All's well at the local parish. At least on the surface.  
 
This week we meet Father Joseph. Father Joseph and Nathaniel's parents sit in the priest's office and have a nice little chat. They discuss the upcoming pancake breakfast, the flower show to raise money for the local orphanage, and next Sunday's sermon on assisting the poor and the persecuted. 
 
Father Joseph has an engaging smile and an easy laugh. He is very popular among his parishioners. Unfortunately, Joe is a very sick pup. 

All's well at the local parish. At least on the surface. &nbsp; &nbsp; This week we meet Father Joseph. Father Joseph and Nathaniel's parents sit in the priest's office and have a nice little chat. They discuss the upcoming pancake breakfast, the flower show to raise money for the local orphanage, and next Sunday's sermon on assisting the poor and the persecuted.&nbsp; &nbsp; Father Joseph has an engaging smile and an easy laugh. He is very popular among his parishioners. Unfortunately, Joe is a very sick pup.&nbsp;

Father Joseph and His Blood Red Ferraiolo

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f69511a0-733b-4113-8007-b24b007033be/transcript

This week we meet Larry. Lar, like crazy armed nut-jobs from sea to shining sea, owns a Bushmaster XM-15 with a Vortex Spitfire scope and plenty of ammo. All legally obtained.   
It's a beautiful spring morning. Opening Day of a brand new baseball season. The sun is shining. The grass is green. The boys are ready to play ball. 
 
But unless sanity suddenly intervenes, unlikely, it’s best to prepare for more American carnage. 

This week we meet Larry. Lar, like crazy armed nut-jobs from sea to shining sea, owns a Bushmaster XM-15 with a Vortex Spitfire scope and plenty of ammo. All legally obtained.  &nbsp; It's a beautiful spring morning. Opening Day of a brand new baseball season. The sun is shining. The grass is green. The boys are ready to play ball.&nbsp; &nbsp; But unless sanity suddenly intervenes, unlikely, it&rsquo;s best to prepare for more American carnage.&nbsp;

Play Ball

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/d8ca26ef-c791-48d8-a78e-b244000964d0/transcript

This week we meet Jack. Jack’s about to turn ten. His family has just arrived at their Airbnb on the coast of Maine.

Right next door to their sea-front cottage is a graveyard, with gravestones dating back before the 18th century. Young Jack stumbles upon one stone that sends a shiver of terror down his spine.

This week we meet Jack. Jack’s about to turn ten. His family has just arrived at their Airbnb on the coast of Maine.
Right next door to their sea-front cottage is a graveyard, with gravestones dating back before the 18th century. Young Jack stumbles upon one stone that sends a shiver of terror down his spine.

The Graveyard

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f2b691d4-5587-4263-ac82-b23c0117c493/transcript

This week we meet Jen. Jen’s been having some trouble sleeping. A lot on her mind. Kids. Job. Boss. Ex-hubby. Noisy furnace. And on and on. No end to the toils and troubles. 

She stuffed her ears with wax plugs. Meditated. Found something to be grateful for. Fell asleep lickity split.

But now it’s just three hours later. And she’s awake. Wide awake. In the pitch black of early morning. Body and brain buzzing. Monkey noise fills her head. She feels right on the edge of madness. 

This week we meet Jen. Jen’s been having some trouble sleeping. A lot on her mind. Kids. Job. Boss. Ex-hubby. Noisy furnace. And on and on. No end to the toils and troubles.  She stuffed her ears with wax plugs. Meditated. Found something to be grateful for. Fell asleep lickity split. But now it’s just three hours later. And she’s awake. Wide awake. In the pitch black of early morning. Body and brain buzzing. Monkey noise fills her head. She feels right on the edge of madness.

Insomnia

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/460f94b9-e1d9-47bd-8c84-b22f012893df/transcript

This week we visit an old Southern plantation. Likely one that grows cotton or tobakkie. The War for Independence has come and gone. The Founders have grown fat and happy.

But their slaves, well, not so much.

Folks don’t like being enslaved. And so, occasionally, they rise up and fight back.

They declare their Independence.

This week we visit an old Southern plantation. Likely one that grows cotton or tobakkie. The War for Independence has come and gone. The Founders have grown fat and happy.
But their slaves, well, not so much.
Folks don’t like being enslaved. And so, occasionally, they rise up and fight back.
They declare their Independence.

Independence Day

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/7f3f4c9e-9ccd-4d2f-926f-b22e015cf814/transcript

This week we meet Stan. And Ollie. Neighbors. Friendly but not really friends.

Stan has a wife, three kids, a couple businesses. He’s a busy guy, high strung, stressed out. And now this broken bone in his left foot has him hobbled.

Ollie’s divorced. A good guy, a lonely guy.

Ollie and Stan’s wife Patty often walk their dogs together. Long walks. In the hills. Now something has transpired between Ollie and Patty. Or has it?

This week we meet Stan. And Ollie. Neighbors. Friendly but not really friends. Stan has a wife, three kids, a couple businesses. He’s a busy guy, high strung, stressed out. And now this broken bone in his left foot has him hobbled.
Ollie’s divorced. A good guy, a lonely guy.
Ollie and Stan’s wife Patty often walk their dogs together. Long walks. In the hills. Now something has transpired between Ollie and Patty. Or has it?

Stan, Ollie, & The Fifth Metatarsal

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/dae2a037-7994-45ec-a6db-b227010c8847/transcript

This week we meet G Otterbein. When G Otterbein moves in next door, the MacLeod boys are quite certain he is either Gestapo, SS, or a concentration camp guard. 

Their father landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Over the next year he battled the Nazis and helped liberate the death camps. He has no love for Germans. And he has passed his hatred on to his boys.

How’s it going to work out in this tranquil New Jersey suburb?

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This week we meet G Otterbein. When G Otterbein moves in next door, the MacLeod boys are quite certain he is either Gestapo, SS, or a concentration camp guard.  Their father landed on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944. Over the next year he battled the Nazis and helped liberate the death camps. He has no love for Germans. And he has passed his hatred on to his boys. How’s it going to work out in this tranquil New Jersey suburb?

The Old German

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/ce0d1dee-b557-4f37-9131-b220010e8dff/transcript

This week we meet The Kid. The Kid just wants to shoot some hoops. Get in some practice before his school team tryouts next week.

But inside the old dairy barn out back where his father has hung a hoop, the kid runs into a spooky stranger. The unexpected encounter will have consequences neither of them can imagine. 

This week we meet The Kid. The Kid just wants to shoot some hoops. Get in some practice before his school team tryouts next week.
But inside the old dairy barn out back where his father has hung a hoop, the kid runs into a spooky stranger. The unexpected encounter will have consequences neither of them can imagine.

To Hell and Back

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/bad29444-86c9-4ca6-9904-b21a0022a697/transcript

This week we meet Tammy. Every day Tammy thinks about doing it. And every day she doesn’t do it.

She wants to do it, or at least she thinks she does, but still she doesn’t do it.

She wants to do this and do that, go here and go there, but desire so rarely leads to action.

What is Life? What’s it for? What are we supposed to do with it? Is it anything more than the Random Thoughts in our Heads?

This week we meet Tammy. Every day Tammy thinks about doing it. And every day she doesn’t do it. She wants to do it, or at least she thinks she does, but still she doesn’t do it. She wants to do this and do that, go here and go there, but desire so rarely leads to action. What is Life? What’s it for? What are we supposed to do with it? Is it anything more than the Random Thoughts in our Heads?

Inertia

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/27ed669a-c0bd-413f-96e1-b204013dce6c/transcript

This week we meet Tad. After years of Talk Therapy Tad finally has a breakthrough. He finally spits out the Truth. Finally utters the unutterable. But is his Shrink listening? Or has his Shrink checked out of the Game, consumed as he is by his own angsts and anxieties, his own dreams and desires?

SHRUNK asks those old Socratic questions: Do our fellow humans hear a word we say? Or does all the gibberish just fall on deaf ears?

Was it, me wonders, a giant cosmic joke to allow Humans to Communicate with all these silly little utterances that spill from our lips?

This week we meet Tad. After years of Talk Therapy Tad finally has a breakthrough. He finally spits out the Truth. Finally utters the unutterable. But is his Shrink listening? Or has his Shrink checked out of the Game, consumed as he is by his own angsts and anxieties, his own dreams and desires? SHRUNK asks those old Socratic questions: Do our fellow humans hear a word we say? Or does all the gibberish just fall on deaf ears? Was it, me wonders, a giant cosmic joke to allow Humans to Communicate with all these silly little utterances that spill from our lips?

Shrunk

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/ab78ec6c-8386-48f8-89f6-b1fd017b0a7e/transcript

Want to hear some entertaining stories but don't have a lot of time? Here's your ticket to ride. The Ten-Minute Storyteller arrives packed with humor, pathos, humanity, and originality… in ten minutes or less. All stories written and narrated by Bill Simpson, an acclaimed novelist who has, after many years in the kitchen, perfected the short short story.  

Want to hear some entertaining stories but don't have a lot of time? Here's your ticket to ride. The Ten-Minute Storyteller arrives packed with humor, pathos, humanity, and originality… in ten minutes or less. All stories written and narrated by Bill Simpson, an acclaimed novelist who has, after many years in the kitchen, perfected the short short story.

The Ten-Minute Storyteller

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