The Biblio Bard Blogger
A collection of poems, narratives, and other writings as penned by Erica Johnson. Teacher. Writer. Poet. Blogger. Bard.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
It's Not a Meal Plan.
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Four Father
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Haunted Springs
Despite having visited Hot Springs, Arkansas nearly once a year since I was a teenager, my visit this past weekend was the first time I ever actually went on the Haunted Tour of Hot Springs. The white two-person shed was always empty when my friend group and I would make our semi-annual day trip to Hot Springs. I can't tell you how many times I have walked past the black sign advertising tours after dark, but we never stayed until then.
That is, until, this past weekend when my best friend Katie and I decided to visit Hot Springs for her birthday and treat our selves to some spooky funtimes. Not only did we decide we would finally partake of the "Haunted Tour," but we would also stay the night in The Arlington, a hotel known for its own history of hauntings.
There were five stops on this tour and some of the locations our tour guide, Terry, talked about were actually surprising. For instance, apparently one of my favorite soap stores -- The Bathhouse -- was once a tea room and came with a particularly unnerving and grizzly murder straight out of a Criminal Minds episode (unsuspecting female victim and creepy stalker included).
We also learned that Hot Springs was where the first refrigerated morgue in the United States was located, the 1940s small pox outbreak in the South started, and the first park ranger died in the line of duty.
Unfortunately, while we did not see any ghosts or spirits on the tour, we did enjoy a short walk along Central Avenue as we were told these stories and more. Honestly, spookiness aside, that's what I truly love about ghost tours. They are actually history lessons wrapped in cobwebs and a black bow.
If you ever find yourself at a loss for something to do in a new place, might I recommend seeing if they have a ghost tour of some kind? I've only been on two, but I have yet to be disappointed by the experience.
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Three Times I Said Shit (Without Thinking)
Tuesday, September 14, 2021
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
A Mothly Encounter
As I cross the threshold back in my apartment, a yellow and brown speckled form catches my eye. I pause, foot hovering as I get a better look, and without thinking blurt: "Oh! Aren't you gorgeous?"
It's an unexpected encounter, but not an unpleasant one: a moth is sprawled out on my doormat. I will later learn that it's an imperial moth, which means in some ways I was blessed with a royal encounter.
I let my dog off his leash and turn back around, squatting over the moth's prone form. They don't move or stir. I try to be optimistic and hope they are only just tired from flying with wings so large. I find myself instead leaning towards pessimism, thinking they are probably dying.
After taking a picture, I pocket my phone and scoop them into my hand. They flutter a little, which I find reassuring, and I decide that lying on my doormat is perhaps not the safest harbor for them. I carefully carry them around the corner to one of my potted plants, depositing them to rest there.
Later, when I find them gone, I hope that it is because they were able to fly away and not because some other creature decided they would make for a tasty snack.
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Summer Series Part 4: Final List of Summer Fun
I've written about food and fun and family. As I sit on the edge of August, a week and a half into the start of school, now seems like the perfect time to write about the future -- but to do that I first have to look back.
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I love when I can have a piece of writing serve more than one purpose. This past month I have been spending much of my writing energy -- a...
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Despite a love of planning and food, I am not from a family that does meal prep. We don't have fancy calendars and lists to plot out me...
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I woke not to the sound of the storms outside, but to my dog barking. Surprising, considering just how hard the wind was blowing the rain a...