Are you in the mood for the upcoming holidays? Have you been to one or the other Christmas store already? Have you maybe even wrapped your first gifts for your loved ones? Some people have started their Christmas shopping early this year. And for a good reason. We have been warned for months, now, about […]
Across the Fence
Lakewood Author Susanne Bacon Launches New Novel Series
Have you ever read a fictional book centered on a military spouse? I haven’t. And as I have been pondering to write a series for years now, I thought I’d make my protagonist one of this literarily neglected species. It is obvious that I could use some of my few years’ experiences as a military […]
Across the Fence: Apples
The other night, there was a knock on our front door, and our next-door neighbor brought us a bag of apples. They had ripened on her tree all summer long, and are filling our dining room with their fresh, crisp fragrance now. And they have caused an entire load of connotations with me. Interestingly, the […]
Across the Fence: Writing
Remember when you were first taught how to write? With me it was signing the pictures I drew with wax crayons. I was three or four, and my mother taught me how to write my first name. I knew what it meant, but I didn’t care that the letter “N” only goes zigzag in a […]
Across the Fence: Neighborhood Candy
Some of you may remember a long past Suburban Times article of mine in which I mentioned that candy was a rare thing in my early childhood. My mother would hand me maybe one hard candy or a soft caramel a day if I had been good. I was quite average. But in average, I […]
Across the Fence: Freaky or Funny?
Submitted by Susanne Bacon. I must have been four or five when a small traveling circus came to our suburb in Germany. It set up its one-ring tent in a meadow next to one of our supermarkets, placed their wagons into the back, and handed out leaflets. When my mother took my little brother and […]
Across the Fence: Frost
This week, Lakewood experienced its first morning of frost. Waking to a clear, sunny sky on Tuesday morning, I found that our neighborhood’s roofs were all glistening white, and so were the front lawns. The thermometer showed me a mere 31 degrees Fahrenheit. An hour later, the sky was clouded, and the magic was gone. […]
Across the Fence: Octopuses
November 8 is International Octopus Day. Now, you may wonder why I come up with such a seemingly exotic topic today. I was playfully looking into a website that deals with celebratory dates, and among others this resonated immediately with me. Because I love octopuses or octopods. And yes, that’s the plural, not octopi or […]
Across the Fence: Harvest Time
Fall does the same to me,each and every year.It makes me singand remember old poems.It makes me dance with the leavesSailing on gusts of windAnd hold my faceInto refreshing drops of rain.It makes me breathe in the fragranceOf rotting apples and decaying gardens,Of pumpkin soup,And onion tart.It makes me listen to the quiet of the […]