The Graduate

Ahhh, graduation! Tis the season alright!



This year marks the 30th year since I graduated. It sure doesn't seem like it's been so long ago, but reality check says it has. What have I done with all of that time? If I had to do it all over again would I? You bet I would, in a heartbeat!

There are many things I would do, like not get married the first two times. Never tried cigarettes. Spent more time listening to my folks, maybe even co-wrote something with my dad. Finished college. Kept writing. Exercised. Never refinanced my house( it would be paid for now)! Those are just the major changes. I would have really liked the chance to change some of the paths I chose. Yes, there are regrets. If you hear someone say they wouldn't change a thing, they are lying through their teeth! There is always something, even if it was a minor incident.

Even though I am a bit more savvy about things I learned through my chosen path, I know I can (and have) benefit from those learning experiences. Yeah, sometimes it takes more than one mistake to fully get the meaning, well, for me it has. I wouldn't have to go far to have someone back up that statement. And no, I will not go there!

Some of the positive things from the past 30 years do include the fact I'm still with the same job for over 20 years, not doing the same thing, but nevertheless I'm still there. I have my own house and a couple of decent vehicles. I have beautiful nieces and nephews and two handsome great-nephews. I have had many great friends; some have passed on, others moved on, one or two are still around and I enjoy making new ones. I have reconnected with a "long lost" cousin and a good friend from when my family lived in Nome, Alaska. Even though our family split like brittle kindling when my dad died, we were never too far apart and are now beginning to come back together. I have a pretty cool marriage, it's the third one, but it was meant to turn out that way. He tells me I wouldn't have liked him very much when he was younger, maybe, maybe not. That one can go both ways.

I still make mistakes. I'm pretty sure there will be more. I pray though I have enough sense in my head to not make so many.

To those who graduated this year, congratulations! You have many possibilities that await you. Stick with your dreams. Listen to your folks occasionally, they know what they are talking about when it comes to life's experiences, they were young once. Be wary, be smart; pay attention to the things around you. What's that saying? Trust few, harm none? Be compassionate, but don't let people take advantage of that. Give glory to your God, pray for all humanity.

Now, I have to go. I have a friend whose little girl is getting to see what her kindergarten room is going to look like. She just graduated from pre-school. My great-nephew will go next year, he's only four.














My Senior picture 1978














My g-nephew, "T", and me 2006














Kindergarten Queen 2009

A wild ride

With aching muscles I climbed out of bed this morning, surprised by the fact I could. Actually, considering what happened, I feel pretty good.
Alan and a buddy of his from work decided they wanted to go on a float trip on the Buffalo River. It was all set and we anxiously awaited the day. Alan and I woke up a little fuzzy from a late night spent with friends who coaxed us into drinking a few beers, but we loaded up our gear and headed out. The start of the day was absolutely beautiful! Sunny skies and warm temps, promises of sunburns and sweaty arm pits in full "for sure" mode, but it didn't matter. There would be plenty of opportunities to jump in the water to cool off. Sunscreen to keep the burns away, (although we saw plenty of folks who I'm sure wished they would have put some on!) sun glasses to shield our eyes and hats to keep from getting burnt heads too. We were prepared and ready to have fun! The first thing we came across on our way to Ponca, Arkansas ( a few miles down the road from us) was a part of the highway washed out from the recent rains we had back in April and March.

The drive was scenic, hills lush with trees in full leafiness (?), fields knee high and higher with grasses of all varieties. Spring is in it's most greenest state. There were wildflowers blooming everywhere! The blackberry bushes are loaded down with blooms, I plan on doing some backroading later on and pick a few before the birds get to them!
Anyway, we got to our destination a half hour early so we walked around and checked out the store which is really cool. They several types of canoes, one of them made of wood on display. The store was loaded with all kinds of stuff a person may need on their float or camping trip they may have forgotten at home.

The folks running it were really nice and full of information about the river and it's condition. One of the things they told us was that there were places in which we would have to get out and ford the river. Even though we had all that rain the river was pretty low in several areas. We just didn't know how low it turned out to be!
Soon we were on our way and pushing out into the river. Now mind you, it's been nearly fourteen years since the last time I went floating in a canoe. I'm about 80 pounds heavier now than I was then and of course I'm fourteen years older too. No, we didn't dump the canoe! We did finally get our bearings and with a few wrong turns with the paddle I thought I had it down. It was so beautiful! I would like to say it was peaceful, but there were plenty of canoes and kayaks along for the ride too, but that was okay. I was really enjoying this! I wasn't so sure I would be able to though, I have carpal tunnel in hands, elbow issues and a jacked up knee. But I was having a nice time. Then we started to hit the low spots. We had to get out of the canoe to get it over the rocks. They had a thin film of algae on them and of course rocks move when you step on them. I just knew I would end up breaking or spraining my ankle. There were a few times we were able to just push with our paddles and make it over the low areas, but more times than not, it was out of the canoe again. My poor husband did most of that tho, and he's my hero for the week (He's always my hero ).
We finally stopped to eat. So far, Alan lost his sunglasses and stubbed one of his toes. His hat that he uses when mowing the lawn fell in the water as well, but he retrieved it, soggy and misshapened, still wearable for the time being. Egg salad sandwiches and veggies with ranch dip and chips, to eat and flavored waters to drink. There were other beverages, clamato beers (which are yummy) and frozen margaritas (of course by now they weren't), but after the previous night I really wasn't up for that, I stuck with water. Alan decided to try a little fishing. We spotted a few fish along the way, most of them are sucker fish, they eat algae and snails , but there were blue gills (panfish) and several bass too. On his second cast he caught a fish, a "brownie" small mouth bass with a crayfish lure. It put up a pretty good fight too. We figure it was at least a foot long.

On we push, after a few more of those low water "pushings" my arms were beginning to get sore, more than once I got my paddle directions mixed up, we would end up hitting the shore, get cross ways in a rapid or go down them backwards. We did make a few of them where some folks didn't so I suppose it evened itself out. There was a guy with a video recorder who is doing a documentary (I overheard this) got us going through some particular rough rapids which we aced! I was quite proud of that! We watched as a couple of kids decided to jump from a huge tree overhanging the river. In this particular canoe, one female and two guys occupied it. It seemed the girl was the one doing all of the work, she had to get out and do the pushing across the low areas, then walk while they floated away (go figure). And we pushed on.

By now, we are wanting to get to the halfway mark, this is a ten mile float and it seemed as though we had been out on the river for hours. Well, we had nearly four hours by then. By now Alan not only lost his sun glasses but somehow lost his fishing pole. As far as we know, it's still in the river. We never saw it go out of the canoe. We kept taking on water, more than once we stopped to dump it out. Then I hear faint rumblings of thunder, great.
The halfway mark is called Hemmed In Holler, this is where most of our fellow floaters were at.

My shoes have large rips in them. The places where I did not get sunscreen applied on well are red. Dark, angry looking clouds are moving in. It looked as though they my move west of us, but I kept looking up to the sky. I DO NOT LIKE STORMS They are wonderful and beautiful as long as I am not underneath them. Our floating companions decided they wanted to take the hiking trail and go check out a waterfall. I would have liked to do the same, but my knee said other wise. My shoes and socks were wet and hiking in those would have spelled blisters, even in that short distance. I use to hike a lot in the Cascades back in the days of my youth, I know how painful that is. I didn't feel comfortable leaving our gear unprotected. There is supposed to be a code of honor amongst campers and the like, but unfortunately, those days for the most part, are long gone. Alan and I stayed while Tommy and his wife Regina took the hike.
Pretty soon the only people who were still on the water were us, Tommy and Regina, and a sparse few. The clouds are really building and the rumbles of thunder are turning into claps of thunder. Bolts of lightening arc across the sky. I'm really freaking out in my head. Everybody knows you shouldn't be out in the water during weather like that, but we didn't have much choice. Now not only was I worried about getting my digital camera wet, I'm worried about rising water, and electrocution. We are making good time though, once past the halfway mark, the water seems a bit deeper, but there are larger rocks in the river and huge slabs in the shallows covered in algae making footing hard. Then it begins to rain.
At first, it was slow, but the thunder is closer between the lightning flashes, the storm is coming and here we are. Oh my god. The canoe has a lot of water in it now and then it begins to pour. I want to cry. After a bit, the rain subsides somewhat and the thunder begins to ease up. Yeah! We have a few rapids to get through, great. I'm pretty wet now, praying the camera is okay inside the bag I have stored most of our food stuff and such in. We make it through them without a whole lot of trouble, there were some pretty big boulders under the water but we steered clear of those, yet we managed to get sideways. Alan's just about had enough of that, it wasn't our fault really, in some places the current is swift and unforeseen circumstances can jump out at you before you have time to say......... oh shit.
Then it happens. Yep, we or should I say I managed to dump the canoe. It happened fast too. We let Tommy and Regina go through the rapid first, they came very close to some flood debris caught up along the shore line. The bank cut in deep underneath all of that crap. Okay, I knew we needed to stay to the right of that and we would be in the clear. That friggin' water was running fast and then I saw these sticks just waiting to poke out my eyes or skewer me right between the eyes (I like my eyes and head to not have sticks poked into them thank you very much) and I ducked, backwards. I leaned over a bit too much and felt the canoe begin to capsize and over we went. I felt like I was getting sucked under the damn thing but all I could think of was my camera and it was in the black bag. I had it up over my head, out of the water, Alan had me and the canoe. He kept shouting for me to stand up, but I couldn't get footing, the current in that particular part was very fast. I finally did but the shock of the water and the swiftness of it had me hyperventilating. I only do that when I'm terrified.
Then I started crying, no one saw me do that. I was pretty scared and I guess the fact that I screwed up made feel bad. I was tired, sore and ready to call it quits. We are still on the river though and we had to recover our belongings and dump the water out. I think what really got to me was the next floaters who came through made it past that without issue. With the help of our friends we were able to retrieve our things, but I lost my sunglasses too. The camera? It still works! I felt bad though, but I was reassured that all was okay. Many people dump their canoes, even the most experienced can have it happen. Alan ended up giving his poor straw mowing hat to the river, it was beyond fixable. His tackle box filled with water too. I had thought about putting the camera it it, I'm glad I didn't! As it was, we were not far from the final destination, Kyle's landing. The rain started again, but I was so glad to see the end. I went to step out of the canoe but I couldn't get up, I think my knee locked up, and had to have Alan pull me up. He's my hero!
Will I ever get into a canoe again? Hell yeah! It was a lot of fun for the most part. I like canoeing, used to do it all the time, but not on rivers. We will do it again, but we think it will be on the lake. It's great exercise, you get to see beautiful views, it's quiet, and no gassy smells (unless you fart).

A busy woman!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything here so please pardon me, I've been busy! (LOL)

A lot has happened, spring has sprung and we are hopping right into summer.

The day after my birthday (April 10th) I met up with a fellow writer (left) Jackie, in the fine town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We met at a convience store west of ES and from there we stopped at an overlook of the White river. Man, what a view! This picture of white river was taken during the opening of the flood gates and the redbud trees were in full color. It was pretty chilly, the wind was kicking up too, thank God it was sunny!

Jackie and I are in a writer's group together. Critique Circle has been my writer's home since January. I read one of her articles and that's how we got to know each other. CC hosts a number of things for members to do in addition to reading & critiquing (or crit) other writer's material. But, because of this I have learned quite a lot on editing and finding the flaws in my own material. You don't even have to be a writer, you can simply read the stories posted as well as enjoy the other amnemities. CC also has a map where members can use a virtual push pin to show where you are from. It's pretty cool too. There is a member who resides in Anartica, how cool is that?

Anyway, Jackie and I live fairly close so we decided to meet and have lunch in Eureka Springs at Pied Piper, a cool little Irish pub setting with excellent Corned Beef and Cabbage dishes and Ruben sandwiches that are piled high with meat and saurkraut and gooey swiss cheese, yuh-uum-uh-ummmmy! *stomach growls*

We talked about our families, the ups and downs of being a writer. We both agree it's a thing of passion to continue despite the pitfalls. We decided to go check out some of the shops in the area on Spring Street. Beautiful quilts and clothing to art pieces beckoned me, wishing I had just a little bit of money to get some of these wonderful things! I'm 100% sure I could spend a thousand G's in no time flat just from what I wanted! Then, I spot the bookstore. I just had to buy a couple books for my reference section, just had to. Out came the credit card, which gets scarcely used by the way, (been there, done that, no fun later when the payments come) and I became the proud owner of a bartender's drink book and another book on the usage of words. Of course, we both wanted to see our novels in this and other book stores, nationwide and across the globe, what writer wouldn't?

We wound our way back to the parking lot of Pied Piper where I drove her to her car parked at the convience store where we met. I thouroughly enjoyed our visit and hoped we could meet again another time. Jackie sent a message to me a couple of days ago that she and her family are moving to Kentucky sometime in June or July.

Unfortunately, I will be busy with work, it's that time of the year when a lot of vacations come around and so days off will be switched around again for a while. My husband's band LiveWyre (more on that later) is off and running, so things are going to be busy there too. I have to have my time to work on projects, the latest, a short story, Thunder Thief aka, The Man Who Stole the Thunder. I want to begin submitting it to magazines on the market. In July, there is another novel writer's month called JulWriMo, the goal is 50k, but you can already have a project in the works with this contest. Again, it's a contest for word count, I'm not sure how successful I will be, but as long as I get Savant moving along toward a finished draft, I'll be happy! I've had my head in research books for this one, I merely want to make sure I am an author who creates beliveable characters and plot. I think I can make some major progress now that I have most of the scenes worked out. Yeah, buddy!

I'm sooo glad the weekly, days on end, rains finally stopped. The last few months are history, floods, and freezing temps are no more, still have to keep an eye to the sky when it comes to the weather though, tornadoes seem to be nearly a year round thing anymore. Aside from nature's touchy temper, it's still an uplifiting expierence for me just to sit out on the porch or under a tree in the yard. A nice, light breeze ruffling the thick green leaves and rapidly sprouting grass. I may have a glass of wine in my hands, I may not, regardless, it relaxes me.

I love the birds chirpping in the bushes, the drone of a twin engine plane flying over which to me is kind of a lonely sound, something I've thought since I was a kid. The only things I wish didn't come with the warm weather are bugs and stinging things. My boss has already been stung by a yellow jacket at work, it nailed him four time on the back of his neck, apparently that was the least of his worries, last weekend (Mother's day) he was thrown off a horse and ended up with a stiff knee and a bruised ass. *Snicker, giggle* only you boss man, only you.