continues.”

“Yeah well I sure don’t want to make a mistake.”

“Okay I get that. Do you want me to go with you on the next?”

“Nice of you to offer but that isn’t necessary.”

“Why not. I would love to bake time travel into my experience cake.”

” think we would be falling over each other and then there’s the issue of the time continuum.”

“What’s that.”

“Something that we can’t disturb.”

“Like I would.”

“I’m just saying that anyone who would order a leaf vaccum for an Uber ride is capable of tearing the time continuum.”

“I thought it was aneat ride.”

“See. My point exactly.”

“This diascussion leads me to want a VooDoo Ranger.”

“Can’t wait to see wht you ordered from Uber.”

“It has plenty of room.”

“So does a cattle car. Can’t wait to see what you have.”

“There it is.”

“OMG.”

“It’s all decked out for the holidays.”

“Who are those people on there?”

“Carolers. They are going to sing some carols.”

“Is there hay on the wagon to keep us warm and hot chocolate.”

“No on both. We are after VooDoo Rangers not flavored lactose.”

“Well, still woud have been nice.”

“Come on. You a Ranger or a wimp?”

“Just glad I brought a coat we are not exactly going to bake in the sun in that thing.”

“I hope you are happy to get that prompt off your chest.”

“Very. Lets go.”