Tag Archives: writing

Celebrate and Change with Me!

Posted on by
Reply

Or: Half-Way Mark for 365 Days of Kindness Blogs
Today marks the 182nd post or the half-way mark of my endeavor to enlighten, entertain, and encourage people to keep on living life to the fullest and doing great things. Although there were a few days and weeks where I skipped posting, negating the promise to write every day, I must humbly admit that that was me being me, promising something that is often a huge grand gesture, yet, like life, is hard to deliver. But I am persevering through all the ups and downs of my life with everyone else, and continuing to do my part the best way I know how. So it may take more than a few days after that original 365-day mark (November 2024), but I hope you keep reading and sending out good vibes, love and happiness after my messages come to you unbidden.

Re-reading The Monkey Wrench Gang once again helps me understand how the cyclical thoughts on progress got us where we are today. We want convenience to get to places where we shouldn’t be going. And the big money corporations and their CEOs want to continue to get richer so they pretend that they are doing things for the public (destroying the western lands, like building roads and dams, drilling, mining, fracking, ad nauseum) making life better for us, more convenient for us, all the while hurting the earth and the environment and all of us who live in it. After all, the ads always paint a rosy picture, right? And of course we should believe those, right?

Seldom Seen Smith was right: “The river, the canyon, the desert world was always changing, from moment to moment, from miracle to miracle, within the firm reality of mother earth. River, rock, sun, blood, hunger, wings, joy—this is the real….All the rest is androgynous theosophy. All the rest is transcendental transvestite transactional scientology or whatever the fad of the day, the vogue of the week.” [Abbey, Edward. The Monkey Wrench Gang (p. 61). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition.]

We all want the adventures from our past but in a more convenient, easier way. After all, we are getting older and can’t do those hikes like we used to. We embrace those conveniences at the detriment of those beautiful areas. But we also deny how much our climate is changing and what havoc is wreaked upon all of us. Perhaps it is just too big a problem not one for immediate resolution and that breaks us. So many of us ignore what is happening, and yet many of us are stepping up to the task. We know we can’t fix everything, but we are trying to do the best we can in our smaller environments. Every day I am thankful for all of my adventures in my younger years and what I saw. But I am also thankful for the new inventions in gear, such as better equipment, less plastic, and better shoes and backpacks for the young ones to take those adventures. We can’t give up on the new inventions, yet we have to come up with solutions to stop destroying the land for profit.

Monkey wrenching in the oldest of ideologies doesn’t work the way we think it should. Perhaps we should think of new ways to change progress, maybe purchasing lands (including the mineral rights, if possible) to protect them from the marauders. Smarter people than me are making this happen in many states. It is my hope that this way of thinking will be the new tool to protect our children and grandchildren in the future.

So my thoughts for today are these: Keep picking up trash and plastics no matter where you are and recycle, reuse, etc. You know the drill. Stop using plastics in your home. Go electric or maybe hybrid in your vehicles (I know I am in a few years!) Eat less beef (I love it and I know we are in beef country, but come on!) And grow some wonderful food items in your gardens to feed your family and others!) Stop listening to advertisements. If we can start these practices, thinking before doing, and making changes in our lives, the movement will grow and change will happen.

Keep writing your congressmen to stop granting rights to those in big oil and gas, big mining, big, well everything. Ask your congressmen to stop taking money from these corporations in order to stay in office. I know that is a hard one and many people don’t think like me, but that’s the only way we are going to stop it. Support those who support us. I know we won’t change everything, and I know we’ve heard it before, but we can keep the conversation going. At least our tiny piece of the world will be cleaner. Thank you for listening and I look forward to better times!

Love to all tonight.

Who Will Be There for You?

Posted on by
Reply

I have been contemplating how I want to be remembered and who I want to have around me, especially when it’s time to dance off this plane of existence. My writing has always been one of a mixture of fact and fiction and my past frequently shows up in the characters I’ve written about. I don’t always reveal my darkest moments, and I am okay with that. I want to be remembered as one who loves life and appreciates others for who they are. I don’t want to dwell on past realities or relationships that brought me down. I want to celebrate the love I have been given over these last 25+ years. I hope that my family feels the same. I constantly search for what Wallace Stegner called a usable past that I can employ in my characters and reveal a little of myself to strangers. There are so many things that I want my family and friends to remember about me that are positive.

I wish that I had been more of a documentarian like Edward Abbey and kept my journals full. I wrote during my travels, but over the last few years, I became more sedentary and didn’t keep up. I began writing sort of a prequel about my beloved Caitlin, which came from notes over the past 50 or more decades. As I go through the notes, there are so many things that I wished I had fleshed out when I was living them. But that is the beauty of storytelling I suppose. Write what you know, and remember, and the story will follow.

I suppose pictures will have to be good enough for my future generations. As they fade, we are endeavoring to digitize those old Polaroids and other camera photos. But one thing I’d like to share with you is to keep a journal on hand at all times. Document your adventures because places you’ve cherished may not be there when your family travels to them.

I loved the fact that Wallace Stegner had a legacy, to-do list on his desk when he died and it was later published. He reminded me that while I am on this earth, there is still so much work to be done. I have completed many to-do lists and put them on my desktop of my computer, both short and long-term projects. I want to begin to add writing lists to this, for people and places I want to research and learn about.

But who will be there for you through your failing brain, through sickness, through general aging? Decide who is most important and ask them to be there as you will be there for them. Even if you don’t leave a large legacy, be there for the ones you care about the most, a family member, a loving spouse, or a best friend. My spouse is my both my spouse and best friend. I hope that he will be there for me as I will be there for him.

Finally, ever think about what you want to put out there at the end of life? As a writer I think it’s important to create your own obituary ahead of time. Find a picture you love, and save it on a thumb drive somewhere. Put it in an envelope and give it to each other. You’ve lived a wonderful life so why not have your family celebrate it the way you want them to?

So after walking around the house for 10 minutes looking for your glasses so you can finish your epic novel, and after finding them on the top of your head, rejoice in the fact that you are still here. Embrace the knowledge that your loved ones still love you, and that your words may not be read by everyone, but that they have been immortalized in print. Know that you have left a tiny footprint on this earth and those that love you will still remember your impact on their lives, whether good or bad, mad, or sad, cursed, or beloved. Hope for happiness during the life you still have and wish for happiness for you loved ones in the future. Acknowledge (and write it down) that special someone to watch over you. Someone to Watch Over Me

Love to all on this dark and stormy night! Keep enjoying the zucchini! Here is a wonderful recipe I just tried! Very delicious! Stanley Tucci’s Zucchini and Potato Muffins

Dancing in the Moonlight

Posted on by
Reply

Or: Do You Remember Where You Were in June 1973?
Or: Do You Remember When You Were 18?
Or: Do You Remember When You Believed You Had the World at Your Fingertips?

And here I am, 50+ years later still dancing, but with many harsh realities coming at me every day that I am alive. I just read about this, but it happened a while ago. It is still noteworthy to mention again. A bunch of so-called righteous moms checked out all of a San Diego library’s featured LBGTQ+ books and refused to bring them back unless the library took them off the shelf. Okay, so now I must rant a little. Here is what I am saying to you (I wish it could be directly to your face): First, what gives you the right to censure every other human being that uses that public library? Secondly, why are you soooooooooo ignorant? Thirdly, this worked against you, because when the public heard about your little stunt, they went out and purchased all of those books and gave them to the library, AND raised and donated $15,000.00 for the library. Then…. the City of San Diego matched that donation so now they had $30,000.00 total to buy many more wonderful books! So your little stunt backfired! Also, if I was the librarian, I would have sent you a big whopping bill!

All I’m saying to you people who think you know best for EVERYONE, just let it go. There are many other people in the world who have different opinions and lifestyles from you. You cannot dictate what others think or do. It has never worked in our society. We worked hard to be different and more tolerant of all people. I am still amazed there are so many small-minded people in the world. You should be striving to change every day that you live and let others live their lives. Don’t dictate demands on others who don’t agree with you. Don’t be afraid of DIFFERENT even if it is within your own family. They are still your siblings and children. They love you and you should absolutely and unconditionally love them back. Isn’t that what we fought for? To be a nation different from Europe? Everyone who came here in the past have their own ways of thinking. I don’t agree with all of them, but that doesn’t make me want to censure them. Conversations don’t have to be about your small-minded ways of thinking. Embrace everyone and Lighten Up!

So as we face and accept our aging, we can still believe that we all have the world at our fingertips. We can still believe that we all have choices and accept that we are all wonderful beings and choose love, not hate. And, after we’ve faced the heat of the day, we can just wait a little while for nightfall and thank the universe that we are still alive. We can then go outside and water the tomatoes, say hello to the bugs, the bats eating the bugs, nightfall, and embrace the moon! Do a little dance, make a little love, and get down tonight (KC and the Sunshine Band).

“We like our fun and we never fight
You can’t dance and stay uptight
It’s a supernatural delight
Everybody was dancing in the moonlight….”
Dancing in the Moonlight
King Harvest – Original (Although Toploader does a good job!)

I love you all and wish some of you would just grow up into loving humans!

The Heat is On

Posted on by
Reply

As I ponder the many things I can do inside because of the heat I return to my writing once again and try and capture the thread that will finish the book. But, alas, my mind wanders, there are loads of inside chores to complete and I return to the blog, if only to get some writing in today.

Summer Solstice is upon us and I want to return to a simpler time when I danced with the goddess on the longest day of the year with my fellow merrymakers in sacred spaces. I once believed that I was on the right path to enlightenment and the world’s woes were slowly being resolved. I once embraced the path that we as a people of this great nation believed and cared for each other. The police I knew were starting to come around and be the friendly neighborhood protectors instead of using evil [gestapo] tactics. They were proud to be a part of the neighborhood. People weren’t shooting each other in my neighborhood. Neighbors left their doors open, had block parties and shared beautiful food and music without interference from the evil ICE folks, or local police using military tactics for no reason. I want to return to hearing that violent crime is down. Maybe it was all an illusion, but I was proud to be a part of that illusion of the world.

Today, things are rapidly deteriorating to fear tactics and hating BIPOC [i.e., the brown people or anyone who doesn’t look exactly like you]. I still don’t understand how some people can embrace this in their lives. I want those people to wake up and fight back no matter what. I want people to take away all the guns from those that are insanely violent and hurt those who are trying to do the right thing. And I want to return to the belief that we must allow justice to take place and punish those in the wrong (you know who I am talking about). I want that weird secret police to go away and stop harassing those who believe in the democratic process and are just doing the right thing within their jobs and the courts. I want to believe that we can return to finding enlightenment within our lives without worrying about be accosted, or even worse, shot.

So, enjoy the peaceful moments today. Go inside and leave off the TV and phone. Write to your heart’s content your thoughts and musings in your beautiful journals (or laptops!). Read a good book. Work on a puzzle with your family or play a game. And, put on some 80’s tunes (Glen Frey) and get away from it all for a little while.
The Heat is On

I love you all and hope only great things happen to you!

Rainy Day Reflections

Posted on by
Reply

Or: Slow Down and Smell the Flowers!
Or: Sneezing but Still Smelling the Flowers!
Or: Fixing Sprinkler Breaks but Still Smelling the Flowers!
Or: Picking up Bobcat Poop in the Middle of the Garden, but Still Smelling the Flowers!

So I am officially in my 70’s and am considered an elder in the world where we need names based on age. I feel like I have earned that title, and try to give good advice whether asked or not! However, today I must admit I have slowed down a little bit. My brain works in more mysterious ways. I remember lots of interesting facts and have amazing discussions, but can’t remember an actor’s or a cousin’s name.

I am writing better than I ever have before (Duh…I’ve slowed down so why not!) Physically, body parts ache more, I fall, I get goofy at the end of the day, I sneeze a lot when I’m outside but I’m still kicking it as high as I can.

I don’t like crowds as much, and try to find interesting places to visit to keep stimulating those brainwaves. But, alas, the crowds…. I am trying to let things go a little more, but that’s a tough one. I overthink too many things, and make myself a little fried when I can’t get it right (or the way I want it to be).

So, if I forget something mid-sentence when my blood sugar is low, or the conversation drifts into a place where we didn’t think it was going, bear with me. We will all get to the same place in the end, and hopefully the same conclusion. Be kind to each other and accept that we stop and talk to everyone about anything. Forgive past slights and move on to this next phase in life.

My advice for us elders is to keep on living, keep on loving, and keep on learning something new. Move your body and rest when you need to, even if it is a little more often than ten years ago. And don’t forget to stop and smell the roses (even if you sneeze ten thousand times afterwards). Love to all on this crazy, rainy, hailstorm day!

Birthdays and Worry

Posted on by
Reply

Is it wrong to worry about the future when you are older than most people?
Is it wrong to worry about your child’s future so much that you make yourself sick?
Is it wrong to question why people are the way they are when they support an idiot in office with no regard to their families or other families?
Why are we where we are?
Why are we shooting people who are trying to do the right thing?
Why are people in power afraid to do the right thing?
STAND UP!

Today is my birthday and I am pondering the state of the union and the world as we know it. Each year that I am alive, I have seen the good and the bad of administrations in power and it seems that this one is really bad. I am amazed at the people who are turning out in droves to protest and feel good that there are so many of us who care about what is going on. I am also amazed at those in power who aren’t marching with us, who think that this king is right and just and they refuse to depose him. He should not be the one leading the country. What will it take to bring about change for the better?

Today I am asking everyone that have supported this administration to reflect on who you voted for. I am begging you to ask good questions of your representatives why they are letting all of this nonsense happen. I am asking the red states to turn a little more purple and vote out those who support him. I am asking everyone to be brave and send out love to those who are being oppressed. I am asking everyone to lose their prejudices and accept everyone the way they are. Don’t kick out those in the military who are different than you (you know who I’m talking about). They signed up to do a job to support their country, just like you and your children did when wars were looming (or not). They wanted to do their duty to keep democracy alive. I am begging you to stop ignoring your children if they tell you they are different that what you expect. Have an open and honest conversation with them. Accept them the way they are. Embrace their differences with pride. You raised them to be independent. They may not be the same as you and you need to be okay with that. Love them for who they are.

And finally, don’t be hateful to anyone who doesn’t look like you. They have a right to be on this earth just like you. And many of them were in this country long before your family came here. RISE UP and make a difference before it’s too late. Move beyond your small plane of existence and see the world in a multi-colored perspective. Thank you.
RISE UP

Love vibes to all on this fantastic summer day.

Day to Remember Your Dad

Posted on by
Reply

Or: Gardening, Flight Delays and Treating Dad
So I was in my happy place outside today, finishing up a few things this morning, to keep the plants alive in this summer heat when I remembered I was going to make a breakfast for my hubby. Oh, well, kiddo is coming in—although a delayed flight—and when we pick him up, we’ll take Dad out for a meal.

Since my husband had never been up to Central City we took a drive yesterday the scenic route through Boulder Canyon and then through Nederland where they were protesting – yea! NO KINGS! We waved at all of them and gave them a thumbs up. I loved to see all of the people standing up this weekend against the craziness of you know who and his ilk.

The drive was amazing through HWY 119 even with all of the road work. Drivers were kind and we got there in one piece. We found free parking, then wandered around in the old part of town. We don’t gamble but it was a treat just to see the old mining town was still there, albeit a lot of casinos and people than the last time I went up there (before gambling!).

And the Opera House was closed on the weekend but the flowers were pretty and the weather was nice. The town was setting up for the bed races and Main street had some vendors. I bought a book from one of the locals. I want to give a shout out to Jen, J.R. Black for her book The Watchmen of Dalton Manor. It’s a wonderful story about growing up in an old, haunted house. She is a lovely storyteller and a native of Colorado. I recommend her stories to you to have a fun read. She’s on Amazon, just like me!

Overall, a beautiful weekend occurred in Colorado even though we are getting the heat. So be kind to your spouses and your fathers today. Embrace the celebration. Love to All!

Do We Change for the Better as We Age?

Posted on by
Reply

I’d like to think that for every year we are alive on this planet, we all become the wise person that we have looked up to and attempted to emulate over our elder years. I’d like to think that we all grow and begin to see the world from a better perspective. I’d like to think that we become more of a human being, like the wise grandfather elder spoke about in the old movie, Little Big Man. (A must-see movie! Add it to your bucket list!)

Grandfather, Old Lodge Skins spoke to his son, Jack Crabb—or Little Big Man, about the war with white men. Little Big Man asked if Grandfather—Old Lodge Skins, hated the white man now (after warring with people like General Custer and his army).
“Jack Crabb: Do you hate them? Do you hate the White man now?
Old Lodge Skins: Do you see this fine thing? Do you admire the humanity of it? Because the human beings, my son, they believe everything is alive. Not only man and animals. But also water, earth, stone. And also the things from them… like that hair. The man from whom this hair came, he’s bald on the other side, because I now own his scalp! That is the way things are. But the white man, they believe EVERYTHING is dead. Stone, earth, animals. And people! Even their own people! If things keep trying to live, white man will rub them out. That is the difference.”

After the war scene, Jack spoke with his grandfather once again about death and the fate of Human Beings (what his grandfather called his people):
“Jack Crabb: Grandfather, I am glad to see you.
Old Lodge Skins: Glad to see you too, my son. My heart soars like a hawk. Do you want to eat? I won’t eat with you because I’m gonna’ die soon.
Jack Crabb: Die, grandfather?
Old Lodge Skins: Yes, my son. I want to die in my own land, where Human Beings are buried in the sky.
Jack Crabb: Well, why do you want to die, grandfather?
Old Lodge Skins: Because there is no other way to deal with the White Man, my son. Whatever else you can say about them, it must be admitted: you cannot get rid of them.
Jack Crabb: No, I suppose not, grandfather.
Old Lodge Skins: There is an endless supply of White Man. But there always has been a limited number of Human Beings. We won today… we won’t win tomorrow.”

The message for me was clear: There are so many of us that don’t care about all the little things and the original people on earth that have been here long before we got here. There are many things we need to learn to survive in a world where evil people get the upper hand. And there are many things that are going to die and disappear in our lifetime, no matter what we do, because there are so many people who don’t want to respect the wise elders, or become one and do the right thing. All I am saying tonight to everyone who are still drinking the Kool-Aid:
Just….. Be better!

I send out love and happiness to all those who still care to do the right thing. And for those who don’t, Just Be Better!

I Yam What I Yam

Posted on by
Reply

Or: You Cannot Keep Ignoring the Truth
Popeye said it so succinctly that we are who we are no matter what others think of us. With all the Pride parades and parties coming up, I want to return to a subject that the rednecks (male and female alike) of the world have latched onto because of that guy in office. Why are you so worried about others whose identity doesn’t match up to what your expectations are? Why are you afraid that others who can be incredible and yet different from your perception of reality?

And you women out there who are so loud and obnoxious and sooooo terribly wrong in these matters, ask yourself: Why do you fall into line because a ridiculous man is telling you what you think and what you should do? Are you that privileged that you don’t see the pain of others when you belittle those who are unique in their own ways? Why are you threatened by this?

Blaming DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) on everything that is happening is just wrong. We had come a long way before the buffoon started telling us what to think. Women, get it together and change this! Teach your children (especially your male children) to respect women and diverse people. Stop agreeing with this nonsense and support your community – those who are alike and different that you. DEI isn’t a bad word. It promotes:

  • Educator Growth: Professional Development, Training, Hiring Practices.
  • Classroom and Climate: Culturally Responsive and Inclusive Practices and Curriculum.
  • Student Belonging: Identity, Empathy, Inclusion.
  • Community Cohesion: Parent/Guardian Education and Involvement, Town Partnerships.

I grew up in an era where if you weren’t a white Anglo-Saxon male, your voice meant nothing. Have we completely returned to this way of thinking? And, if so Why? Everyone is unique and have made it so far in this world. Hating someone for being of a different race, a different gender, for what they believe, or even how they dress and identify is just wrong. We have to return to loving kindness for all and if that is what it means to be woke, then count me in!

“Everyone deserves to live free from hate, fear, and violence. We cannot free ourselves from hate if we don’t identify and acknowledge it when it happens. What is typically included in ongoing reporting is just as important as what is left out – the voices of individuals who experienced incidents of hate.” AND:
“Today’s political climate is highly charged. From white supremacist and anti-government movements coalescing and moving more into the political mainstream, to conspiracy theories circulating online, to the amplification of hate by public officials. We refuse to let the loud volume of a few define us.” https://civilrights.org/value/fighting-hate-bias/#

For more information on this organization and what else you can do see:
https://civilrights.org/blog/

So all I am saying is stop the patter of malcontent and learn to accept that not everyone is like you. Embrace all those who differ from you, even if you don’t always agree with them. Make life a little easier for yourself if you choose your battles and words with others.

Get outside, enjoy the beautiful days, and have a heart full of love tonight! Love to all who are trying to do their part every day they live!

Writers are Brave

Posted on by
Reply

Or: New thoughts are bold and scary. Anne Lamott once said about her father: “Writing taught my father to pay attention; my father in turn taught other people to pay attention and then to write down their thoughts and observations.” Lamott’s father was a writer, and had students that were inmates in San Quenton prison who took part in a  creative-writing program. He taught his students and his daughter by example. He asked his students to put a little bit down on paper every day, and to constantly read great books (and poetry).

I know how important math and sciences are and am grateful for the education my child and I have had in our lives. But sometimes I think society has forgotten the fact that creativity in the form of writing and reading has helped us in the past. I wonder if the reason that we don’t encourage others to engage in the simple act of reading is because the people around us begin to change. They expand their thinking because they are more enlightened on a subject and aren’t afraid to discuss it. A subject may change their lives and they may drift away from you because you may not want to follow the thread of this new idea and life in general.

If we don’t read, we don’t want others in our inner circle to change. We are stuck in some reality that actually doesn’t work but if others leave us we feel threatened by them. Reading (and writing) helps us evolve and become who we are today.

Bold stories make us ponder all of the history writers have written about, and philosophize about deep subjects which leads us to become incredible critical thinkers. When young people tell me they don’t like to read, I am saddened to think how much they have missed in their lives. I am saddened to think of all the incredible stories that have been told in the past and are currently being told today. They are missing out on how humans have evolved (and devolved of late) from past understandings of how the world and society as a whole works.

I was really dismayed when I looked at what all of us, especially women, have gone through to be allowed to learn and especially ponder life’s greatest mysteries by asking intelligent questions. Reading and writing have been essential in my life and I hope I have passed on these life-changing thoughts to my child. I hope to pass on the importance of turning off that constant scrolling and pick up a book (or audiobook) to discover life’s mysteries both past and present. Be a brave reader and get curious!

Here’s a kicker from my past:  My mother would constantly tell me not to read under the covers with a flashlight late at night because it would ruin my eyes. And when I said I wanted to emulate Madame Curie, who worked through a problem night and day and didn’t even take a bath, she stated, “Well, you have to bathe!” And I muttered under my breath, as all teenagers do, “Wow! That’s what you got out of that?”

And finally, to a quote Emily Dickinson: “Women were not encouraged to read because men feared it would joggle their minds.”

I encourage everyone to read my favorite book on writing of all times to gain perspective on us writers:   Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott

I love you all and hope you are having fun creating a magnificent garden in your back yard. Summer is upon us!