In my day job I manage a church office. One of my responsibilities is to maintain the keys to the buildings. I keep a spread sheet with the key numbers, date the key was issued, and date returned. Recently someone moved away and returned their key through the mail.
I enjoy writing. I do not have a novel in me or even a short story. I consider myself more suited to writing essays or personal stories. I was inspired by reading Joyce Maynard’s articles in her syndicated news column, “Domestic Affairs.” It ran in my local newspaper from 1984 to 1990. Joyce wrote about her life in a simple honest manner and it felt as if she was sitting in the same room talking to me.
Character matters. My parents taught me this—not through words, but by their actions. Our family did not talk a lot. Mealtimes were for eating and other times were reserved for work or relaxation. It seemed to never occur to my family to have discussions. However, by watching how my parents interacted with people, it was evident that character and compassion were important.
Jigsaw puzzles are a way my husband and I relax. We are not always working on one. Sometimes months go by when we are not involved with a puzzle. When we are enjoying them, we may work three or four puzzles in succession.
Welcome to a New Year . . . I quit making New Year’s resolutions years ago after always having the same three: eat better, exercise, loose weight. I finally figured it wasn’t worth it to decide that on January 1 I would commit to those resolutions when I obviously had not done so in the past.
In researching my lineage, I found interesting stories of why and when some of my relatives immigrated to the United States. I was more surprised to find out that many arrived in the 1600s during the earliest days of our country. The following is an account of life after tragedy—of leaving behind a destroyed homeland to travel across the ocean to a new country and the promise of greater opportunities.
One of our reasons in traveling to California was to simply sit and watch the sun set over the water in the evenings. I have read that the sunset is one of the most photographed natural events in the world. And, on the ocean, the nightfall is even more spectacular—worthy of many pictures!
Every year spring delights and surprises. The joy of seeing flowers and trees come alive after the cold winter is extraordinary—and I never tire of the experience. There is nothing like spring!
Writers love language and words—especially amusing, witty, or unusual expressions. I can remember being in elementary school and learning new words. It was an aural and intellectual feast—which became a delightful, seductive pleasure. Put simply, word-lovers delight in words! There is even a name for a person who loves words—logophile, lexiphile, or lexophile. One who is obsessed with words is a logomaniac.
How many self-help books do you have on your shelves? I have generally steered away from such books, although I do have several. The question is: If self-help books really help, then why do people keep writing them? Every year there seems like a new flurry of “ideas” are touted by the latest media gurus. I am not saying they can’t be useful or helpful. I am sure they must be helpful to a degree. I have one that I keep trying to get rid of, but I can’t quite seem to put it in the donate pile. It is a book that helped me to move forward at a point when I was unable to do so.
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