The Garfield County Child Advocacy Center has a great way to help abused and neglected children. Adopt a child! Well, not really but you can adopt one of several for only $25.00 each and dress them. They are then displayed on the Garfield County Courthouse lawn during the month of April.
I spent some time with them before the children were adopted and helped bring the wooden children up from the basement of the Care Campus and prepared them for adoption. A little physical labor is good for me and I might have burned a few calories. The children themselves were made by volunteers who cut out the wooden children and then painted them in preparation for the April event. Each one is different – just like real kids. 
This year there were 241 children representing the same number of abused and neglected children in Garfield County alone. That number is down from 332 last year – progress? I hope so. But still a long way to go.
The Child Advocacy Center https://www.volunteermatch.org runs on volunteers and people who love what they do. They train volunteers to represent children who might otherwise fall through the cracks. They are always looking for more volunteers. Training is provided for ten weeks, sworn in before a judge, and then the volunteer is paired with the family. They represent them in Court and meet with them once a month to see how their lives are progressing.
Check out the Garfield County Courthouse lawn and see the children in all their spring finery. They are a sight to behold and guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings to see the number of children they represent. Check out CASA and see how you can help. Maybe you’d like to be a CASA volunteer.
Spring in Oklahoma has sprung. And nowhere is it more beautiful than in the southeast portion of the state. The forests are magical and made the perfect setting for a Peter Pan-type Oklahoma fairytale.
I took this picture in my friend’s yard. To me, it was a symbol of renewal. I don’t know what bird built it or if it will ever be used again, but it was beautiful in its starkness. There is beauty in simplicity. 
I’ve been in a pulp fiction kind of mood lately. I’ve been re-reading Legends of New Pulp Fiction published by Airship 27 and looking at all the great writing styles. I can’t wait for the New King Kong movie, Kong: Skull Island to come out this week. I think I’ve seen all the Kong movies.
Yesterday was the inaugural Enid Author Fest held at the Enid Public Library. It was a great event! Excitement was in the air as we met other authors and the public. Books were read and sold and friendships renewed – or new ones begun. 
We made new friends and read from our books. The public enjoyed the casual feel of the event as authors read and books were perused. 
It’s coming! The very first Author Fest presented by the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County and the Enid Writers Club will be held on Saturday, March 4, 2017. Forty Oklahoma authors have signed up and will take over the downstairs library that Saturday morning. Many will read from their work and will have their books with them for selling and signing. The fest will be held from 10 am to 3 pm.
It’s coming! The very first Author Fest presented by the Public Library of Enid and Garfield County and the Enid Writers Club will be held on Saturday, March 4, 2017. Forty Oklahoma authors have signed up and will take over the downstairs library that Saturday morning. Many will read from their work and will have their books with them for selling and signing. The fest will be held from 10 am to 3 pm.
My sister once told me she watched me reinvent myself again and again. I reinvent myself, I thought? I had no idea I did that. I guess I get bored easily and want to try new things, but I never thought of it as reinvention.
I needed to get out. Friday was my birthday and I said I wanted a tour of northwest Oklahoma. I needed to see the rolling hills of the prairie, the rocky canyons of Roman Nose, and the lakes of Oklahoma. We made a day trip, took the dog, and traveled from Enid, to Roman Nose, Canton Lake, and then back up to Salt Plains. We made a stop in Fairview for lunch at El Maya (highly recommended) and then back home. The sun shone and the wind blew (it was Oklahoma after all) but for February, the weather was perfect.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be – mountains, beach, desert, in the middle of a forest, or the heart of a big city? Many people would say the beach with the constant ebb and flow of the tide, sea birds screeching overhead, and the smell of saltwater.
Peggy Chambers "Views from the Hammock" site 