Tag Archives: #amwriting

No More Pizza Please

5 Sep

 

A Slice of Life

Bill Lites

My parents had many hopes and dreams for my sister and me, and tried to give us every advantage they could, so we could realize those dreams.  One way they tried to help me, was to set aside a small scholarship fund when I was born, to help pay for my college education (their dream for me).

I had always wanted to be a mechanic.  My plan was to send money home to my wife every month while I was in the Navy so we would have enough saved to last until she and I were able to find jobs after I got out.  She was a licensed beautician in New Mexico and I planned to work part-time while I went to school.

After I got out of the Navy, my wife and I moved to Inglewood, California for me to go to Aviation Mechanic School.  The problem was, I didn’t really know how the job market worked, so, when I talked to the  school registrar, he convinced me that I didn’t really want to be a mechanic, but an engineer.  Looking back on it, I’m sure he got extra points for every person he signed up for the three-year engineering course over the one-year mechanics course.

When I insisted I wanted to be a mechanic, he said, “Well, okay, we have the perfect course for you, it will give you a Mechanical Engineering degree and an Aviation Mechanics license”. I think I bought into that mainly because he told me how much more money I would be making as an engineer and, it would also make my parents happy,

All of that was great, but the next class startup for that course was two months away, so we started looking for work.  That’s when we discovered that my wife’s New Mexico license wouldn’t be accepted in California and she would have to take the California State test.  We lived it up while the money lasted, but then things started getting really tight.  We had to stop driving the car and go everywhere we could on my 1955 Harley Davidson motorcycle.

Finally, in desperation, a friend got us both a job packing Christmas cards, which barely paid for our rent and gas.  We were too proud to ask our parents for help, because I guess we wanted to prove to them that we were adults and could make it on our own.  There was one week during that time we were lucky the motorcycle had a full tank of gas and we didn’t have to buy any food, because I walked around all week with just one nickel in my pocket until we were paid.

At  Halloween we were told the neighborhood kids did bad “tricks” to houses and cars if they didn’t  get lots of “treats”.  We didn’t have money to buy any treats, so we rolled my motorcycle into the living room of the tiny apartment we were renting, and took the car to the drive-in movie.  Of course, we didn’t have enough money for both of us, so my wife got in the trunk.  Boy, what kids will sometimes do to avoid confrontation.

Well, somehow our parents realized we were in bad financial straits, and each family sent us a “Care Package” consisting of four boxes of Appian Way Pizza.  Those packages got to us just in the nick of time, as we had just celebrated Thanksgiving with a plate of pinto beans, no seasoning of any kind except salt.  We really enjoyed that pizza for the first week or so (two or three times a day) but then it started getting really tiresome.  We still have the “Special Offer” pizza pan that we got with all those Appian Way Pizza box tops.

Somehow, we survived until my wife’s California Beautician’s license came through, and she got a job. After that, our immediate problems were over, but that’s not to say we didn’t have a lot more life changing encounters over the eight years we spent in Inglewood, California.

Scripture: Philippians 4:19 (The Message)

 

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Yikes!

23 Aug

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

Yikes! It is 10pm and I have nothing to blog about. Well, of course I have thoughts but they haven’t gelled yet. Last week I canned peaches and this week I canned vegetable soup and apple sauce. I think I may have put all my creativity into Mason jars. I think I should get a pass this week because, are you ready……….Friday is my birthday and it’s a BIG one. I am not telling which big one, but trust me, it’s big. In fact it is so big, I am leaving town. We are heading to Atlanta to pick up our daughter then it’s two days of shopping and dining out. If that doesn’t make a gal feel better about her birthday, I don’t know what will.

While I am busy celebrating and eating Chinese food, yes Chinese for my birthday, why don’t you mull this question and leave me your thoughts, who destroyed truth, the person/organization that lied or you and I , the people who are too lazy or intimidated to call out the person/organization? Why is truth important to you?

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Summer Exploring

26 Jul

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

This summer it has been an absolute joy to spend time with our grandchildren, taking them to many of the places we explored with our own kids.  Yesterday, though we went on a new adventure, and took the grandchildren to Black Rock Mountain State Park in Georgia. We have passed the entrance hundreds of times on our way to Florida and on our way to Wal-Mart. Years ago we tried to visit the park but the road was too steep for our van and we didn’t make it to the top. The park is less than twenty miles from our mountain home and we have missed out on it for years. After that failed first attempt we overlooked it because it is practically in town and the signs were so familiar we just tuned it out.

Our first stop in the park was the visitor information center to get a park pass. Outside the building is an overlook and like all mountain overlooks, the scene was beautiful, but what made it really cool for the kids was they could see Wal-Mart.

We had a great time exploring the park, grilling hot dogs and we even saw a baby bear, the first bear sighting for our grandchildren.  After leaving the park we went to Wal-Mart. Our grandson was fascinated to be able to locate the park while standing in the parking lot. You see, for years he had seen that rough brown spot on the side of the mountain but thought it was just construction. How many opportunities and relationships do we overlook because the first time we tried was too hard or we just weren’t seeing what was there all the time?

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The Robin Diaries-Part Five

21 Jul

I am always thrilled with God’s timing. Patricia originally wrote the following paragraph  to close today’s post but in light of the tragedy in Colorado, I made an editorial decision to move it up and use it as an intro-Onisha

“With all the turmoil going on in the world, it is very refreshing for me to block it all out and concentrate on the simple, normal life of mother nature and her little critters. I am glad to know that I am not the only one. I know you enjoy it too, and my friend that was here this weekend actually set up a movie camera one year and took a movie of robins nesting in her yard. She let it run until the birds were gone.”

Speak Up Saturday

Patricia Franklin

After all the commotion yesterday, things have settled down today. We had a nice rain last night and I was out pulling weeds from my little garden today – about 10 feet away from the nest. The robins do not care. Neither are they bothered by any of the doves or other birds. In fact, they will get down on the grass and eat with the doves. The blackbirds are a different matter. They chase them away. The robin was loudly tweeting a warning last night, so I went out to see what was happening. Both robins were trying to chase a blackbird away. He finally landed on the fence, but would not leave, so I decided to offer my services and went out and chased him out of the yard.

Somewhere I heard that robins hear the movement of earthworms and that is how they find them. I don’t know if that is true, but I know they have good eyesight. Frank replaced a sprinkler yesterday and we had to dig up a lot of the grass. Any earthworms that I found, I tossed in the grass near the lilac bush. But, I found a huge cutworm and did not want it to get back in the grass, so I just put it on the edge of the patio where I was digging. I stopped working, went in and got a drink of water. Out the window, I saw a flutter of wings, and ran back out to discover the cutworm was gone, just like that.

Earthworms are a good example of soil-dwelling...

Earthworms are a good example of soil-dwelling detritivores (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now as I am awaiting the robin family to appear in public, I have a ring necked dove who tried twice to put a nest on a bare limb, above the picnic table. Twice it blew away. Today when I went out, she had completed her nest and is now sitting on it. It is not much of a nest, but I will be watching her as well now. I don’t see how she can have room for an egg, let alone a baby bird, but we will see.

Robin nest

Robin nest (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life–a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

Romans 5:20 The Message Bible

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Mis-adventures Are Fun Too

19 Jul

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

We have been enjoying the summer exploring with the grandchildren. Two weeks ago we visited the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We had planned some short walks and a picnic at Collins Creek picnic area. The weather decided to change our plans but we were able to grill our hotdogs under a wonderful pavilion at Collins Creek.

This week we were on a waterfall hunt in Clayton, Georgia. Due to bad directions and an over-full ford, we didn’t find the waterfalls but we did discover a great picnic area, Warwoman Dell.  Warwoman has two amazing picnic pavilions, one with a large fireplace the other with a central fireplace with four grilling stations.  We ended our day with the grandchildren wading in the Chattooga River located on the South Carolina-Georgia border.

Uh-oh should have driven the truck.

Love the fireplace. Looks like a great place for a Fall picnic

Wading on the Chatooga

Neither of our days went as we planned but we had a great time. Sometimes those rainy day picnics and mis-adventures create memories that are remembered far longer than perfect days.

How about you, do you let the weather or bad directions keep you from having a good time?

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Dirt

28 Jun

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

 

In mid May we planted our second garden here is the hills. Last year we grew tomatoes, green peppers, cucumber and herbs. We missed out on most of the harvest due to an unexpected extended vacation. This year we ventured out to add string beans, garlic, squash, red and yellow peppers and added more herbs.

They are all looking great. The string beans are loaded with blooms and have tiny beans. The cucumbers and squash are loaded with bright yellow flowers and the herbs scent the garden. I picked my first tomato this week. It is named Early Girl and she lived up to her name. To me there is nothing any tastier than a fresh sliced tomato, mayo and a dash of salt all on  freshly toasted bread.

Today, as I wielded my hoe, pulling dirt to the green beans, a pleasant hum ran through my heart. I come from farmer stock and it was almost like I could see my ancestors smiles, heads nodding in approval. Do gardeners still pull dirt to the roots of their plants these days? I have no idea but that is what my parents and now that I am gardening, I’m doing it too. 

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Laughing My Head Off

24 Jun

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I just finished laughing my head off. Rebekah and I were talking about how leaving the reader   hanging is a good business plan.  Her new release, “Julianne”, unlike “Summer Storms” ties up all the   loose ends, but so many of her beta readers want to know more about Peter the painter. I would like to see him have his own book. Her response is what left me laughing.

“I can’t believe how many people like Peter. I really just threw him into the book as filler, I thought when I was writing him that it was the worst writing I had ever done. I actually wrote him when I was on the ship’s verandah and you said I was sleep writing.”

 

I continued to laugh at how befuddled she was with Peter’s popularity.

“Really, I need to know what people find so appealing in him.

I tried to explain why I found him interesting but she still didn’t get it. The whole conversation confirmed to me that I was right and my English teachers were wrong. (Take THAT Mrs. Fritch) I had many arguments with them about what Hemingway or Steinbeck meant in their books or what a poet was trying to say. They were dead, how did the teacher KNOW my thoughts weren’t correct. I surmise a lot of authors would be like Rebekah and shocked at reader’s take on their work.

So what about you? Do you have a character that demands to step out of the background and have it’s own story?

“Julianne” by Rebekah Lyn is available on Kindle  and paperback at Amazon.com

“Sumer Storms is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for eBook  and paperback. Also available at www.bzhercules.com

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Touching Heaven

7 May

My Take

DiVoran Lites

We have a friend who calls himself a hedonist. I think that means pleasure seeker. I suppose I must be one too. It’s certainly a pleasure in the afternoon after my nap to brew a cup of coffee (with dark chocolate powder added), cut a California navel into triangular slices and take a book to the back porch to read.

Spring days are so fantastic. When I finished my refreshments, I put my book down to just sit and be for a while. Almost immediately, I became aware of what was going on around me. Everything I heard and saw seemed sharp and clear.

I heard:

hammering as if someone were putting on a new roof.

a rooster crowing

an airplane humming over,

our calico cat chattering at a green anole lizard on the screen

a cardinal too-too-tooted his spring song.

Then the AC came on and I couldn’t hear anything else. Civilization encroaching, thank the Lord for it!

As I looked around the yard, I saw:

yellow, orange and purple flowers, swaying against the fence

dried weeds on the other side that looked like fluffy ostrich feathers,

a brand new sunflower seeking the sun,

Close up I spied a:

pothos growing in a pot

cat in a basket

Chinese Tallow tree, with Florida ferns growing under it,

green garden wagon with balloon tires (one is flat),

stool made from an overturned porcelain pot with a red rubber stepping stone for a seat.

Closer yet:

I touched the binoculars,

picked up the napkin basket,

fingered the salt shaker,

smelled the orange peels on a small white plate,

moved the driftwood I use for a book prop,

and smoothed my hand over the slick cover of the large print book.

Does all that make me a hedonist? See how self-indulgent I am? I not only took the time to jot all that down, I enticed you to take the time to read it too, (I hope). If yes, thank you. Your company pleases me very much.

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