A friend gave me a thank you gift after I provided them with food post-op. I never know whether to send a thank you note for a thank you gift. If I do, will they respond in kind and where will it all stop? But it is lovely to look at and reminds me that spring is just around the corner.
I remember once during winter when I was young, I took my houseplants to the back porch and transplanted them into some better soil – just so I could get my hands dirty and smell that loamy scent of the good earth. That year spring could not come quickly enough.
With retirement and spare time on my hands, I find I stay busy. Like the office I used to run, I organize and file my life these days whether it is getting ready for the upcoming meeting of my writing club or making it to exercise class at the YMCA, I plan and organize and probably will until the day I die.
I love literature and recently a commercial on TV used the Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) poem Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night. The poem is about aging and dying and not giving up easily. The commercial prompted me to look up the poem and I printed it out to keep with my writing. The internet is a fabulous thing. Then a pop-up suggested I might like a poem a day. I gave them my email address. I may live to regret that. I may not want to “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” My email box fills up fast as it is.
It is obvious that I love the simple things, a good poem, a lovely flower, dirt under my nails. But that is how life should be. I’m content to cook a meal, read a book, write a book, or grow a flower. I don’t need to rule the world (what a job THAT would be) or be a millionaire (I’d have to organize and file all that money!). I have my classes and clubs and family. I have flowers and books and a husband to talk to. I have friends and a hot cup of coffee.
Life is good.
With all the political ruckus this week, we need a little fantasy. And I’ve got just the thing – a fun story with original art by Andy Fish and Zachary Bruner.
I remember the Enid ice storm in 2002. We lost tree limbs, were without power for over a week, I came down with a respiratory infection, and my best friend died of cancer. It was my birthday. The grocery store shelves were empty and lines at the gas station snaked into the street. ATM’s didn’t work and stores allowed you to write a check. T-shirts were made for the survivors of that event.
AUTHOR FEST POSTPONED TO MARCH 4 In an abundance of caution, due to the potential of bad weather this weekend, the Enid Public Library’s Author Fest has been postponed until March 4, 2017. If you have questions, please contact the library or me.
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, January 14, 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 library is creating a booklet so attendees can have their favorite author autograph it. The fest will be held from 10 am to 3 pm.
Each year as I begin a series of blogs, I try to find a theme to follow. This year that theme is “something new.” I will try each week to bring a new experience to my blog. This week I am interviewing local artist, Robert Steele (portrait by Wes Gray Photography). I’ve known Robert and his wife, Julie, for over 20 years and we don’t see each other as much as we used to. But like old friends do, we recently gravitated back to each other due to reunions, deaths of friends, etc. And for the first time, I bought some of Robert’s art. He is also the artist for the Q-Spot in Enid and uses many different media for a canvas. His art can be insightful, funny, strange, but always unique, like the artist himself. So, please welcome local Enid artist, Robert Steele.
The scent of my mother-in-law’s Italian Cream Cake recipe wafting from the oven for the big dinner tomorrow, I prepare our annual Christmas Eve dinner. It was something we did years ago with kids – snacks and Christmas goodies in front of the fire. There would be plenty of food tomorrow. When I was young you could bet I was cooking for Christmas, probably still wrapping, and the frig was full with items for the family dinner tomorrow. So we had snacks for Christmas Eve. No one ever complained. And years later we still do it.
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, January 14, 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 library is creating a booklet so attendees can have their favorite author autograph it. The fest will be held from 10 am to 3 pm.
The Christmas wreath is a standard in our home. It hangs on the inside of the door. It is too thick to hang between the wooden door and the storm door without being crushed, so I hang it so the people on the inside of the house can feel its Christmas spirit. 
Peggy Chambers "Views from the Hammock" site 