This past week I had the privilege of visiting a book club as Lucy Deering, one of my characters in The Late Sooner. As an author who spends a long stretches of time in solitary, it’s a joy to get to meet readers. Lucy was my great-grandmother who went into the Oklahoma Territory with her husband, Sanford, in 1889 in the first land run. I spent over a year researching this project online poring over hand-written documents and letters at…
In over 51 years, this room has morphed from a child’s bedroom, to a sewing room, craft room to a computer room. It finally ended up as a catch-all pit. Can you tell? Now it’s time to make it a library. Recently I stumbled across some great shelves at an estate sale. With the expert help of family members, I managed to get them home. Now I had to get rid of the old computer station. Rather than hauling it…
Last year I carefully planted two thornless blackberry bushes in the back yard. This year I strung bailing wire between two metal poles to hold the growing canes. Soon tiny white blossoms set on the bushes. Before too long small blackberries appeared, as well as hungry birds. I acquired some PVC pipe from a neighbor who didn’t want her garden cover any longer. It looked a little like the hoops of a Conestoga wagon without the cover or the wheels….
On Friday and Saturday I attended the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference–only I sat in my kitchen at home in Overland Park. All the classes were held on Zoom. During one of the classes something drew my eyes from the computer screen. Four tiny birds came to my patio. I don’t know if you can see them in this picture. Perhaps you can make your screen bigger. Two smaller ones that were mostly brown rested on the back of a chair…
This is a book I didn’t plan to write. Recording my thoughts in my journal as Vic died of lung cancer, I never dreamed some of the poems would become a book. As I put words to the events swirling around me, my grief work began. When we were on our last cruise together two years ago, I captured a sunset off the coast of Maine one evening just before we went to dinner. Little did I know that night…
A couple of weeks ago I had a chance conversation a former neighbor kid, Jeff Johnson, who is now retired. He offered to pull the 51 year old bushes when he visited his mother recently. That set me in motion to do a face lift for the front of the house before hot weather makes it impossible to install a new look before fall. My two sons, Trey and Josh, along with a grandson, Lou, got to work these last…
Below is a poem I wrote about my attempt to grow strawberries. Do you have a similar tale? Strawberry Saga Ordered strawberry plants last year. Planted all thirty-six with care. Three survived. Covered them with straw before winter descended. Thrilled when leaves poked through in early spring. Blossoms emerged on old plants in abundance. Planted additional sets for next year’s bounty. Carefully surrounded them with chicken wire to protect from rabbits. Installed an electric fence to ward off squirrels….
Yesterday we celebrated Memorial Day–a day of remembrance of those who have laid down their lives for our freedom. Several years ago I wrote a poem I’ll share with you today. OLD GLORY Look to me and remember well The days gone by and those who fell, Giving their lives for freedom’s sake Knowing their sacrifice was no mistake. Look to me and remember the present. Pray for each and every resident Who lives in this great land of ours…
In digging through my old books I ran across Rees Howells Intercessor by Norman Grubb. I hadn’t read it in over forty years so I decided to give it another reading. It’s about a Welsh coal miner in the first half of the 20th century who gave himself to the Lord without reservation. He lived a life touching many from Wales to Africa, to untold thousands around the world. In his later life he established a Christian college in Wales and…
Our lives have taken unexpected turns since the shutdown from Covid 19. We no longer worship together–we worship online, perhaps for most of the summer. Friends can’t gather without social distancing. Bible studies, critique groups, and other meetings are conducted on Zoom. Shops that open require face masks and six-foot separations. All the conferences and speaking engagements on my calendar have a red mark through them. I happened to discover a real live writer’s conference that will be held from Kentucky…