* Listen to the Radio....Online *

* I had a variety of things to blog about this evening, but then remembered this:

Have I mentioned that I was interviewed a couple of weeks ago for a Des Moines, Iowa radio station? An amazing man, John Busbee, read my memoir and asked to interview me about it. And why would an Iowa radio station want to interview me? My maternal grandparents, and my parents were all born and lived there for many years....So my roots are in Iowa. In my memoir From Pigtails to Chin Hairs I write about my magical summer vacations in Greenfield, Iowa. It is still my favorite small town in America!

source: free clip art

It will air tomorrow, Wednesday November 12th, a...t 11:13 AM CST. If it's possible, please listen to it Streaming Live at http://www.kfmg991.org/

They don't have the capacity for archives at the moment, but I will receive a CD of the interview some time soon.

I'm a bit nervous but at the same time, can't wait to hear it!


* I'd like to welcome two new followers! One is Janet Givens, and I think the other one is "Phyllis." I say, "I think" because Janet's is the only new face/icon showing. And from what I can tell, the newest "blank" follower face is Phyllis. *

Welcome to you both and I hope you always enjoy

what you read and see. Thanks very much!

~~~

 

 

Please don't forget......11:13 AM CST, Wednesday, November 12th! 

 



 

* THIRD VGB: FROM LINDA SCHMIDT

I'm very happy to present my third VGB (Volunteer Guest Blogger), Linda Schmidt. 

I met Linda three years ago at an amazing writer/spiritual retreat in Des Moines, Iowa. If you're interested in knowing more about it, there are two or three short blog posts about it. Just click on the Des Moines and Iowa labels below. 

One is particularly funny because I wrote it in May 2010, I'd just reached my 50th Follower and I was so excited! I guess so. I'd been blogging since the end of 2008!

That particular blog post also mentions Linda Schmidt and her beautiful poetry. I asked Linda to be one of my VGBs and she agreed, sending the following poem and pictures. Linda doesn't have a blog, but she will be stopping by to read comments. 

~~~~~~~

Everything I need to know,

I learned from the dogs in my life.

From Sookie, I learned unconditional love and loyalty.

No matter whether I was away for a few minutes or hours or days,

Sookie always welcomed me with extravagant greeting.

Sookie

The runt of the litter, he developed thyroid problems and lost

large patches of hair, yet his spirit was beyond compare.

When Sookie got skunked, instead of keeping my distance,

I learned that he, too, was miserable and needed to be loved,

not less, but more.

Even though I knew Sookie's death from Cushing's disease would occur,

I was consumed with grief, but learned, somehow,

a day at a time, that life does go on.

Teddy B. Jackson

From Teddy B. Jackson, I learned the importance

of seeing situations from someone else's point of view.

An Australian shepherd with an intense herding instinct,

Teddy B. lived much of his life on probation

after corralling or biting too many persons who entered his territory.

Others would have put him to sleep or locked him away,

but I strove to understand him and develop a better way

of dealing with what humans judged as "criminal" deeds.

From Maizy Gracie, I've learned patience, social skills and adaptability.

She waited over a year in rescue before joining me

a week after Teddy B.'s death.

Gracie

Now, Gracie waits quietly at the gate when she's ready to come in,

and stops without complaint along the trail

while I linger to photograph wildflowers and birds.

She's outgoing, always making new friends,

and able to cut through friction to resolve disagreements amicably.

Though not the official therapy dog I at first thought she might be,

Gracie has developed an online fan club and ministers daily

to special people in ways far beyond my limited imagination.

When we visited Niagara Falls, a group of school girls from India

crowded around Gracie with their cell phones, excitedly snapping photos

with her instead of the rushing waters of the falls!

Indeed, in these and many more ways, the companion canines in my life

have taught me how to be a far better human being.

                                                                                         

 --Linda Schmidt, 2012

** Addendum: 11:45 am.....Linda sent me a new photo of Gracie from this morning and I just love it. I asked if I could add it to this post and she said "Sure!"  Below is Linda's caption:

Notice Gracie's eye roll in this pic I took this am...

she's saying "I've had enough of this stuff!"  

Thank you, Linda! And readers, please feel free to leave a message because she'll be checking in from time to time, to answer questions and/or comments.

* Welcome to my newest follower M.L. Swift. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! * 

"My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am." -- Unknown

** Celebration, Information, & Appreciation **

Hey! I'm so excited! My followers have reached  "50".  I'm sure that number is laughable to bloggers with hundreds and thousands of followers, but to me it is really special. It makes me feel validated, knowing that people are "out there" who enjoy reading my blog. Thank you all so much!

This past January when I attended the writer/spiritual retreat in Des Moines, Iowa, I met some fabulous women. I keep in contact with a few of them, but not very often. One, though, I hear from every morning. Her name is Linda Schmidt. She sends poetry every morning, the main theme being nature, thus naming it: Morning Muse. I've told her over and over that she needs to submit some of her beautiful work somewhere!! I doubt if she has yet, so I decided I'd start to post some of them here. The following one is shorter than usual, and she wrote it yesterday, Mother's Day, which seemed so appropriate:

"One by one, fuzzy goslings slip out
from under the safe cover of mother’s wing.
They greet the dawn, eager to explore
a world of water, wind and sod.
She lets them go,
and whispers prayers to God." -- Linda Schmidt

Isn't that lovely? If enough of you enjoyed it,  I'll add Linda's poetry often. And, if after awhile, you too think she should submit her writing to some places...we'll begin a campaign to send her the confidence she needs!

The picture below is in an area of my tiny formal living room. I took it yesterday in the late afternoon because I loved the way the sunlight, the shadows of the tree outside, and the shadows of the window blinds created such a lovely design on the wall.

One more Mother's Day blog.....Please go to http://www.karriemcallister.com/2010/05/out-of-mouths-of-mothers.html. Karrie McAllister is another one of my writer friends whom I've never met in person. I contacted her first, I think!!...after reading something of hers online. That's been a couple of years ago, or more. She pretty much singlehandedly convinced me that, yes I needed a blog, AND, helped me set it up, all through e-mails!! She's quite a gal, writer, mom, adventurer, etc..etc.. Please click on the link above and read her post from yesterday, about being a mom.

"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." -- Robert Southey

* Some Concluding Thoughts on the Retreat *

*Note: When I began writing this, it was still Wednesday, so I kept my promise! *Okay, as promised, I'm going to try to put into words just how much this past weekend meant to me. It pains me, as a writer, to say "try to put into words". How can that be? How can I have such trouble putting all my various thoughts and feelings into words? I guess because it had such a profound effect on me. Sometimes those kind of events stir up my emotions into a fury and I can't get them out fast enough. Other times, it may take weeks, months, even years for my mind to wander through the maze of information and feelings, and reveal them.

I've been to writers' conferences before, both large and small. I've learned quite a bit about writing and met a new friend or two. I've also attended "religious" retreats, but those were many years ago, during my youth. Sometimes, I would leave feeling somewhat enlightened, for a while at least.

But, to combine a writers workshop along with a spiritual awakening program, limited to 30 women participants, was pure genius. The title was: Coming Home: Writing from the Soul. A Winter Retreat for Women. We learned how to write to express our inner self. We laughed. We wept. We sang. We danced. We made some life long friendships.

This was the first time Mary Kay Shanley and Joyce Rupp combined their talents, to host a presentation together. It was magical & powerful. We learned about Free Writing and Reflective Writing: Both were new terms to me and I learned so much in those brief discussions. A couple of things from our Saturday assignment:

"Reflective writing falls somewhere between learning and thinking. We reflect so we can learn. We learn as a result of reflecting."

"Reflective writing takes us to our inner self, to the heart of us, to our soul. "

I was amazed at some of the personal thoughts & experiences we all shared. I reminded myself to be more aware of others, and their actions and personalities. For some reason, too, I was surprised to learn that many of the women were teachers in various ways; full time, part-time, retired, some only taught creative writing, etc. Some were business women with high powered jobs, others were stay at home moms.The age group was what I had expected: 30's to 60+.  When looking at and speaking with these women, age didn't come into any thought or consideration. We were all just interested in learning about ourselves and each other.

May Kay Shanley is a fantastic writer & teacher. She is the author of 9 books. She has a wonderful sense of humor and had us laughing most of the time, except when she handed out our nightly assignments! (just kidding!) Check out her website for other upcoming workshops and classes.

Joyce Rupp, although a member of the Servite Sisters, is nothing like any nun I've ever known! She has studied just about every religion, visited just about every country, gives conferences and retreats both nationally and internationally and is the author of 20 books. Not too long ago, she "walked the Camino in Spain". That is something worth looking up and reading about. (*This woman is in her late 60's. If I remember correctly, she said she gave herself that gift for her 60th birthday.)

The writing and the spiritual awakening fit together perfectly. There was great balance between the two, and the spriritual part was just that: spiritual. It wasn't religious. What the entire weekend was......was perfect!

Left photo: Jackie and Shirley. Right photo: Kathy.

                                                                                                                         

"It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else." --Erma Bombeck 
                                                                                                                                                            

** A Life Changing Experience **

I am not exaggerating when I say this past weekend has changed me. And in such positive & powerful ways I may not even be able to convey them, nor may I want to, at least not completely. What? Me, speechless? Yes.

I will surely post more information and photos later, but for now I just wanted to let everyone know I'm home.

"Looking back, you realize that a very special person passed briefly through your life, and that person was you. It is not too late to become that person again." -- Robert Brault

*Day Two of the Writer/Retreat - Saturday Night*

(Joyce Rupp & Mary Kay Shanley: our presenters, during a break)

This writing workshop....this spiritual retreat, has been an absolutely amazing experience. I hate to think that at noon tomorrow it will be over. It's been a wonderful gathering of 30 marvelous, unique women. We've had writing "assignments" to do each evening, we've listened and learned during the day, we've laughed, we've shared some of our inner thoughts, we've sang, & even learned a beautiful dance....The Elm Dance.

I can't begin to convey all I have learned....especially about myself.....in this short workshop. The first night's assignment was to free-write about three different people who have affected our lives...either positively or negatively. Then we had to break it down into just one person, and then into just one aspect of that person. I found that very difficult. In my second night of free-writing (last night), I found myself writing about some of my own emotions that I had either never thought of in that way, or not thought of, at all.

I've met women I will remember for a long, long time, hopefully forever; although I'm sure I will never see most of them again.

When the opportunity and wherewithal comes again for something this incredible, I will definitely be there!

(Getting some snacks during a break)

All photos courtesy B.P.

"You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself." --Alan Alda

** Day One of the Writer/Retreat **

Good Morning! Brrrr...it is COLD here in Des Moines. Of course, I knew it would be, but somehow it's still always a shock when you actually FEEL it! Temp last night was below zero-something. Temp right now is 4 degrees, with the ever popular "feels like" -8! High for today a whopping 15 with low tonite -5. We are just so grateful that it's dry, though....no snow, sleet, ice...all that lovely precipitation. There are still piles of snow everywhere, from the blizzard that came through about a week ago and with these temps, they won't be melting any time soon.

I say it's Day One today, but we really began last night from 6:30 to 9:00pm. So far, I'm really glad I came. A couple of things were said in the first few minutes of the presentation that were so "coincidental" that I felt as if I was truly meant to be here. More on that later.......

One not-so-good thing: The Hotel. It's clean and convenient.....right next door to the meeting place (another blog about that later, too) but, not the best service and there aren't enough electrical plugs in our room!! We had to unplug a lamp, to plug in my laptop....And we had to move the microwave onto the bathroom sink for a few seconds while I warmed up something to eat! Ewwww!! Oh well.....we aren't complaining....yet!

Okay...Gotta get going. We had a writing assignment last night that I still need to go over! More later!

"We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospection." - Anais Nin

** Tomorrow is the Big Day **

(photo courtesy of transitionsabroad.com)

Tomorrow, Thursday January 28th, I'll be on my way to Des Moines, Iowa. My fabulous husband is taking a couple of days off, to drive me to a women's writer retreat/workshop! He is such a great guy!

I've listed some of the information below. The line that really got me is the sentence below, in blue ink. Doesn't that sound fantastic? I'm sure I'll be blogging about it!

Coming Home: Writing From the Soul

Presented by: Joyce Rupp and Mary Kay Shanley

A Winter Retreat for Women

(Thursday evening through Sunday noon)

Visualize being with a group of vibrant women who are tending their souls in a light-filled, cozy room with a fireplace glowing on a clear winter’s day. Add to this, the development of writing skills that help express what is hidden within the deeper self. All this awaits you on this retreat, plus the joy of relating to others equally intent on greater discovery and celebration of their purpose and direction in life.

Joyce Rupp offers her extensive experience of spiritual growth through creative ritual and reflective conferences. Mary Kay Shanley brings her respected skills of teaching at the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival and other national writing workshops to lead the group through inventive processes that develop and hone writing abilities.

Limited to 30 Participants.

"A writer never has a vacation. For a writer, life consists of either writing or thinking about writing." -- Eugene Ionesco