Autumn fun...life dreams

Family and friends sharing the joys of autumn. While helping some friends move, our kids found these wonderful piles of leaves and jumped right in. I love how they live life so fully. They worked hard and played hard, something we all should do!

These little sweeties are one of the reasons I’m a writer. I hope to share with them the love I have for life. My hope is to write novels that transport readers to new worlds—real or imagined, and to provide exhilarating adventures that, when finished, will inspire readers to tackle their own lives with spirit and courage.

What hopes or dreams do you have for your writing or other work or hobbies?

Watery Fun as the Warm Season Winds Down

            Today is likely the last really warm day of the year here in Oklahoma. I celebrated by enjoying a boat-making contest with my daughter’s GT class. The kids plunked soda cans into their duct-tape-and- coat-hanger boats to see whose would hold the most before sinking. I’m proud to say that while my sweetie didn’t win, her craft held 21 cans! It was a fun way to enjoy the unseasonable warmth, out on the playground, splashing around in a bin of cool water.

            On Monday night, a lightning strike overloaded our well’s electrical pump, so we had no water on Tuesday. I sent my eldest son to fill a five-gallon cooler from a neighboring well. Barely an hour before company was to arrive, our pump was repaired and water flowed through our pipes (hooray…cooking and cleaning now possible!) I decided to use the five gallons of water for lemonade, but just minutes before our friends arrived, I noticed dirt swirling in the bottom of the container.  So I tried pouring it into the sink. By myself. Bad decision.

I ended up dumping about one gallon down the sink and the other four down my front. Our friends arrived before I’d finished cleaning up the flood and admired me for multi-tasking—cooking, cleaning, and bathing all at the same time! I will admit, the dousing was a welcome relief from our current heat wave!

What watery fun will you miss most as the weather turns cold?

Momentous Moments (All Today!)

1. Being chased across my front yard by two young bulls. Unfortunately, that description is literal, not figurative. They also left an unwelcome deposit on my front walk.

2. Exploring pumpkin patch and corn maze with my 6-year-old son and 80 other first graders

3. Supervising five 12 and 13-year old boys in canoeing, dunking, wrestling, pizza scarfing, gaming, belching

4.  Finally finding properly spaced trees and installing a hammock with adequate hardware (read 'stronger than last time so I don't fall on my bum'). Admittedly, it's over a dry (for now) creek bed, but we're focusing on the positive.

Ahhh...the joys of autumn in Oklahoma!