Tales from Northern Arizona: Bob's Blogs, Essays, and Short Stories - Paperback

by Robert Darrol Jr. Shanks (Author)

Years ago, when my daughters were to go to bed, they would often ask me to tell them a story as I tucked them in for the night. As a former junior high English teacher who taught various English literature classes I made up stories about funny animals or whatever would pop into my mind at the time. My daughters seemed to enjoy these improbable stories, most of which I don't remember and rightfully so.

I have always been interested in short stories and creative writing. My junior high students used to amaze me with the wonderful creative ideas they would write when given various writing assignments. This little book is made up of "blogs" (not a particularly good literary term with any meaning), essays and short stories put together mainly for my web site that lists my first two Christian books. In our super busy video world, it seems folks don't take the time to enjoy reading as they used to years ago or even enjoy a good still photograph. As a enlisted photojournalist before my commissioning, I did a lot of still photography for the Air Force. One of my favorite quotes is from National Geographic Photographer Joel Sartore, "A still photograph is a very quiet thing in a very loud world." His quote certainly underscores the super busy times we now live in.

In our hectic hurry and scurry to here and there world most of these articles, essays, blogs, or short stories are purposefully kept short and compact. I was always a part of the military reserve and guard program for many years as an intelligence analyst, so my subsequent tours of duty have provided me with a rich background for articles, essays, and short stories and even some "blogs". This book is a small collection of my short articles, essays, and short stories and even a "blog" or two.