Stu Jenks' Fezziwig Press

"Cradle Rock Kaleidoscope, Arizona"

"Cradle Rock Kaleidoscope, Arizona" (c) 2013 Stu Jenks

Three images from Council Rocks...

From top to bottom: "Lizard Man", "Boo Says The Ancient Mogollon Indian Mortar", and "Council Rocks Kaleidoscope". All (c) Stu Jenks, 2013

Peter and Chartreuse's Kaleidoscopes

"Peter's Kaleidoscope" (c) 2013 Stu Jenks

 

 

"Chartreuse's Kaleidoscope" (c) 2012 Stu Jenks

 

"Adams Street Rooftop Kaleidoscope"

"Adams Street Rooftop Kaleidoscope" (c) 2013 Stu Jenks

Images from the Saum family Bible...

Images from the Saum family Bible: (c) 1882 Holman's Edition and 2013 Stu Jenks

(From top to bottom: "Mary Magdalene at St. John" [My title, not Holman's], "Jesus Healing The Lunatic", "Arrival Of The Good Sameritan At The Inn", "Return Of The Prodigal Son", and "Daniel Interpretating The Handwriting On The Wall".

"...cloudless as a summer day..."

"May your life be as cloudless as a summer day. Your friend, Maud Wright. January 24th, 1884."

I inherited the Saum family Bible after my sister and mother died 18 months ago. I haven't given it much thought, but in the writing of my new novel, Step Zero 2.0, I have good and bad Christians and I need a good King James Bible for research. So off to the musty storage locker I went.

What I found was an beautiful ancient book with the deaths, births and marriages of my mother's side of the family, from the 1860's to a couple decades ago. I had no idea those records were still in the book. I thought those pages had been missing for years. Instead, they were nestled between the Old and New Testament. I filled in the death dates that have occurred in the last few years that I knew: an uncle, an aunt, a father, a mother, a sister. Some questions were answered about my ancestors yet more questions arose, like the twins by Aunt Nan who died in 1941 after having lived only one day. No one's ever talked about those baby's deaths.

The Bible seemed to have been purchased by the great great grand parents after the birth of their second child in 1884. Thumbing through this huge tome I found the above note. I have no idea who Maud Wright was, but my best guess is she was a good friend of the Saums.

"May your life be as cloudless as a summer day," she wrote to her friends. I'm struck not only by the beautiful handwriting but mostly the lovely sentiment.

So did Earl and Nannie Saum have a cloudless life? Doubtful, even though they were wealthy landownders in Northern Virginia. They had sicknesses and successes, failures and weaknesses, births and deaths, most of the fine details lost in Time.

But the kind thought of a friend wishing them calm and peace lives on, in my hands, in my family bible, 129 years later, almost to the day.

I can only hope that a century from now, someone finds a handwritten note from me, wishing a friend love and light. I best get started.

"New Year's Day Surfers"

"New Year's Day Surfers, Rockaway Beach, California" (c) 2013 Stu Jenks

"Winter Skies"

"Winter Skies, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona" (c) 2013 Stu Jenks

"Easter, 1956, Virginia."

"Easter, 1956, Richmond, Virginia" (c) 2013 Stuart Jenks, Sr., and Jr.

Me at 16 months. Nice photo, Dad. Nice bunny too.

"Cradle Rock Panoramic, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona"

"Cradle Rock Panoramic, Dragoon Mountains, Arizona" (c) 2013 Stu Jenks