* SATURDAY SALMAGUNDI *

Happy Saturday, everyone.

I have lots of news & information that didn't get posted during my blog hiatus, (due to my laptop/internet issues. Grrrr..!) so today I'm going to post a bit of a salmagundi. << If you don't need to look up the definition of that word, you have my sincere admiration! 

** Please stop by Bish Denham's blog to read something really uncanny! **

First of all, at Coffee & Critique about a month ago, one of the members, Jack Zerr, read from the novel he's presently writing, The JO Bunkroom. (JO stands for Junior Officer.) It is set in 1970/71 and concerns Vietnam, and carrier pilots encountering the war at that time. The two main characters are Amos Kane (self-proclaimed Cool Hand Duke) and Jon Zachery. I asked Jack for permission to post the following paragraph because I thought it was so beautiful. It was just one of those times when the writing really "got to me," ya know?

It was like I was the airplane. I didn’t pull back on the stick, to get the plane climbing. It was more like I got my nose up, to get me climbing. I felt as if I had two sets of eyeballs. One set flew the instruments, the other took in the stars, gazillions of them against the black, and they seemed to twinkle happy light at me. It was the first time I’d felt like flying was just the coolest damned thing, and at night, too. Night flying’s kind of like work, but, man, not that night.

To learn more about Jack, click here.

~~~



On January 28th, I received Mary Kay Shanley's e-newsletter, which included a little write up about my memoir! I had the pleasure of meeting Mary Kay in 2010 when I attended the wonderful writer/spiritual retreat in Des Moines, Iowa. (Although I was born in Illinois, my roots are in Iowa. My parents, both sets of grandparents, and my two older sisters were eith born there, or lived there for many years.) I included a few chapters about Iowa, particularly Greenfield, Iowa, in my memoir, and I still love to visit as often as I can. I wrote about the 2010 retreat on my blog in the following posts, if anyone would like to read about it:

http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2010/02/some-concluding-thoughts-on-retreat.html

http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-two-of-winter-retreat-saturday.html

http://beckypovich.blogspot.com/2010/01/day-one-of-writerretreat.html

~~~

 

Hopefully, I'll do more catching up tomorrow with another new blog post!



"Be brave enough to live creatively. The creative is the place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You cannot get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing what you're doing. What you discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover will be yourself." -- Alan Alda

* 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

The Best Laid Plans.....

I arrived back home yesterday afternoon from my writer's get-away. All I can say is, although the condo was wonderful and the view was spectacular....I didn't get any writing accomplished. The reasons are varied, of which I won't go into. As life sometimes goes, our best laid plans take major detours without our consent.

It wasn't a total washout. I spent a few hours with two of my favorite "cousins", a friend of theirs, and a beautiful black lab. That alone made the trip worthwhile! And although I didn't accomplish what I intended, I had quite an adventure, and learned some things about myself, too.

“What matters most is that we learn from living.” – Doris Lessing

Thanking Others For Their Kindness

Blogger Joyce Lansky wrote a nice review about the book she won from me: "Gone With a Handsomer Man" by Michael Lee West. You can read it here: Book Review. Thank you, Joyce! That was very kind of you.

Another Blogger friend, Patricia Preston replied to one of my comments and mentioned she was drinking her iced tea from a pretty goblet, as a little treat for herself that day. I thought that sounded wonderful and so I'm doing the same thing tonight! Thanks, Patricia! I'm using the goblet I recently took photos of, with shadows and light. I may have shown them before, too. I bought them at Goodwill a few months ago, grabbing every single one they had, (nine) in the same pattern, of course! They were only 50¢ a piece!

The newest Searchlights & Signal Flares is online at Tiny Lights. I've mentioned this wonderful site before. The editor, Susan Bono, is a very talented writer, teacher, editor and just plain great friend! Please check out this site. It's your chance to be published online, no fees, no fuss! (and yes, No Payment, but I believe that when you're a new writer, or even an experienced one, having something published and getting your name "out there" is sometimes a very good thing, even if once in a while you don't receive a payment for it.) Susan's printed and online journal is a class act. Check out all the details there. Susan is also presently looking for stories for her quarterly Flash in the Pan, 500 words or less. Check that out, too!

Oh! One more thing.You know how I've been searching for a quiet, out of the way place, for a personal writer's retreat?? A fabulous, very generous relative is permitting me to stay in her condo at no charge, although I offered approximately four times, to pay her something for it! Isn't that wonderful? I'm not going to divulge any other info. Just know that I'll be writing, writing, writing...and hopefully come back home with a much-closer-to-being-completed-book!

"Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will say, "She doesn't have what it takes." They will say, "Women don't have what it takes." -- Clare Boothe Luce

** 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