"Three Gee-Flying Free" by S.G. Benson
– “I’m Gus. Climb in; I’ll give you a ride.”
The gravitational force pushed the seat straps into my shoulders and my stomach leaped.
I couldn’t breathe.
S. G. (Sandy) Benson lives in Warne, North Carolina, where she is a member of the North Carolina Writers Network-West. Her work has appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, and she received awards from the Nebraska Press Women. She published her first book in 2021, My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia. Her second book, Dear Folks: Letters Home from World War II, 1943-1946 was released in 2024. She is working on a collection of autobiographic short stories, Girls Can’t Do That. Details at https://www.sandygbenson.com/
Author’s Talk
S.G. Benson
Journalism and forestry provide limitless opportunities for adventuring. Throughout the past half-century, I plied both careers, almost entirely in some of America’s remotest corners. Neither profession paid particularly well, but I reaped adventure in spades, and I wouldn’t trade those memories for anything.
From rounding up bison on the prairie, floating in a hot-air balloon over the desert, and dancing at a tribal pow-wow, to fighting western wildfires, homesteading deep in the north woods, and shooting rapids in the Grand Canyon, my life has never been boring.
Today, I’m retired, at least nominally. But I continue to find myself in the midst of adventure. The difference is that, at last, I have time to write about it.
I now live in the southwestern North Carolina mountains, where storytelling reigns supreme. In 2019, I naturally began with that oral tradition, sharing anecdotes at a local open mic event. Listeners wanted more, so I obliged, and then began jotting my tales in a notebook. I have collected almost enough of them to publish, so perhaps that will happen someday soon.
This particular story is a journalistic fruit, a product of my insatiable appetite for finding captivating front-page fodder for weekly newspapers. Local papers are becoming increasingly scarce these days, but where they still exist, they help residents keep a finger on the pulse of their community, and to outsiders, these publications can provide invaluable insight into local culture.
Find more information on my blog, Out on a Limb: Adventures in Storytelling.
