* Nostalgic Sundays *

I'm a nostalgic gal. I love old TV shows like The Andy Griffith Show (only the B&W episodes, ya know!) I'm particularly drawn to the lovely citizens of Mayberry because this fictional town reminds me so much of the real-life hometown of my parents and grandparents: Greenfield, Iowa.

When I was a little girl we went to Greenfield every summer for vacation. It was a magical time. The late 1950s, life was slow and easy, we young kids could walk or ride bikes all over town. I have such fabulous memories of those days, some of which will be included in my memoir.

Today I thought of trying to begin another weekly post and call it Nostalgic Sundays. I'm not really sure what I'll post or if I can even come up with something every Sunday, but I'm going to try. And if any readers decide to post something nostalgic on their blogs on Sundays, let me know and I'll be sure to stop by!

That's it for this Sunday, and surprisingly I've already thought of topics for at least two more Sundays.

"There is a lovely warmness about feelings of nostalgia as though in one's head one is putting on a pair of comfy old slippers and curling up in front of a fire."  - William E. Geist

* Saturday Centus *

It's been a long time since I participated in Jenny Matlock's Saturday Centus. I'm not sure why, but hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things.

In a nutshell, Jenny Matlock gives us a prompt from either herself or a guest submitter and then we have to write 100 (although this week is only 60) words or less related to the prompt (the prompt doesn't count toward the 100 words) Then link it up to her blog. It's open until the following Saturday, so that means you have all week to participate by either reading or writing. The prompt this week is Dear John

Mary was ecstatic her fiance', Rodney, was coming home. No, she was not one who wrote a Dear John letter to a man she proclaimed to love. How cruel that would be! Why couldn't a woman wait for her lover to come back home? And, in fact, it wasn't even wartime. He'd just gone to the corner store to buy lottery tickets.  (exactly 60 words, not counting the prompt)

Also, I welcome my newest follower, Julie Fedderson. I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see! Thank you!

* I WONDER *

It's time for another Friday, "I Wonder" communique'.

I wonder: I wonder when I'll ever get caught up reading and commenting on all the blogs I love! (This is one of my goals for the weekend.) If I haven't stopped by your blog in awhile, it's nothing personal. Same goes for if I owe you an e-mail. In fact, if I do owe you an e-mail, please let me know!

AND, speaking of this weekend, all you members (and visitors) of Saturday Writers, we're having a fantastic guest speaker at tomorrow's meeting! Check here to see who it is and find out more information.

Friend in Need - Friend indeed

Yesterday, a very wise and dear "non-writer" friend wrote some extremely profound words to me. She knew all about my "adventure" during my get-away, because she was in fact part of it. This is what she wrote:

"Your book is something you are doing for you. If nothing ever becomes of it or it becomes a “Best Seller” it was for your own personal satisfaction of writing and that comes when it comes. You can’t schedule a week-end & say ……OK now I’m gonna get inspired and spew forth “writing”. You know that sometimes it comes easy & others not so much. I think that is life in general…………if it came easy we wouldn’t appreciate the effort put into things."

Pretty powerful stuff, huh?! Even though I know all those things, it's always good to hear them again, and from someone looking at my situation from a different view.

Last night I decided to pursue other interests for awhile. For some reason, I remembered a cross-stitch sampler I started years ago. I think I bought it to have something to do while riding in a long car trip. Surprisingly, I actually know where I stored it, so I'll be able to grab it and work on it whenever the mood hits. This in turn, reminded me of another very sweet memory. When I was pregnant with Mark, I was on a cross-stitching frenzy! I worked on them at home while watching TV. I sewed on them at work when I was at lunch or an afternoon break. I have no idea why, but it was like an addiction. I made two large samplers, framed them, and hung them in our living room. I know where they are stored, too, and might just dig them out and hang them upstairs in our loft.

Oh...and that was stamped cross-stitch, NOT counted! You know that math and I don't get along, right? Who knows what words I would've stitched if I had to count the spaces!! Probably words like the verification ones we get on Blogger!

Ahhh....and as always, one memory leads to another, and might eventually find a place in my memoir.

Two quotes today because I love them both.

“The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.” – Vladimir Nabokov

“I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.” – Vladimir Nabokov

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

* I WONDER *

It's time for another Friday, "I Wonder" communique'.

(graphic courtesy Rose Petals from Heaven)

1)  I wonder why some people have the kind of  mathematical brain that makes it easy (and fun) for them to work on those never-ending, xyz kind of problems......

(photo taken by Becky at Parks College 2009)

.....and then there's people like me, who run screaming at the sight of any "math" equation that contains letters and other funny-looking signs. I.just.don't.get.it.

And that would most likely explain why I'm a writer!

Part of my adventure yesterday was driving my son, Mark over to Cahokia, Illinois (not to be confused with Cahokia Mounds. Two totally different places!) Cahokia is a small town just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. Cahokia Mounds is a state park in Collinsville, Illinois, approximately 10 miles northeast of the town of Cahokia. Very confusing for some people.

Long story short: My dad was first a student and then a professor at Parks Air College, which was located there for many years. HE definitely had the math brain. He taught kinetics, which I'd never heard of and had to look it up in the dictionary. Hmm...well, it's some kind of math dealing with forces and motion, etc....has to do with planes and pilots!

(photo taken by The Ronald at Parks College 2009)

(I'm pointing at a photo of my dad that I supplied)

First we had lunch at Oliver's which is located at St. Louis Downtown Airport. (Another confusing name! It's NOT in St. Louis, nor is it DOWNTOWN!) Check out their website. The food was really good and we saw small planes land and take off. I just noticed on their site that they have some sort of helicopter dinner tours! Sounds fun! 

Anyway...for some reason, it had never occurred to me to show Mark the house I lived in as a little girl, my old grade school, church, etc. We also drove past the old location of Parks. Then it was on to the SLU (St. Louis University) campus on Lindell Street in St. Louis, which has been home to Parks for a few years. (That's probably more info than anyone cared to know!)

Although I've felt various emotions over the years concerning my dad, I'm still always proud of him for his Parks College years and the family life we had way back then. It was truly a wonderful life.

"Failure is not an option." -- Gene Kranz 1954 Parks College graduate. Portrayed by Ed Harris in the movie, "Apollo 13"

Adventures & Remedies

I'm off to a very special adventure today with my son, Mark. I'll most likely blog about some of it, but I already have plans for it to be included in my book, too. (And hey, all of my writer buddies in the C&C Group... this trip was originally planned for Tuesday, and that's why I didn't attend, but it rained that morning and we rescheduled for today.)
I think I've mentioned, once or twice, my various notes of all sizes, scribbled in the moment a thought or memory came to me. A tiny piece of blank paper ripped from a newspaper, the front or back of a receipt, in note pads found in any room of the house, my purse, and/or my car, and of course the old reliable napkin, or paper towel. They would eventually wind up in a pile on my desk, getting spread all over and not to be seen or thought about until I finally decided it was time to de-clutter AGAIN.

This went on for months...years(?) Then one day I read a simple solution to my problem. I wish I remembered where I saw it, and who wrote the article, because I would definitely give them credit. I ran right out and purchased the very inexpensive remedy, which is pictured below:

See that small, single binder ring?? THAT is the answer! I gather my little scribbles every few days, punch a hole in them if necessary, and voile'!

I go through them when I'm working on my book. If I find something I decide to write about that day, I tear it off and throw it away.....making room for more and more notes. You can bet I'm taking it with me on my writer get-away...along with tons of other writerly things!

Hello & Welcome to my two newest followers: Allison and Keair! I hope you always enjoy what you read and see here and come back whenever you can. Thanks so much!

"You should always know when you're shifting gears in life. You should leave your era; it should never leave you." -- Leontyne Price

* This 'n That on a Wednesday *

After a huge thunder and lightening storm that blew through our area last night, today is sunny, breezy, not too hot or humid..... perfect!  Oh Happy Day!

Since I'm leaving sometime on Friday for my writer's get-away, I'll post my "I Wonder" segment either very late tomorrow, or early Friday a.m. AND I have my very own, exclusively created graphic for "I Wonder"....made by none other than the immensely talented Mo, from Rose Petals from Heaven. Thank you, Mo! It is awesome! I love it!

(Property of Rose Petals from Heaven

and Becky Povich)

 I added another photo of Vern on the right hand column. Scroll down a little and see him in action!

If you haven't read my interview with Michael Lee West (yesterday), please do. It really is worth the few minutes it will take. I learned so much!

Hello & Welcome to my newest follower: Morpho Marigold! I hope you'll stop by often and always enjoy what you read and see. Thank you so much!

* I forgot to add that I'm in the middle of switching my e-mail addresses from AOL to Gmail, BUT you can still send mail to all of my AOL addresses, and they are being forwarded. My computer guru son, Scott, worked on my laptop the past 2 days and I'm still trying to get used to it. (Psst! ...I don't like some of it! ) I've only had AOL all these years. The e-mail showing on my Profile page is the new one.

"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher."
— Flannery O'Connor