Match the Mother/Daughter Game

7 May

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Onisha

We wanted to do something special for Mother’s Day this year. With five bloggers we each have different thoughts so I decided we would do a “collage” blog post. Each of us contributing in our own way, some as a memory, others a poem. As for me, I am a last-minute blogger so I have no clue. We are also planning a Match the Mother/Daughter game. Those who get them all correct will be put into a drawing for a FREE  digital copy of one of Rebekah Lyn’s Amazon best-selling books. I think I may be able to persuade DiVoran to donate one too.

See you on Sunday!

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A Handwritten Note

6 May

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Photo by Melody Hendrix

Photo by Melody Hendrix

When I was younger, I decided not to fall into the trap so many older people live in, with several dates a month marked for the purpose of going to the doctor. However, you know what Robert Burns said, “The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft aglay.” Last week I visited three doctors with a member of the family in two days and this week, for various reasons I will have been in waiting rooms every day except Monday and Wednesday (twice on Thursday).

I get tired of passive things like reading, listening to audio stories, watching TV. (I never do that anyway), but I don’t knit or crochet, so I’m coming up with a new plan. I will take a small packet of paper; pens, maybe watercolor crayons and either write notes or draw a bit.

Emails are a big thing now, but writing notes and letters on paper has been part of my life since I was a child and I still get the urge to do it when I’m waiting. Mother and I wrote to each other every week. I still have all her letters and she kept mine up to her last days. When I was twelve and moved away, my best friend and I wrote each other every day. Recently, we wrote our schooldays memoirs together, but that was by computer. Out of habit, I hurry to the mailbox every day expecting something, but usually it contains only commercial mail, so I take that in, sort it out, and throw most of it away.

On my last run to the SPCA store, I got a thin book that reminds me of Alexander Stoddard’s beautiful, Gift of a Letter. It’s called, The Art of the Handwritten Note, this one by Margaret Shepherd.

Realizing how happy it made me to read another book about the subject, I realized I missed writing and receiving handwritten notes more than I knew and decided there was no reason not to take it up again.

Ms. Shepherd says, “Writing by hand makes you look good on paper and feel good inside. Even an ordinary handwritten note is better than the best email, and a good handwritten note on the right occasion is a work of art.”

One thing I’ve always loved about notes is that you can save them and re-read them. I know you can do that with emails, and I do have a file, but for some reason, once they’re out of sight, I never take the time to look at them.

“Art Has Always Survived Technology,” says Margaret Shepherd. I agree. It takes about a minute to write a note, so I’ve put a small pad of paper in my purse and some cards in the door pocket of my car. Last Tuesday I wrote a note to my son, (who, because he lives in another town, always sends a handwritten note on birthdays and mother’s days) and one to our pastor’s wife who did my family a big favor. She is also a card-sender and note writer, so it was a pleasure.

Don’t get me wrong I like to get emails, and I enjoy writing them. It isn’t one or the other, for me, but both. It’s something I’ve missed for many years. Are you missing it too?

Handwritten note copy

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BACK TO COLLEGE

5 May

SUNDAY MEMORIES

 Judy Wills

Judy

                                                     

I’ve got to tell you – I really wasn’t a very good student in school.  Yeah, I graduated from high school – by the skin of my teeth.  And then I went on to college at Eastern New Mexico University in the tiny town of Portales.

1It was only 18 miles from the west Texas border, so there were a lot of kids from Texas, with their twang, that joined us there.   One of my best friends was my roommate, so that wasn’t too bad.  And I already knew some of the kids from Christian conventions over the years.

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 But………..Fred wasn’t there!!  He was back – four hours away – in Albuquerque!  But, because we were so far apart, I concentrated on my studies – and did surprisingly well.

Then, because Fred was SO FAR AWAY….I decided to transfer back to Albuquerque and the University of New Mexico (UNM).  Big mistake!  Too much Fred………not enough studying!!  And I eventually – after two semesters – managed to flunk out of college.

 

 

 

 

 

LARGE CAT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I went to work – worked for the government (Civil Service).  Then we married and moved to Fort Worth, Texas, for Fred to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.  I took a few of the night classes there, and did fairly well, but my heart really wasn’t in studying.

Fast forward 10 or so years.  Fred is in the Air Force.  We are stationed in Panama City, Florida (Tyndall AFB).  At one point, while we were updating our insurance policy, it occurred to me that – if something should happen to Fred, I had no way of providing for our girls and myself.  So I began to think on it.  I had never thought I could be a teacher.  There was NO WAY I could teach math and science and social studies…and….and…. all the other things a teacher has to do.  Along came Christmas, and the girl’s elementary school was preparing for a Christmas program.  The music teacher needed someone to play for it, and she asked me to do it.  As I was rehearsing with them, it occurred to me that – that’s all she did!!  Teach music!  I could do that!!

So I inquired at the local community college.  I spoke with the Vice-President, who was a member of our church and a friend.  He informed me that their “better” students were their older students.  Daddy wasn’t paying for it – and they really wanted that education.

So, with that encouragement in hand, I enrolled.  I told NO ONE what I was doing – until after my first exams.  When I made a 98 and 100 on the first two, I decided I wasn’t such a dummy after all!  And Karen and I – at one point – had a running contest to see who could make the most A’s that semester!  (I won, but she got the prize anyway)

I eventually earned my A.A. degree from there with straight A’s.  I am quite proud of that fact.  I never really did much with that music degree, but it proved to myself that I could do just about anything I set my mind to.But the best part of that experience was the music program I was in.  It was required that all music students be in the Singers – the college chorus.  And while that was fun, I also tried out for the hand-picked Ensemble (eight members) – and was chosen to be in it!

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Remember now – I was 35 years old – old enough to be a parent to most of these kids!  But we had a good sound together, and they treated me like I was 18 again!  They called me “Mom.”  When the Spring (final) concert came, I told Fred to bring the girls for the concert, then take them home.  The Ensemble was going to party – and I was invited to party with them!  And so I did.

What a memory!

The Further Adventures of a Twitterpated Journey through Social Media by Mary C. Findley

4 May

My twitter and FB friend, Mary C Findley shared her experiences using Twitter for maketing. I thought it would be fun to share it with my non-Twitter user friends.

FINDLEY FAMILY VIDEO

birds tweeting

Quite awhile back I posted a blog about my beginning to use Twitter to help promote our books. I am still struggling with writing tweets, and I know many others are, so I wanted to share a few “epiphanies” that have come to me in my struggles. Yes, you have to keep struggling, because Twitter works.

Don’t let people tell you everybody hates sales tweets on Twitter. Twitter is becoming the new site for journalism,  news, and all kinds of media. It’s not just “I’m bored at school” and “that guy is so cute” anymore. It’s full of Bible study fans, current events fans, fiction fans, homeschoolers, and people interested in every subject you could think of to write about.  And don’t let people tell you that you should never follow other authors. People looking at Twitter look for interesting stuff. Readers are looking for writers. I can’t come to any…

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Our Trip to Italy~Part 9

1 May

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites  

Bill

                                                                 

On Wednesday, DiVoran and I walked into Mogliano Veneto so she could see the small part of the town we were staying in close up, and pick up some fresh fruit for our train trip to Rome the next day.  We had a lovely time visiting the many shops and the open-air town market.  We stayed around the apartment most of the rest of the day, visiting the furniture shop down stairs, packing our suitcases and resting.  After work, Marcia took us to Mestre, which is located on the mainland across the Lagoon from Venice to show us the many sights of that interesting city.

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According to legends, Mestre was founded by Mesthles, a companion of the mythical hero Antenor, a fugitive from Troy who founded Padua. The true origins of the city are uncertain, although it is known that a Roman fortress that existed there was destroyed by Attila the Hun sometime in the 5th century, and rebuilt later around the 10th century.  In 1152, a papal bull by Pope Eugene III recognized the Bishop of Treviso as lord of Mestre, citing the existence of the church of St. Lawrence.

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The city had many lovely stores and shops, but since we were expected to meet  Marcia’s friend Erkia for dinner, we restricted our site-seeing visit the Clock Tower in Piazza Ferretto, and the 17th century Cathedral of St. Lawrence.

3  In a country that is widely known for its vast number of breathtaking and awe-inspiring cathedrals, this is one of the most beautiful in northern Italy.

After all that walking around Mestre, we were ready for some good Italian food, and Marcia took us to the Da Roberta’s Ristorante, which was one of her favorites.  She was right, the food was outstanding, and our last visit with Marcia and Erkia was memorable.

The next morning, after breakfast, Marcia and Erika took us to the train station and it was “arrivederci” to our truly grand friends for a wonderful guided tour to some of northern Italy’s most beautiful cities.  It was hard to believe our visit to Italy was almost over.  Our 1st class train trip to Rome took us 5 hours.  Lunch on the train was nothing special, but a new and different experience.  We had stops at Padua, Bologna and Florence before arriving at the Italian capital.

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After leaving Florence, our route took us through some of the most beautiful countryside with castles, ancient arched bridges and through at least 30 tunnels (the longest being 23km). 5 Here again, the train trip gave us time to study up on the location of our lodgings and some of the points of interest we planned to visit in Rome.

At the train station information booth, it was suggested that we NOT take the inexpensive 30-minute bus ride to the Vatican area, as the buses were always very crowded and a favorite haunt of the local pickpockets.  So, we took a 10-minute “life changing” taxi ride through the city to the doorstep of the German-Italian convent where we had reservations7

The accommodations at the Suore Missionarie Pallottine convent were very clean, sparse and quiet.  After a brief rest, we headed out to see some of the sights within walking distance.   It was UP a steep hill and DOWN a steep street from the convent to get to the main avenue where we enjoyed some window shopping, and roast chicken at the Pinelli Pizzaria-Toyola Calda.  By the time we made it back to the convent, we were ready for a shower and some sack time.

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—–To Be Continued—–

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Meet the Author: DiVoran Lites

29 Apr

Hope you all enjoy this interview of DiVoran. Be sure to leave a comment or a like on Cinta’s blog.

Authors You Want to Read

DiVoran with sketchbook at Chain of Lakes

1.   Describe yourself.

My name is DiVoran Lites. I’m a mother of grown children and the grandmother of a college age young man and a young woman. I’ve been reading avidly and writing since I was a child and now I have two books published in my Florida Springs Trilogy: Sacred Spring and Living Spring.

2.    What is your favourite fruit flavour?

My favorite fruit flavor is orange, good thing I live in Florida, eh?

3.   What is your favourite day of the week?

I’ve had so much fun and adventure on Saturdays that now it is automatically my favorite day of the week whether I’m at home or out on an adventure.

4. Which is your favourite time of the day?

  Mornings are the best time of day for me. I go to bed early and get up when the birds start their songs…

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Announcing…..Living Spring

29 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Photo by Melodie Hendrix

Photo by Melodie Hendrix

My neighbor came over yesterday to return something. Since I was about to get in the car, we stood in the driveway for a minute to talk. She had finished reading my newest book in the Florida Springs Trilogy, Living Spring wanted to tell me how much she liked it. She said what she said when she read the first book, Sacred Spring. “Living Spring is a wonderful book, it kept my interest the whole way through, when is the next one coming out?” This is a smart and successful person and not one who is inclined to flatter or gush. I was pleased with her report.. Truly all my readers are intelligent and discerning. I’m so glad they like my novels.

I’ll tell you a teensy secret, though perhaps I shouldn’t…I was a tad worried about my new baby, Living Spring. Even though I love the characters, the setting, and the plot, I wasn’t quite ready to turn loose of it for publication.

When I told Onisha what I’ve told you, she said, “Your niggling feeling about turning loose of it may mean, Living Spring is one of your best books.” Now, I understand that it was because I would miss working on Living Spring that I didn’t want to let go of it. Now, I’m on to Clear Spring, the third book in the trilogy, so all is well.

When Bill, Billy (our son) and I were having lunch at Tibby’s New Orleans style restaurant in Winter Park, I told our son about my doubts and how they have been overcome by good reports. He who is the father of two perfect (to me) college age kids, said, “Is Living Spring better than Sacred Spring?”

My answer was: “I don’t really want to know or think about that.”

”Why?” says he. Why has been his favorite word since he learned to talk. He’s a biologist now and since he has the inside scoop on nature, he is my chief source for questions about plants, animals, land, and water. We have a lot of lovely scenes and encounters in our Florida Spring trilogy, along with real love stories and a bit of suspense.

How do I explain to our inquisitive son that I don’t want to compare the two books? Aha, I ask him this: “Is your daughter better than your son or your son better than your daughter?”

“I see what you mean,” says he. “But it’s not the same thing, your books aren’t your children.”

“Oh, yes they are,” his father and I say in unison. “Or anyway they’re the next best thing.”

What do you, blog reader and friend have to say about all this? I hope you’ll say with the neighbor, “It was wonderful, it held my interest all the way through, when is the next one coming out?” I can’t ask for more than that.

Sacred Spring is available exclusively from Amazon right now, for Kindle or in paperback, but that will soon change and you’ll be able to get it, as you now can now get, Living Spring, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Smashwords. In case you don’t know what Smashwords is, it’s an eReader service that can sell you the books in any format to fit any eReader or device.

Please buy Sacred Spring, and Living Spring in whichever format you prefer and let us know what you think on our blog comments or my Face Book page. We’ll soon have a website up and running, too, for Rebekah Lyn Books, a new Christian publisher who will take the world by storm. Her first book is Summer Storms, and she has two more after that. Look her up, you’ll like her.

In Living Spring, Jean Schaefer, sister of Hank, has suffered from overwhelming anxiety for the past four years due to the death of their parents and an entanglement with her child’s father which ended in a shocking rejection. She contracts for an original settler’s house in the woods near, “Living Spring,” hoping to use the renovation process as therapy. She must now learn to live in new ways and begin to allow people into her life again. As the history of the old house, along with elements of her own past begin to surface, Jean finds herself fighting inner battles she thought she had buried forever.

Living Spring

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Father Daughter Action Plan

28 Apr

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

 JUDY

Father Daughter Action Plan 

That title in the Thursday newspaper reminded me of a time that our family enjoyed quite a bit.Back in the mid 1970’s, we were living on an AF Base and, because Fred was an officer, were required to be members of the Officer’s Club.  So, for the dues we had to pay for that pleasure, we thought to have a meal there at least once each month.  However, the food was less than great.

 While we were there, the club began giving out a “chit” for a free meal each month when they sent the bill, to encourage more attendance at their facility.

Well, we didn’t want to waste the “free” meal, even though we really didn’t enjoy eating there that much. But then a plan occurred to me – how about a Date Night between Father and Daughter?  Neither of the girls really had a lot of just “Daddy” time, so I thought this might be a good way for them to have some quality time with Daddy, and be treated like a lady should be treated by a gentleman.  And Fred is definitely a gentleman.  His momma taught him well!

So the plan went into action.  One supper evening each month, one of our daughters would get dressed to the nines, and would go to the O’ Club with Daddy.  He would help her into the car, pull out/push in her chair at the table, and they would just visit with each other while they ate.

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The next month, the other daughter would get dressed to the nines, and go to the O’ Club with Daddy.  And she would be treated like a lady by a gentleman.

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The girls loved it – they still say it is one of their fondest memories.  They would usually wear a long dress, get their hair fixed “just so,” possibly wear a “touch” of makeup, and be on their best behavior.   So each daughter had her quality time with Daddy, and Daddy got to know his girls a bit better.  Fun for all.

The remaining daughter and I would have hamburgers.

 

As a footnote to this:  when I told a good friend about this plan, she harumphed and said she would have to teach her husband to be a gentleman first!

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My Brain is Twisted Spaghetti

27 Apr

On  the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Onisha

I’m pretty sure I am driving a very dear friend crazy. You see, she made the mistake of offering to help me create a website. To begin with she told me where to purchase a domain and secure a host server. After I had accomplished step one, she patiently led me through choosing a WordPress theme, then loaded it onto the server. Easy, I thought I can do this. Next she told me to begin loading content. Whaaat? How does one load content into a blank website? I am comfortable with a blog. All I have to do is write my thoughts and publish. Content it seems is way more complicated. Without having a clue, I began creating pages and adding links. My confidence began to build then she asked me to provide pictures in a custom size for the slider. I think she mentioned other pictures too but my mind totally blanked out.  So did my friend. Her last email stated she would be hiding, I mean relaxing in the woods without Internet or phone for the whole weekend. Did I mention she lives up North?

So, I am reaching out to our blog readers with questions. Why do they call widgets, widgets? Why aren’t widgets more specific? I need one that says “want a badge, paste it here.” Why won’t my categories parent? How do I remove the book covers on the right side of my landing page? How do I get those nice Amazon buttons and how do I become an Amazon affiliate and do I paste that somewhere?

I have been reading a great deal about content for websites and they all agree a website needs a great call to action so I am practicing on our readers. Here’s my call to action- anyone want to be my website tutor?

 

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Window Wonders

26 Apr

From the Heart

Louise Gibson

                                              My kitchen has always been a busy place
                                              that occupies my days.
                                              It welcomes family and friends alike
                                              And serves in many ways.
                                              It has a picture window
                                              where I often stand to view
                                              the fascinations of nature
                                              while cooking, perhaps, a stew.
                                              I wonder why the Blue Jay
                                              defies the danger of its play,
                                              as he swoops down on the patio
                                               to the cat’s bowl everyday.
                                              I put bird seed in the feeder
                                              so safe up in the tree,
                                              Why he prefers the cat food
                                              is a mystery to me.
                                              And the scrawny little Hibiscus tree
                                              was an epic in the making-
                                               Oft filled with buds that never bloomed
                                              My attention I was forsaking.
                                              As I poured my morning coffee one day,
                                              I glanced, as I always do
                                              to see what nature had in store for me,
                                              my senses to renew.
                                              “Oh, Lord, I can’t believe my eyes.
                                               Is that really a flower I see?
                                               What glorious color, and, oh so proud
                                               is that small Hibiscus tree.
                                               Frost warnings came on the news all day-
                                               “Protect your plants” the newscasters say.
                                               So I spread the mulch over the roots of young trees,
                                                praying, “Keep them all safe, dear Lord, please”.
                                                As I approached the small Hibiscus tree reality set in.
                                                It”s leaves were dry and curled up,
                                                much to my chagrin.
                                                The tree was supported by a tall green stick,
                                                tied with a plastic band
                                                As I reached to straighten the little tree
                                                it broke off in my hand.
                                                The beautiful flower was its Swan Song
                                                It must have known its fate.
                                                It rewarded my window wonder
                                                before it was too late.

 

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