Author: rdmonroe5

When our children were young, I used to make up fun stories to tell them. I made them up on the spot, in my head. Most were bedtime stories, some I told them in the mornings before the school bus arrived. For several years, making up fun Dad stories...

This is another of my early fiction pieces, penned in the early ’90’s, shortly after I left the service. At a time when I thought I wanted to write for a living. Robin & I were living in an apartment on South Massey Street in Watertown, when we were...

Where temptation reigns, and sinners imbibe. I left the Army in June 1991, shortly after Robin & I were married. I had taken several local Civil Service exams, but while I awaited those results, had no immediate full time employment prospects or plan. With no mortgage, no children, no...

Author’s Introductory Note: Originally drafted in 2011, “My Farewell to Colden” became my first professionally published piece. It appeared in Adirondack Life Magazine’s 2014 “Annual Guide to the Great Outdoors” issue, beginning on page 8, under the title “A Place In Time”. They paid me $540.00 for the piece....

& Other Select Poems by “The Accidental Poet” I don’t consider myself a poet. The few poems I do write happen quite by accident. A single word softly whispers. A quiet voice soothes my spirit. A thought trickles past. From somewhere hidden deep in my mind’s forest, an unmarked...

This is a piece that I submitted and had rejected by Adirondack Life Magazine for publication. That happened several times. I had a pretty good batting average with them over the years. In the end, I believe they published about half of the articles I submitted. I never knew...

MY TRUE ADIRONDACK HIGH PEAKS BEAR ENCOUNTER Author’s Note: Originally appearing as “Cliff The Bear” – “A Memorable Encounter At Lake Colden”, this true life vignette was the second in a series of five articles I had published by Adirondack Life Magazine over a six year period beginning in...

Author’s Note: This piece was actually one I originally submitted and had declined by Adirondack Life Magazine. It was recently published in The Adirondack Almanack’s August 22, 2021 online edition. ********** There is a back story here that remains buried in time, long since forgotten and forever untold. Imagine,...

“An Adirondack Outlaw Rescue Tale” Author’s Note: This TRUE rescue tale was the 3rd in a series of five articles I have had published in Adirondack Life Magazine through the years. It originally appeared in their August 2016 Issue as the “Barkeater” entry under their title, “Mayhem on Middle...

Author’s Note: I’m not sure what I wanted to be most when I was young: Archaeologist, Major League Baseball Player, Daniel Boone, or Poet. I’ve tried my hand at all four along the way, with varied results. Many of those endeavors are chronicled here in my blog. God willing,...