Written: 7-21-25 After attending Traverse City Philharmonic "Movie Magic" Concert at the Civic Center Bouncing in his lawn chair, the toddlers stick danced in the air. To him, a magic wand brought to life by the music of the orchestra on stage. Above, filtered through...
![The Dungeon of Artful Delights [Short Fiction]](https://realizehomestead.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/alexandre-lallemand-ti9r6I4AG-g-unsplash.jpg)
Written 7-3-25 “You’re living at the old paper mill!?” I asked. “Like, that haunted old concrete warehouse we’d sneak into in high school?” “Yup. That one. But it’s not actually haunted you know,” Kevin grinned, as we walked up the sandy bike trail through the woods....
![Last Night in an Old Camper [Short Fiction]](https://realizehomestead.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Screenshot_1.jpg)
Written 6-29-25 Can’t sleep. The air is too familiar. The sofa bed, too loud. Did I really believe I could escape the world’s shadow by parking a camper five hours from civilization? And the failed marriage? Just another box to check in the farm-life fantasy playbook....
I have a habit of getting inspired, or having a new insight and writing down pages of thoughts only to leave it unpublished and unfinished. I think this is because, in my head, every idea is connected to dozens of other ideas in interesting ways and it's hard for me...
![A Lost and Found Life [Story-Poem] June 2024](https://realizehomestead.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/Screenshot_1.jpg)
[Music: Edge Hill by Groove Armada] You awaken, a child, as though for the first time, and wonder at the infinite living rainbow dancing...
**See full prompt and other responses on the NWMI LEAP Website here.** What is Truly Important? A question of values, of priorities. And a good question I try to revisit often throughout my life. When I pose this question to myself, my mind goes in a few...
