Fly: A Flash Fiction Story

Posted on by P. A. Harper
Photo by John Talbot

I feel like I am dreaming. It is a hot summer, and I open all the windows to cool o the apartment. I enter my bedroom, and nine giant flies are resting on my bed. They are each about a foot long, and their bodies are black as oil with silvery highlights. They have long barbed legs that taper at their joints, making me think of crabs. Their wings are luminously opalescent with green, pink, orange, and violet streaked. There is a buzzing noise coming from the random movement of their wings, vibrating the whole room. My skin feels funny from the vibration, almost like it is moving.

They are at once beautiful and scary. I’m not quite sure if they are dangerous, so I go out of the room and get a broom to shoo them away. The buzzing stops, and it is dead calm. I hurry, feeling my stomach tighten as I peek around the door frame into the room.

I see a beautiful fragrant flower there on the bed with them. The whole room smells amazing, making me remember when my mother would bake ginger cookies. Then all of a sudden, I realize that the flower and memory is a gift from them. I feel silly for having thought they were scary. I say thank you, and they leave out my open window.

Pink Bike, a Poem

Posted on by P. A. Harper
Pink Bike

The following is a short poem I wrote when I got my first bike. It’s an old poem, but one I still love.

Pink Bike

Cute princess bike, last one in the store,
Cheap bright pink paint,
Plastic streamers sprouting from the handlebars,
Banana seat with cartoon flowers,

Rode as fast as I could downhill,
Wind in my face, hands in the air,
Hit a pothole,
Wrecked it,
Skinned my knee,
Scraped the pink paint,
Smiled.

About Tea, A Tea Geek Introduction

Posted on by P. A. Harper
Tea Leaf: Creator: MaxPixel's contributors | Credit: https://www.maxpixel.net/photo-3292829 Copyright: Copyright by MaxPixel

Dear Fellow Tea Geek,

Do you want to discover new flavors and find out about tea from a tea geek? You’re in right place. I cover a wide range of topics on my blog, including my favorite drink, tea! Here you will find stories and reviews about tea and tea products that I’ve tried and enjoy.

About The Tea Geek

Before I share my favorite teas, here is a little about me. I first started drinking tea when I was a young girl. My mother loved tea, and we always had a wide variety of teas in the house. I equate tea with comfort and sharing. I drink it every day and have learned tea is a lot like wine; the more you drink it, the better your pallet becomes. To me, the act of drinking tea is a lifestyle, meditation, and source of healthy pleasure. I don’t consider myself a purist when it comes to tea, more someone who knows a good deal about it and truly enjoys sharing. I am always looking to learn more.

About Tea’s Roots and Customs

One of the most interesting things about tea is its mysterious ancient roots and customs. It has a very rich and colorful history. And at different times in China, it was designated as currency and used as legal tender. In western society, it is considered a beverage to be consumed for health reasons as well as enjoyment. Ice tea was invented in America and is the most popular way to prepare tea in America. White tea has ten times the amount of antioxidants as ten cups of apple juice and it only takes 3 minutes of brewing time to release them into your cup. Tea is one of modern society’s most popular drinks, second only to water. An average of 3 billion cups of tea are consumed daily worldwide. All tea comes from the same plant, the Camellia Sinensis.

About Herbal Tea

Herbal tea is not technically a ‘true’ tea because it does not come from the tea plant. However, due to the many similarities, I have decided to include it as part of my blog. Herbal tea is very impotent to health, and there are studies that prove some are quite helpful, including traditional Chinese medicine. The information presented on this blog concerning the benefits of herbal tea is not intended to diagnose or as professional medical advice. I am not a medical professional. It is important to do your research and find out the fact ahead of time when using them as medicine. I recommend finding a good traditional Chinese herbalist and a Western doctor who knows the importance and healing power of consuming healthy food.

Welcome, and thanks for joining me on my tea journey. I am happy to share my adventures in tea tasting and hope it is of value and interest to others.

Cheers,
P. A. Harper, AKA Tea Geek

Fact Checks
Top 10 Most Consumed Beverages in the World!, Top 10 Data Expert
Compressed Tea, Wikipedia
Chinese Medicine,  Johns Hopkins University

Posted in Tea

Your Brain on Books

Posted on by P. A. Harper
Antique Illustration of the brain.

I can’t remember a time in my life when books were not a large part of it. My mother read to me and my sister from a very early age. I started reading on my own when I was four years old. On average I read about 3 to 8 books a month. I mostly read fiction because I love stories and how they can transport you to experience other lives and worlds. Reading is one on my favorite pastimes, and it is also a great way to relax your mind by giving it a break from stress.

In a 2006 study published in the journal NeuroImage, by researchers in Spain who documented that the body does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions of the brain are stimulated.

This study confirmed what I had suspected for a very long time; our imaginations are very powerful tools we can use to shape our perspective, emotions and social understandings. Reading really can make you a better person, and reading good writing can also make you a better writer.

Reference
Reading Fiction is Good For Your BRAIN!: By Dr. Dan Pezzulo posted 03-02-2015
How Reading Improves Your Writing: by Jennifer Wilber 09-09-2021

Portrait of An Antique Typewriter

Posted on by P. A. Harper

Here’s my mom’s old Royal Gray Magic Model typewriter. Mom used her when working for the air force back in the 1950’s. This old gal, talking about the typewriter, is from the 1930’s.

This is my origin story. It’s a love story.

My future dad was repairing typewriters in the pentagon. He fixed this one, and liked what he saw. His friend Joe, who was dating my aunt Mildred, set them up on a date; because that’s how it was done back then. Fast forward, I learned to type on this old antique, wrote my first short stories and many poems on her. I still have her, and she still works. 💗 Was love at first sight. #lovestory #typewriter

Below is a page from the original manual. Enjoy!

DYSLEXIA AND WRITING BY HAND: IS IT HELPFUL?

Posted on by P. A. Harper

Domtar posted an article on the benefits of writing by hand. It’s seems odd to me that they would say it helps dyslexics. Sure, I can understand writing cursive is better than printing, but handwriting is something you don’t have to do in this age. As someone who lives with the challenges of dyslexia, I can tell you firsthand that typing and text to speech are the easiest ways to write for dyslexics.

I don’t view dyslexia as a disability. People with dyslexia are wired differently and are not as proficient at some tasks as others. However, we can also do something better than people who are not dyslexic. There are benefits from writing by hand, but I’m not sure it helps people who are dyslexic the same way it does others. There isn’t enough data on the subject.

Most dyslexics are nonverbal learners, we think in picture, 3-dimensional, multi-sensory images, and as a result we have a much quicker thought process. You know the saying about a picture and a thousand words; this is how we can process ideas much quicker. When I have to slow down the way I think, I tend to lose information I want to communicate. It’s like having a great Idea and not being able to write it down immediately, as it slips away.