I have experienced this joyful situation a couple of times lately, and it all has to do with the written word. Let me tell you about what I heard today, because it effects a decision I have to make about what happened February 13th.
I have been really busy. Too busy to think let alone write. It has been a long couple of days. Warm weather gone, I trudged into the post office to mail show invitations. One of my neighbors came in after me and asked if I had heard his "Announcement." (Grandfather? I started to say...) And then I got the news. I have lived down the lane from this man for over 16 years and if I were dangling over a vat of something vile and scorching hot, I could not have saved my own life by guessing what his wonderful news would be. Never. "I have written a BOOK!" (Again my mind searched the wild range of possibilities. Dogs?) He said..."I'm a poet and I have just published my first book!"
What? This bear of a man who plows out my snow covered drive so my family can get in for Christmas? What what what? We went on to talk all about writing, about life and living out our dreams, and his wonderful book that we hope one of our other neighbors who drives a UPS truck might deliver that very day. Hope. I can't tell you how incredibly proud I am of this man, a retired school teacher and Humane Society volunteer, who has written what I'm guessing will be a tender collection of his poems called Whispers of Autumn, Love and Reflection.
This brings me to another evening, another tired Me sitting here after another long day. A very good writer friend of mine Ginger Janda, had complimented me on my blog. And then I was invited to read the latest post in hers, The Beach Writer. Ginger is a wonderful writer, and used to write for and run the local newspaper. She grew up in the newspaper business, and I suspect has printing ink running in her veins. She and her family are now living in Jacksonville, Florida, where they are pursuing their creative dreams. Being a poster child for such endeavors, I am thrilled with every post, beach picture and comment I see on facebook and in her blog. I am proud of her for doing it. Anyway, back to this blog post. In it, she announced very proudly that she had won the Sunshine Award for her blog, and was required to follow certain steps in the acceptance of it. In agreeing to accept it, she had to thank the person who gave it to her, answer certain questions, and pass it along to 10 more people. In true Ginger creative fashion, she chose 5 instead of 10, and based it on the creativity of each writer, each person. Now it gets exciting, now here is my NEWS: she chose me as one of her Round Table. I was amazed and quite overwhelmed. I accept this honor now with great pride, and will attempt to obey (sort of) the rules.
The Rules:
- Thank the person who gave you the award.
- Write a post about it.
- Answer a few deeply personal and revealing questions.
- Pass it along to ten people and let them know they received the award.
Thank you Ginger Janda for choosing me to receive this pretty flower and the award that goes with it. Thank you for noticing my blog and writing...it is something that I do with the part of me that is left over after sculpting. I enjoy it very much, and have written quietly for years.
The Deeply Personal and Revealing Questions:
- Favorite colour: Rust
- Favorite animal: the dog (what...not bunnies?)
- Favorite number: 1
- Favorite non-alcoholic drink: coffee
- Facebook or Twitter? Facebook
- My passion: Creating. Sculpting, building, crafting, landscaping, fixing, cooking, writing, painting, remodeling, growing, making. I love making something out of something else. I love nature, the outdoors and watching things grow. I love sculpting my clay, but I love that my seven acres are a broader canvas for sculpting also.
- Getting or giving presents? Giving
- Favorite pattern: solid colors please
- Favorite day of the week: Saturday
- Favorite flower: anything that begins with H. Hollyhocks, hellebore, Hibiscus, Hyacinths and the grandaddy of my flower obsessions...Hydrangeas!
Pass It Along:
Ginger picked according to a theme. But today, to tie this all together, my neighbor and his budding career gave me my idea. I am going to hand mine out a bit at a time to aspiring writers and beginners just crawling out on the stage of literary notice. I have a few friends who are just starting their blogs. They are just sinking their feet into their words, or transferring their family newsletters into this internet format. I will mention some here, and the rest will get their big surprise when they are ready.
First award, or course, will go to my neighbor who just published his first book, Buddy Hendricks. He is getting ready to start a blog and I can't wait to read it. Another take on Rabbitville Road!
Second, will go to Melanie Deckard, who is going to turn her entertaining, informative and delightful family newsletter into a blog. I told her it would be so much easier for her...no maintaining email lists and sending it all out. Melanie's family are dear friends of mine. Their giving nature and hilarious stories in the midst of family illness and tragedy is legendary. But then, her mom and dad ARE Mr and Mrs Santa Claus. When I have the address of her new blog, I will post it for you.
My third award goes to my good friend and former banker, Brain Rainey. He has started a collection of posts and here is what I think is the first. He is a very dedicated family man with a strong faith in God that helps him and his family through some very interesting times. His sense of humor has gotten me through some rough patches. Good guy, promising thinker and writer.
One more for now, and the rest I will hold like lightning bugs in my secret jar. My lovely daughter, Allyson Baughman is a writer. She writes beautifully and is the Queen of Marketing for the Dunesland Chamber of Commerce up where she lives with her husband Brandt Baughman and the light of my life, their son Asher. She has a blog called Air Baby. I am awarding her this Sunshine Flower, because I want to encourage her to write in the one minute of free time she has each week.
Wow, this was long, or as my Dad would have said, "You sure had a lot of words tonight." I guess I did. To my award winners, please accept this flower, and post it if you want. Follow the rules and pass it along. I will be reading and enjoying, and I will smile from this poster for creativity and say, "Keep it up!" You color the world with your thoughts and writing. You represent what makes us human, our words.
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