If you're new to Open Salon, it can be tricky navigating the waters with so many people contributing to the site.

With the diversity of talented people here, it isn't always easy to find the best or most interesting reads right away without someone else pointing you in that direction.

I recommend you start with a sampling like this:  (There are many other writers and artists and contributors of all stripes here whose works are equally worthy, and which I would also recommend.  The pieces below are only meant to be an introduction to the variety here, a jumping off point.)

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   cartouche -  This is Just the Beginning  

cartouche, a writer and visual artist whose colorful life has taken her around the world, currently lives in South Florida, where among other things she writes personal tales about a Hungarian father who survived the Holocaust, and her experiences surviving him in the context of a larger than life life.

In this piece, she writes about a mother's deteriorating mental state: 

"She had always been smarter than the average duck.  How they test ducks for intelligence, I’m not sure, but you get my point.  She was well read (Nabokov, Proust and Dostoyevsky were her favorites; Doris Lessing snuck in there for awhile).  If you hadn’t read them, you really hadn’t read at all.  When she was younger, she spoke fluent Russian and Haute Deutsch as well as her native tongue.  Her attention to detail was evidenced in everything from her home, to her splendid etiquette, the way she arranged flowers, picked a piece of furniture or a Persian rug or prepared a dinner party.  One could witness it in the way she dressed or dressed her children or addressed an envelope or a doctor." 

    Stephen McGuire -  The Totally Every Annual 1st Christian Church Potluck Picnic

Stephen McGuire, a child of Appalachia, writes folksy wisdom from that perspective, tales of the mines, and church picnics, and the importance of making, gathering and safeguarding memories.  In this piece, Stephen recalls a traditional annual church picnic, and its cast of characters: 

"If it hadn’t been for Mr. Williams million-decibel voice and his penchant for calling out sleepers, I’d have been in a coma. I had the misfortune, of course, of being thought a singer too, and so was forced to sit in my cute little burgundy choir robe along in the first three rows of the front of the church. Since I was a boy, I occupied the last of the three, and immediately behind sat the Onion-eyed Harpies, waiting for the slightest impertinence from me and/or my friends, which always resulted in a sharp rap across the top of myhead and a hissing “Tut-tut.” 

    Homer Langley - The Harvest

Homer Langley is a combat war veteran dealing with a life where post-traumatic stress disorder is a focal reality.  He does so with stunning, cutting prose, a life sharper in contrasts.  In this piece, he intertwines memories of a summer in Lewiston, Idaho, with images of a VA and the realities of being a combat veteran: 

"I reach back into the hopper and I pick a pea and put it in my teeth.  It is cool and moist.  I mash it between my teeth and suckle on it and close my eyes and lean back in the chair.  I don’t remember what I would have thought then, but I know now. " 

   Sandra Stephens - Dreaming of Home  

Sandra Stephens is a California writer who pulls minutae from the interior of life into lush, dreamy strings of consciousness.  In this short piece, she creates a dream from her mother about her estranged father, and the meaning of home:

"I wake with the word home on my lips and the sound of the phone ringing. I open my eyes and the tears that were stealthily collecting there slowly retreat to their home, which is - and has always been - the place where he lives." 

  Jeff Howe - Mountain Cabin With a Tin Roof  

Jeff Howe writes from his home in Pennsylvania, tales of a fascinating life, and essays on every whichwhat.  In this piece, Jeff tells of a special, obscure mountain cabin in Idaho that welcomes secret travellers who are willing to make the journey and leave something behind: 

"Take a look inside the cabin.  It shouldn’t be locked.  In fact, you can stay there for a night or two if you do something nice for the place.  Hanging in the back window, a small mobile of carved wood, sewing thread and the tiny porcelainous bones of long-dead rodents may still catch the late afternoon sun.  Sit on the edge of the bunk until the echoes of life have filtered from your head.  Unless it’s gone out of tune over the years hanging there in the sun, you should still be able to hear the mobile tinkle, ever so quietly, as the little wisps of Idaho mountain air force their way through the cracks in the wall." 

  Emma Peel - She's Gone

Emma Peel is a British Columbia writer and educator who writes on a tapestry of topics from a storied life.  In this piece, she mourns the loss of a close friend:

"She's gone. I found out the other night. Friends from out of town came sweeping late into a dinner party Thursday and told me. They thought I knew. First I was in shock. Then I cried. Then we drank a toast to her memory."

   bbd - Lonely Roads    

bbd is a photographer in Texas who posts fascinating photoessays from his travels and his life, tales of the open road and wildlife, tales of the city and staycations.  In this piece, he focuses on his solo road trips, and the photographs from them: 

"I'm not misanthropic, usually, but I love taking the back roads on my solo photo road trips and staying away from people. I've mentioned before that traveling on the blue highways made famous by William Least-Heat Moon is restorative and contemplative and suits my deliberative photo style." 

    Lea Lane -  Julia, James, Jacque, Sara, Claudia, Barbara, Ruth & Moi

Lea Lane is a South Florida writer whose travels and adventures have taken her around the world.  Many of her pieces are drawn from those experiences.  In this one, she tells of meeting several famous chefs in her lifetime, and completing a circle of relationships between them: 

"Cooking was a passion for many years, and I grew my own veggies and herbs in a Westchester County 20 by 20 plot. I faithfully followed Julia’s recipes and threw monthly multi-course dinner parties that took all weekend to pull off and might begin with chicken-liver mousse and end with tarte Tatin. I washed kidneys and scraped beards of mussels and braised tongues and stewed delectable red cabbage with apples, and I was defined as “a really serious cook,” which is probably why I eventually stopped. I wanted to be defined by other things."

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Once you find writers and artists you enjoy here, you'll find many more by seeing who they read, follow and favorite.  The various ratings systems on Open Salon--ratings, views and comments--and Editors Picks all reflect different aspects of the experience; while they will introduce you to interesting pieces, they do not always reflect the best writing, which sometimes goes completely undiscovered.  The contributions to the site reflect a wide range, including cartoons, photography, essays, poetry, food, travel, news, politics and current events.  

Enjoy discovering them.