In this issue, we have our regular slate of outstanding original stories and poetry. We hope you enjoy them!

It's not quite Spring yet here in Georgia, but it isn't as bitterly cold as it was during the middle of the Winter. We have a few flowers blooming, some of the trees are beginning to leaf out, and the back yard already needs to be mowed. THAT was fast, LOL! We've had an abundance of rain for the past few months. Which means that everything has a head start on early growth. Lindsey will be putting a greenhouse together in the coming weeks--just a little one--so we hope to have fresh veggies sooner and for longer this year that we did last year.We've already bought an armful of seed packets. Yes, some of those are flowers rather than vegetables, so the yard is going to go through some beautifying, too.

Our usual June/July convention in Chattanooga, TN has made the call to avoid risking the health of guests and attendees by going virtual this year. While not ideal, neither would be taking unnecessary risks. Let's face it, Con Crud has long been a real hazard of going to a convention. Put a thousand people together in a hotel for a 4-day weekend and germs do get passed around. The additional risks this year were deemed too great to ignore. The Con Committee is already working on ways to stream online meet-ups as discussion panels, an online Huxter's Suite for the vendors to sell their wares, and many other details. All of us are looking forward to seeing the end of the pandemic so we can have live conventions again.

On the virus front, neither my wife or myself are yet eligible to schedule vaccinations. We're under 65, not Healthcare Workers, not Law Enforcement, and not in any of the high-risk groups that the current vaccination schedules cover. Which means we're staying home as much as possible, masking up when we do go out, and attending various online functions instead of going to face-to-face social situations. Our biggest risk at the moment is going grocery shopping for items unavailable for curbside pick-up orders, and me having to go to work. Thankfully, the company I work for has a mandatory mask policy and enforced social distancing in the break room for mealtimes. We're doing OK, if you wondered. 

Because of the new prevalence of online streaming of meetings and entertainment of the chat show variety, I've been composing theme songs for different online shows. There are a few shows out there now that have one of my pieces for their theme music. I've also done the music for a couple of book preview slideshows. I'm keeping my hand in, in other words.

Things aren't as good as they once were, but they're nowhere near as bad as they could have been!

About time I quit talking and let you get to reading!

Dan