Sunday Bookends: Yard sales, too many books to read, and my book is out there

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends7 Comments

Welcome to Sunday Bookends where I share what I’m reading, watching, listening to, writing and doing.

Last week I spread myself way too thin.

I committed to too much and as a result, my mind and body are still trying to recover. Today, as I write this, my feet are throbbing from holding a yard sale with my neighbor yesterday. We got ready for the yard sale throughout the week and held it for one day and made almost no money. I will never do a yard sale again. This is what I said three years ago when I helped my dad sell a lot of my aunt’s belongings after she passed away, but after yesterday — yeah — I’m holding to it.

It’s not that anything bad happened. In fact, I met several interesting people, which I will write more about later this week. The issue was the waiting, standing, straightening and pulling out items for very, very little return (under $50).

So, no more yard sales.

After the yard sale, I kept moving and went downtown to watch the outhouse races, which I’ve mentioned before on this blog. I will be sharing a full post about the races later this week, including the history of it in our smalltown and more photos.

I know I had a couple of readers who wanted to see photos and learn more about it. I’ll even include a video in the post I share about it.

I did miss the other events of the day, including the keg roll race, which involves rolling a keg full of water (I think it is just water) through a haybale maze or course. I’m sorry, I have no photos of that one for you.

As for the book tours I’m doing, I’ll keep doing them, but I’ll spread them out a bit more next time. I have to read books for book tours, you see, and sometimes I don’t have time to just sit and read so I always panic I won’t get the book done in time. So far, though, I’m doing okay. Last week I posted a book tour interview post for Set in Stone, the fourth book in the Rembrandt Stone series and this week I am posting a review of Rahab’s Courage by Naomi Craig. At the end of the month, I have another review post and at the beginning of September I have two in a week.

After that, I won’t be doing anymore until we get into a good groove with homeschooling, which starts September 1.

The last of my son’s curriculum came this week. I still need a science until for Little Miss, but I have some science I can start with her for the first week. We will be doing a lot of reviewing to start with anyhow.

One thing I won’t have to review as much with Little Miss is reading because this summer, even without going over lessons, she has started reading on her own, to the point she can now read my text messages. I have to be careful what I write or what is sent to me now. The other day she had the phone when a friend texted to ask if we were going to the local fireworks display. Because of the yard sale, I forgot about the fireworks, which are about 20 minutes from our house.

“There’s a fireworks display?” Little Miss cried, looking over my shoulder.

Argh. How I longed for the days she couldn’t read yet (sort of).

“Um…yes, but it’s too late to get there. . .”

Ten minutes of crying followed because she wouldn’t get to see her little friends who we see maybe once a year at this point. Her other little friends moved to Texas out of the blue, two weeks ago, so she’s been pretty lonely.

Earlier in the day I caught her laughing while looking at a text message in my phone.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“This message from The Boy. ‘Mom, I can’t find my glasses.’”

(No, she doesn’t really call him The Boy. That’s simply his blog name.)

These are all simple sentences but early in the year last school year, Little Miss wasn’t even sounding out words. Now she’s reading full sentences and the other day, using an app, she sent me a message on my phone, “I love you, Mom.”

It’s weird to be receiving messages from my almost 7-year-old, but these days many children are learning how to read and spell as young as 4, maybe even 3, thanks to technology. Little Miss has been learning how to read and write through asking me how to spell words so she can message her friends on games or my phone. I even caught her commenting on YouTube accounts (she watches a snake education show and a show that follows a goat farm) recently.

Anyhow, I have digressed. In the midst of book tours and the yard sale, I “launched” my book Thursday, whatever that means. I released it and pretended it was a big deal by sharing posts on my Facebook page and Instagram, but honestly, I lost a lot of motivation to promote it. The constant bombardment by authors pushing books and everyone selling something has beat me down a bit. All of that marketing mixed in with politics on social media has my stomach in knots and my nerves frayed. Even when I try to avoid it all, I get hit in the face with it, so I’m trying to stay clear of social media as much as I can.

So, not to push something I’m selling at you here, but I will mention for blog readers who wanted to read the story in full (there were changes made and chapters added for the final book), you can order an ebook or paperbook copy through Amazon, HERE.

In the midst of the all the craziness, Little Miss and I did find some time for relaxation by going swimming at my parents a couple of times. We spent two hours in the pool one day and almost three another day.

It was a nice reprieve from the crazy of the world and part of me didn’t even want to leave the pool. In the pool no one asks me what I think about the situations in the world or talks to me about politics (even when I don’t ask) or wants anything from me other than to race across the pool. Sometimes I wish I was a mermaid and I lived in water and not in an upside down world.

What I’m Reading

This week I am reading two books for blog tours: Rose Among Thornes and The Husband Auditions. I’ll have more information on them in future posts.

Rose Among Thornes by Terrie Todd is currently available on Kindle Unlimited and tells the story of a Japanese-Canadians and the horror that fell on them during World War II when they were moved to internment camps, much like the Japanese-Americans.

This book is more of a telling of a story, than a showing, just to give a heads up. That doesn’t mean it is bad, it is just different than some books I have read. I will have a full review of it up on August 30, which is my scheduled tour date for it.

Here is a description for anyone who would like to check it out ahead of time:

Forgiveness is the deadliest force on earth.

War might be raging overseas, but Rose Onishi is on track to fulfill her lifelong goal of becoming a concert pianist. When forced by her government to leave her beloved home in Vancouver and move to the Canadian prairie to work on the Thornes’ sugar beet farm, her dream fades to match the black dirt staining her callused hands. Though the Thorne family is kind, life is unbearably lonely. In hopes that it might win her the chance to play their piano, Rose agrees to write letters to their soldier son.

When Rusty Thorne joins the Canadian Army, he never imagines becoming a Japanese prisoner of war. Inside the camp, the faith his parents instilled is tested like never before. Though he begs God to help him not hate his brutal captors, Rusty can no longer even hear the Japanese language without revulsion. Only his rare letters from home sustain him—especially the brilliant notes from his mother’s charming helper, which the girl signs simply as “Rose.”

Will Rusty survive the war only to encounter the Japanese on his own doorstep? Can Rose overcome betrayal and open her heart? Or will the truth destroy the fragile bond their letters created?

I am enjoying The Husband Auditions by Angela Ruth Strong.

Here is a description:

How far would you go to find the perfect husband? All the way back to the 1950s?

In a world full of happily-ever-after love, Meri Newberg feels like the last young woman on the planet to be single, at least in her Christian friend group. So when she’s handed a strange present at the latest wedding–a 1950s magazine article of “ways to get a husband”–she decides there’s nothing to lose by trying out its advice. After all, she can’t get any more single, can she?

Her brother’s roommate sees the whole thing as a great opportunity. Not to fall in love–Kai Kamaka has no interest in the effort a serious relationship takes. No, this is a career jump start. He talks Meri into letting him film every silly husband-catching attempt for a new online show. If it goes viral, his career as a cameraman will be made.

When Meri Me debuts, it’s an instant hit. People love watching her lasso men on street corners, drop handkerchiefs for unsuspecting potential beaus, and otherwise embarrass herself in pursuit of true love. But the longer this game goes on, the less sure Kai is that he wants Meri to snag anyone but him. The only problem is that he may not be the kind of husband material she’s looking for . . .

With droll comic timing, unbeatable chemistry, and a zany but relatable cast of characters, Angela Ruth Strong has created a heartfelt look at the reality of modern Christian dating that readers will both resonate with and fall for.

The book comes out August 19.

I am also reading (when I take breaks from the other books) Another Man’s Moccasins, by Craig Johnson. It is the fourth book in the Longmire Mystery series.

What I’m Watching

I am rewatching To the Manor Born because it is a light, sweet comedy and I need that right now.

We didn’t watch much together as a family this week because my husband had to work late every night and I was working on yard sale stuff.

What I’m Listening To

I haven’t had time to listen to much of anything, honestly. At night I listen to the same Our Miss Brooks podcast I’ve been listening to for over a year, maybe two. The podcast is simply episodes of the old radio/television show from the late 40s and early 50s.

I had very little time to read blog posts last week, so I hope to catch up this week and share some of my favorites in next week’s Sunday Bookends.

What I’m Writing

One day last week I got up early to write a little bit on The Next Chapter, the third book in the Spencer Valley Chronicles. It felt good to lose myself in telling a story again, even though I don’t really have a final plan of how this story is going to go or who the main characters are going to be.

I don’t know when, or if, I’ll be sharing this story on the blog. I haven’t decided if I want to continue Fiction Friday or not, but I may start it back up sometime in September if I do choose to continue it.

On Wednesday, I joined with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs for Hometown Views, where we shared about the churches in our town/city.

I’ll keep you updated on when our next one is. We haven’t decided a topic just yet.

So, that’s my week in review for this week. How was your week? Let me know in the comments.

Interview with the authors of Set in Stone, the fourth book in the Rembrandt Stone series, with Just Read Blog Tours (with giveaway)

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn book reviews, everyday musings6 Comments

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Set in Stone by David James Warren, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The continuing adventures of Rembrandt Stone from the creative minds of James L. Rubart, Susan May Warren, and newcomer David Curtis Warren, writing collectively as David James Warren.

Title: Set in Stone

Series: The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone #4

Author: David James Warren

Publisher: TriStone Media

Release Date: August 10, 2021

Genre: Time Travel Detective Series

Rembrandt Stone is on the case of a serial killer. But when the killer finds him first, he puts the one person Rembrandt loves in his cross hairs. Now, Rembrandt must outwit time to save the people he loves.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | BookBub

BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

CONNECT WITH REMBRANDT STONE: Website | Instagram

INTERVIEW

I’m so excited to introduce my readers to the Rembrandt Stone series through an interview with the three authors who are writing it, Susan May Warren, James L. Rubart, and David Warren. Together, these three authors writer under the name David James Warren.

This series has kept me enthralled for the last two months as I breezed through the first three books so I could read book four for today’s blog tour. I read the books thinking I had signed up for a review. Instead. I had signed up for an author interview (yes, I do have memory issues. Why do you ask?) but was told I am welcome to offer a review as well, so at the end of this post you will find my review of book four. Spoiler alert, it will be a positive review.

Thank you to the authors for taking time to answer my questions.

What inspired you all to join forces for this series of books?

Early in their friendship, Susie and Jim discovered their mutual love of time travel stories. One day they were on an airplane together coming back from a writing conference and they started brainstorming a book. Nothing came of that story idea, but the desire to write a book together someday was cemented in both their minds. Then, in the summer of 2016 Susie called Jim and said, “I’ve got it! The story is a series about a time traveling detective named Rembrandt Stone who goes into the past in order to solve the cold cases that have haunted him for decades. What do you think?” It took Jim a milli-second to shout, “Yes!” So in February of 2017 Susie and Jim and Susie’s son David gathered at Jim’s home and brainstormed the entire series over a long weekend.

Did you find writing a book series together to be a rich or challenging experience for all of you? Or both?

All of the above. When you bring three creative minds together (with strong personalities as well) there are going to be different approaches and ideas on what the best outcome is going to be for a project. But thankfully we all have great respect and love for each other so it’s been an extremely rewarding experience.

Was there a particular literary character or person who inspired your main character Rembrandt Stone? Or maybe a combination of people?

I’m (Susie May) a rabid fan of Henry Cavill and he has a little known movie called Night Hunter. In this movie, Henry plays an on the edge police detective who is searching for a serial killer. Now—I watched this movie AFTER we conceived Rem and his plot, but as soon as I saw it I knew Henry, in this movie, was Rem. I saw him both as young Rem and old Rem, so it helped tremendously as I wrote his character.  Oh, and I also wrote the books for Jim to voice, so he was in my head, too. So, let’s say a morph of Henry Cavill and Jim, who are very much alike anyway. 😊

These books are being released close together in a type of serial style, which this reader, and many readers love. What was behind the decision to release these books this way?

So glad you like the way we’re releasing the books! From the start we saw the stories as if they were a TV series. Episodic. In other words, we knew each book would end on a cliff hanger which meant readers would want the next book FAST. (We’ve tried to let our potential readers know upfront, the Rembrandt Stone books are NOT stand alones.) With the above in mind made sure we were going to be able to release them every other month so the series would conclude quickly.

Now that you’ve combined forces with other authors, do you think you will do it again with other authors? 

I think each one of us is very open to the idea if the right project comes alone. The reality is getting input and ideas and perspective from others is always going to make a story stronger. When Susie and Jim write their stand-alone novels, they still get a tremendous amount of input from others, so getting to work directly together with other creatives is only going to enhance a project.

How important are books in our times when things in the world can feel chaotic and unsteady to many?

They’re critical. If only to pull people away from an increasingly divided nation and world. Good stories entertain, inform, heal, offer a chance to escape and show truth in ways non-fiction simply can’t. We hope readers will be taken on a thrill ride by The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone, but also come away with more hope and joy in their lives.

What future projects do each of you have coming up and where can readers learn more about those projects?

Susie -I’m currently writing the third book of an epic Alaska series due out next year with Revell. I’m very excited because I think readers will enjoy meeting the brothers of Sky King Ranch. Readers can always stop by www.SusanMayWarren.com for more updates on what’s going on!

Jim – At the moment I’m focused on narrating books five and six in the Rembrandt Stone series and I’m giving serious consideration to writing a book for fathers on how to have a stellar relationship with their sons. Readers can connect with me and sign up for my newsletter at: https://jameslrubart.com/

David – The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone is very much a first foray into writing for me. It’s been a heck of a ride trying to make these books the best they can be. I’m buckling down for Rembrandt Stone’s finale, and then I’ll see where the wind takes me.

My Thoughts on Set in Stone

In her book The Story Equation, Susan May Warren talks about how in a well-written book the main character must have a dark moment.

Well, Rembrandt Stone has dark moment after dark moment in David James Warren’s time travel series about him and it’s enough to make a grown woman cry. Each of the books provides a heart-pounding, never-ending emotional roller coaster ride for readers, and the latest installment, the fourth book, Set in Stone, is no exception.

Just when the reader thinks Rembrandt is going to get back to where he should be, after fixing some mistakes he’s made in past timelines, the authors send you skittering down the emotional slope again where you sit and wonder if you — er I mean — Rembrandt will ever see the light of a hopeful day again.

I have truly enjoyed these novels so far (there are two more set to be released) and I’m going to be brutally honest, I wasn’t sure if I would or not. When I started these books and signed up for this tour, I simply wanted to try something different by two authors I enjoy and one guy I hadn’t heard of yet. I’m not usually a reader of time traveler stories, despite being a fan of Doctor Who, but this one held my attention through all four books. The novels held my attention so well that I am literally vibrating with anticipation at reading the final two books in the series set for release in the fall and winter.

Thankfully, these books are being released in three-month (or so) increments so book five will come out Oct. 5 and book six a little earlier on November 23 (which also happens to be my husband’s birthday and my brother and his wife’s 25th anniversary).

I don’t know how this series will end, and I don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t read it yet, but I want the authors to know that things better work out for my favorite characters or I am going to need a box of chocolates and box of tissues mailed to me personally by each one of them. It will be the only way I will make it through my grief.

It helps to know when you start the series that there are more books to come and there is still a chance it will all work out okay.

What is fun about a time travel series, especially when the book is about a character traveling back and forth in their own timeline, is that there are a plethora of twists the plot can take and paths the character can walk. This series reminds me a lot of those “choose your own ending” books, but instead of the reader being able to choose the endings we want, we are at the mercy of two men and one woman to bring us the ending we so desire.

However, we the readers have to remember that the authors have their own endings in mind, and we, or at least I, trust them to write the ending that is best for Rembrandt, Eve, Burke, Booker, and everyone else we’ve come to love.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

The bottom line: 5 stars out of 5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James L. Rubart, Susan May Warren, David Curtis Warren

James L. Rubart is 28 years old, but lives trapped inside an older man’s body. He’s the best-selling, Christy Hall of Fame author of ten novels and loves to send readers on mind-bending journeys they’ll remember months after they finish one of his stories. He’s dad to the two most outstanding sons on the planet and lives with his amazing wife on a small lake in eastern Washington. More at http://jameslrubart.com/

CONNECT WITH JAMES: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling, Christy and RITA award–winning author of more than eighty novels whose compelling plots and unforgettable characters have won acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. The mother of four grown children, and married to her real-life hero for over 30 years, she loves traveling and telling stories about life, adventure, and faith. For exciting updates on her new releases, previous books, and more, visit her website at www.susanmaywarren.com. CONNECT WITH SUSAN: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter David Curtis Warren is making his literary debut in these novels, and he’s never been more excited. He looks forward to creating more riveting stories with Susie and Jim, as well as on his own. He’s grateful for his co-writers, family, and faith, buoying him during the pandemic of 2020, and this writing and publishing process.
CONNECT WITH DAVID: Instagram

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a print copy of Set in Stone and a $15 Amazon gift card!

Set in Stone JustRead Blog Giveaway

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight August 10, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on August 17, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

JustRead Publicity Tours

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

Hometown Views: Churches

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings11 Comments

Hometown Views is a feature hosted by Erin and me where we focus on an aspect of the area we live in. Erin lives in an urban area and I live in a rural area so it’s been fun to compare our various locations in these posts.

This week Erin and I are showcasing the churches in our towns/cities for Hometown Views.

I decided to focus only on the churches in our town for this one. There are four located within the town limits, but there are also a couple of country churches outside the limits. I’m going to focus on the four within the town limits.

I honestly don’t know tons about three of the churches. The largest, most prominent church in our town, the catholic church, St. Basil’s, receives the most attention because it sits on a hill overlooking the entire town.

If you take a photograph anywhere downtown, the church will be in the background.

It’s a stunning example of architecture and draws the eye even of those who are not religious. It is flanked by a beautiful, historic cemetery that stretches back to a wooded area.

The bell in its tower tolls five times each day: 6 a.m., 9 a.m., noon, 6 p.m., and 9 p.m. and you can hear it no matter where you are in town. Three years ago, the copper from the beautiful bell tower was stripped away by a tornado which also removed 100-foot trees from in front of the local apartment complex and damaged homes in our town, including the one we now live in. Many of the homes on this street have metal roofs, replacing shingled roofs after the tornado. My neighbor told me the shingles from their roof were embedded in the siding of our house.

The grove of trees next to us and beyond the neighbors on the other side is still a tangled mess from that day.

There is a debate in my house on how to pronounce the name of St. Basil’s. However, I know I am right when I pronounce it with the long vowel sound of “a” (saying the “a” sound) and my husband is wrong when he says it with the short vowel sound. His sounds distinctly British to me while my way to say it is distinctly American. Since we drove the British from our midst over 200 years ago, I know I am saying it correctly. *wink*

Ask around town, though, and you’ll hear it pronounced both ways and most who attend it don’t care which way it’s pronounced. It’s the same place either way.

According to some history, I gathered through a local history and genealogy site, St. Basil’s was one of two Catholic settlements first started in this region of Pennsylvania. The parish was established in the mid-19th century by Catholics who gathered here and supported themselves from the land, versus some kind of industry.

The first reference to the “settlement on Loyalsock Creek” was made by Bishop Francis Patrick Kenrick in his diary in 1836. The priest wrote about traveling 70 miles up the creek to reach this tiny settlement of “some Irish and even more German families” and present them Mass in the home of a settler.

“Some of these people have lived hidden away here for fifteen years,” Kenrick wrote. “During that time, they never saw a minister of religion. I remained there about four days, and each day I celebrated Mass in the home of Darby Deegan. About thirty came to receive Holy Communion. They have agreed now to build a church of wood [probably a log chapel], hoping that a priest may visit them four times a year. I have decided to place them under the care of the Rev. Henry Fitzimmons.”

The church was built of stone between 1868 and 1871. The first Mass held there was in 1871.

Besides the amazing stonework, some of the most impressive views of the church are inside where a breathtaking painting of the Ascension of Christ appears above the altar.

Taken from the church’s Facebook page.

There are also paintings on either side. I would love to know more about them, but I couldn’t dig up any more history on them before this blog post needed to be finished. Perhaps I can gather some more information about the interior of the church for a future blog post.

The front doors of the parish school building.

My great grandfather, a mason, worked to help build the school next to the church. The school is no longer used as a school, but it is used by the church for Sunday School and church and community events. The fellowship hall has magnificently high ceilings and is very picturesque.

One of the classrooms.

The school was called St. Basil’s Parochial School and a wood structure was originally built in 1877. The current stone structure was built between 1924 and 1925. For the first three years, Sisters of Christian Charity, The Mallinckrodt Foundation, was in charge of the school. Later, up until the school closed (I’m not sure of the date for its closure), it was run by The Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, of Scranton.

The school once offered classes for grade levels from Kindergarten to 12th grade. Again, I’m not sure when that stopped. Most of the Catholic schools in our area only offer education up until 8th grade and then students either go to the local public schools or the Catholic High School 35 miles north.

So yes, St. Basil’s is the premiere church in town.

The stairs leading from the church grounds to the old school.
St. Basil’s from the local playground.

The other churches in town include the United Methodist (called St. Paul’s, which is weird since I thought only Catholics referred to Paul as “saint”):

This is an online download because I apparently lack the ability to step back for my photos.

The Lutheran Church, or Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Zion Chapel (I could not get a photo of this building without the electrical wires in front of it):

And a non-denominational church, The Redeemer Bible Church:

Now, when I was writing this, Google told me there was another church in town, the St. John Lutheran Church. I checked Google to make sure I hadn’t missed a church. I had no idea what they were talking about, and I can’t be sure the church building is still there (I only discovered its existence as I was finishing this post late yesterday evening, so I will investigate its existence at some point this week), but this is what a website I found shows as being the church:

I believe it is outside of our small town a little bit.

Obviously, you should not use my blog post as any kind of historical reference for the churches in my town.

There are many small country churches around us as well and I wish I had made time to visit each of them for this blog post. I might have had time, but quite frankly, it would have taken up at least a couple of days with all the driving.

The church down the road from my parents’ house.

Many of the small country churches in our area were built sometime in the early to mid-1800s and made out of wood. The fact they are still standing is a miracle in itself. The buildings are often still intact because the ancestors of those who attended or founded the churches took it upon themselves to become the caretakers of the buildings. Not only do these caretakers preserve the history of the church by maintaining the buildings, but they also preserve the history of the settlers and people of our area.

The church down the road from my parents’ house.

The people who attended these small churches were the people who built our roads, farmed our land, created our industries, produced food for their families and the families around them, and were essentially the backbone of early America. Without them, we wouldn’t be where we are today — a nation built on some sadness and incorrect behavior, yes, but also a nation built on freedom and free will, a gift bestowed upon us by our Creator at the beginning of the world.

For the people in these early communities, the church building was where they went to worship God and thank him for all they were given and had. It was also where they gathered to celebrate, mourn, and remind themselves of the importance of fellowship with each other, but, most importantly, with their Creator.

These churches stand as a reminder for us to do the same and honor our founding fathers and the ideals this nation was founded on.

To learn more about the churches in Erin’s area, hop over to her blog.

Sunday Bookends: Warmer temps coming, books for book tours, and blog posts I enjoyed

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends11 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Bookends post where I talk about my previous week, including what I’m reading, watching, listening to, writing and doing.

The temperatures dropped last week, and I loved it. I know. I’m crazy, but I liked the cooler temps that allowed me to curl up under a blanket, with a mug of tea, and read a book.

I was hoping for some warmer temps this week so I can take the kids swimming at my parents, however, and it looks like we are getting it. A little hotter than I would like, actually, with temps inching toward the high 80s. Of course, they are going to be in the high 80s the week of the local carnival, which is returning aft­er being canceled last year. I was hoping to take the youngest there while the oldest and their dad volunteer at the firemen’s tent on Thursday night, but I’m not sure I want to feel like I’m walking through a sauna, so we will see how it goes.

We have about three more weeks before school starts and I am hoping we can squeeze some fun in those weeks, but also some relaxation.

Last week Little Miss and I attended an event at a local conservation area about 20 minutes from us. The conservatory includes trails, a cabin from the time around the Revolutionary War (and relocated there from another location), a rope climbing area, a musical instrument area, and a place for crafts.

 A book was read, the students were let loose to explore some stations in the woods, and then they were offered a chance to build a salamander out of clay and place it in a habitat they made. Little Miss went all out, creating a salamander and her baby. She kept running back to the lady leading the event, asking for more clay, different colors, to create her salamander. All of the other children made a salamander in a few minutes and were done. Not my kid. She was creating a masterpiece. And I thought that was pretty cool. The people running the activity did too and enjoyed taking photos of her creation and her.

After the activities, Little Miss decided we should go look for frogs in the pond. We didn’t find frogs, but we did find lily pads and vowed to return to the area again to look for more frogs, as well as to take part in another one of the conservatory’s events before the summer is over.

What I’m Reading

I am reading books for book tours I signed up for right now.

The first book I need to finish is Rahab’s Courage by Naomi Craig. So far, it’s good but a little tedious in some places. It’s a romance, which I wasn’t expecting. It is also Biblical fiction.

It is well written, but not a happy book.

I need to look for happier books after this one.

I have another book to read for a book tour at the end of the month, Rose Among Thorns by Terrie Todd. Both of these authors are new to me.

To break up the Biblical Fiction, I am reading Another Man’s Moccasins by Craig Johnson. It’s the fourth in the Walt Longmire series.

Little Miss and I have finished Little House in the Big Woods and she asked for a horse book instead of the next in the Little House series, so we are reading Misty’s Twilight by Marguerite Henry.

This Thursday on the blog I will be part of a book tour for Set in Stone, the latest book in the Rembrandt Stone series. My post will be an interview with the authors, Susan May Warren, James Rupart, and David Warren. Together they are David James Warren.

What I’m Watching

Last weekend we watched The Maltese Falcon with my parents, which was different since we usually watch movies with only my husband and I or our son. Little Miss is there too but she doesn’t really watch the movies. She plays games on my phone or paints or chases the dog. Black and white movies don’t interest her much.

During the week I watched mainly To the Manor Born, which is a British sitcom from the 1970s. I am getting caught up in the story of the woman and the man who took over the estate she once lived in and am very curious to see if they get together or not. It’s a very light comedy, something I really need these days.

My husband and I also started Upstart Crow, despite the fact my son said the canned laughter on it is annoying. To put him in his place, I did a search online and the laughter is not actually canned. It’s filmed before a studio audience, but The Boy says they are just saying ordinary, unfunny things, and laughter is being layered over it. I said that some of the lines are funny without the laughter, but he didn’t agree.

If you haven’t guessed, my teenager is a bit of a downer these days. He finds fault with what we used to enjoy doing together and analyzes shows, movies, and activities to the point they aren’t fun anymore. Hopefully this is a stage he passes through quickly.

What I’m Writing

I’m not writing much, to be honest. After finishing and editing Harvesting Hope, I’m a little burnt out. I have slowly started writing another book, called The Next Chapter, but I haven’t written more than a few words a day on it. Seriously. I know. How sad. I hope to find some more writing time this week as ideas are sprouting into my mind for the book when I have down time. Unfortunately, the last couple of weeks have been very busy so I haven’t had a lot of down time.

Harvesting Hope will be available on Amazon Thursday. It is currently marked down to 99 cents for preorders so you, my blog readers, can snap one up for next to nothing. I will be raising the price a few days after it’s release.

Last week on the blog I shared a post with photographs, not a lot of writing involved there, and a post about the many cats that have been part of my life in a post entitled Finding Zorro.

I also shared a revamped post about writing that I had previously written for this blog, on Hope, Hearts, and Heroes, the group blog I am a part of.

Blog posts I enjoyed recently

I am very behind on reading blog posts. I have been trying so hard to read the books I promised to read for blog tours, that by the time I get to the blog posts, my mental energy is gone. Still, there are a few blogs I make sure I keep up on. This week I have a list of four posts that I enjoyed and think you will enjoy as well.

1. I always enjoy when Our Little Read House goes on an antique shopping trip in her home state of Arizona and takes us with her.

2. This one is a couple posts back, but I also enjoy when Mama’s Empty Nest takes us on her trips around the country. This one is about the area they moved to years ago with their family in the Willamette Valley, between the Oregon Coast Range Mountains and the Cascade Mountain Range.

3. I also enjoyed this post by C.S. Wachter on Hopes, Hearts, and Heroes about words we use incorrectly in the English language, many times because we simply aren’t aware of the rules.

4. Fuel for the Race had a great post about our need to continue to run the race of life, just as Olympic athletes ran races over the last two weeks.

That’s my week in review. How did your week go? Reading or watching anything interesting? Do anything exciting? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear (read) about it.

Finding Zorro

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings10 Comments


I was talking to my son the other day about the Siamese cats in The Cat Who books who almost sound like they are talking to people. Our former vet (who has since passed on) told us one time that our cat, Zorro, was most likely part Siamese because of how he spoke to us as he walked down the driveway to our old house, as well as some other physical attributes. I mentioned this tidbit of information to The Boy who said, “Oh! That reminds me, Grandpa thinks we found Zorro in the barn the other day.”

My expression froze, and my mouth dropped open.

“Excuse me?”

You see, Zorro has been dead for anywhere from 12 to 15 years. That’s right. I don’t know how many years because I can’t remember when he died. Isn’t that awful?

The Boy’s eyes got big, and he literally gulped. “Um…I shouldn’t have said anything.”

My chest tightened and I felt tears pricking my eyes, though I don’t know why. I knew Zorro was gone, but it was still hard for me to imagine the cat I had from junior high until after I was married at 25, lying dead in the barn.

“Grandpa would have told me eventually,” I said.

“Probably not,” The Boy said with a shrug. “We found him last week. He was all curled up behind a dresser like he’d just gone to sleep.”

This revelation prompted me to call my mom because suddenly I couldn’t remember what happened to Zorro. In my head, he had been put to sleep after a kidney infection, but then I realized I must have been wrong. I felt awful that I didn’t remember how one of my favorite cats ever had died. Zorro had such an amazing personality. My mom is allergic to cats so she could never pet him or have him inside, but she talked to him in a sweet voice, and he talked back to her. He also rolled over as she was talking to him, just like she was petting him. It was as if he understood she wanted to pet him but would itch all over if she did.

When I called Mom, she realized she couldn’t remember what happened to Zorro either. After discussing it, with Dad offering his memories in the background, we concluded that Zorro had wandered off to pass away. He was quite old, over 15 years old, maybe close to 20, and had been having kidney issues for a long time. Dad blames himself for him wandering off, says he didn’t get him to the vet for his kidney issues, but I think Dad’s memory is off because thinking back, I do remember Dad taking him to the vet after I had moved out and was living with my husband. Zorro was on antibiotics and a special cat food for many years before he passed away.

After we brainstormed on what had happened to Zorro, we realized we couldn’t remember what had happened to our other cat, Leonardo, either. I named Leo after Leonardo DiCaprio. It was the around the same time the movie Romeo and Juliet with DiCaprio and Claire Danes came out. I was home from college one weekend when he arrived, if I remember right.

I picked out his name, despite the very vocal protest of my mom, who said she would never go out on that porch and call “Leonardo!” across the valley when it was time for him to be fed. The joke was on her. She totally did that, more than once, over the next decade, that cat was alive. She did it often the time he went missing for a week and we all figured he’d been hit by a car or chopped up in the hay baler when the neighbor cut down the hay in my grandma’s fields (we had moved in with my grandmother by that time). He hadn’t been killed, but instead had been trapped in the grain shed.

When my dad opened the door and he wandered out, he was about 10 pounds lighter (he was a fat cat before that) and my parents didn’t think it was him until he came to the patio door and stretched his full body up the door like he always did when he wanted to be fed.

My grandmother, who was in her late 80s at the time, was the only one who could pet Leo. Not only could she pet him but she could practically cuddle him while he laid across her lap. Mom said it was because the rest of us moved too much and Grandma simply sat still, which wasn’t usual for her either. My grandmother was on the move almost up until the day she died.

Leo did eventually wander off and pass away, as far as any of us know, much like Zorro had. The only cat we remembered being put to sleep after she became quite old (close to 20) and sick was Four, who I left with my parents after I got married. She was a rescue from my mother-in-law’s cat and flea infested home and had an orange four in her fur on her forehead.

Of course, I remember other cats we had in the past. We had a lot of cats over the years because there was a non-working chicken coup behind our house and I’m imagining people passing by thought it was a barn because they would often toss cats out near our property. There is a common misconception that cats can simply go live at a farm, but guess what? The farmer has to feed the cats along with every other animal, so it’s really not like the children’s books which suggest that barn cats are beneficial because they catch the mice in the barn.

A photo of my scrapbook of my grandmother with Leo.

The first cat I remember was a cat whose name I can’t remember. I was very young when we had him, but I remember he couldn’t meow. When he tried to meow, it came out as a whispered gasp. He got stuck in our burn barrel one day and I happened to hear his gasp and found a board to slide in so he could climb out. I’m guessing he fell in looking for old chicken bones. For the city-folk who read my blog, a burn barrel is a barrel where rural folk burn their trash (papers only please and thank you. Anything else and it starts to stink. We did burn chicken bones in there because otherwise we had to throw them out in with the food waste and cats or other animals would eat the chicken bones and possibly choke.)

The next pair of cats I remember is Morris and Marvin. They were brothers and I named Morris because he looked like the cat on the 9-Lives boxes. They were both orange cats and I have no idea how they ended up at our house. They used to sit on either side of our front door, like bookends, waiting for us when we came home.

Sadly, Morris was killed by a car and not long later, Marvin was hit by another one. We lived along a major highway so we lost a lot of cats this way. We really liked Marvin and wanted to save his life so my mom, who I mentioned is allergic to cats, rushed Marvin to our local vet. Our local vet said the cat needed surgery and suggested he either be put down or my mom drive him 30 miles to the animal hospital. Mom drove that cat 30 miles, crying most of the way while he cried in pain, scratching her face because he was itching.

Surgery was done, a $300 bill was wracked up (we were told never to tell my grandmother of this bill because in her day, which was during the Great Depression, they would never spend that kind of money on a cat. They drowned kittens in the creek to keep from having to feed them), and in the end Marvin passed away at our home anyhow. It was so heartbreaking, but Mom made a gallant effort for him, forever driving from our mind the idea that she wasn’t a fan of cats. She loves cats. She simply can’t be around them because of the allergy.

After Marvin and Morris, I remember Cleo, who I named because she looked like the cats in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Cleo came to us with another cat, who we didn’t name, and both of them were pregnant. They both also gave birth in our basement at the same time and we had 12-15 kittens then to give away. The kitten we didn’t give away, who we somehow fell in love with, was Zorro.

I should mention, as well, that Zorro was one of three black cats I have owned in my lifetime. The second black cat was my husband’s before I married him and we had her until she was 19-years-old. The third black cat is our current cat, Pixel. Have they brought us bad luck? I don’t believe so. We’ve had bad and good experiences throughout our lives, like anyone else.

I still hate the idea of Zorro cat dying alone in the barn, but it was one of his favorite places to hide out and it was probably how he wanted to go — alone and quiet, curling up and then drifting off to sleep.

Isn’t it weird that after all these years of him being gone, that I teared up when I wrote that previous sentence? Our pets stay with us for only a short time, but our memories of them last our lifetime.

Looking back at July in photos

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings7 Comments

Our July was a little exciting and a little boring. A pretty good mix. I don’t expect a lot boring until September when everyone returns to school. Well, actually, students around us will be returning August 23. Our homeschool doesn’t start until Sept. 1, however.

The most exciting part of July was visiting Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, N.Y. and seeing the giraffes, lions and other animals.

The rest of the month was filled with spending time with Little Miss’s friends, gathering with my parents on the weekends and some weekdays, and other, faily laid back activities.

Sunday Bookends: Time Travel Thrillers, wildlife abounds in our neighborhood, and lots of British shows this week

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn Sunday Bookends6 Comments

Welcome to my Sunday Bookends post where I talk about my previous week, including what I’m reading, watching, listening to, writing and doing.

What I’m Reading

I’m on to the fourth book, Set in Stone, in the Rembrandt Stone series by David James Warren after finishing book three, Sticks and Stone, last week. Book four will release on August 10. I am reading it for a book tour being held the week of its release.

Here is a description of the fourth book but be warned there are some spoilers for the first three books:

Trapped in time, he’ll have to use the past to fix the present.

Thirty-eight women. Dead. All the in the past. All because Detective Rembrandt Stone played with fate, and somewhere in time unleashed a serial killer. He can’t undo their deaths, not anymore, but the serial killer is still at large, twenty-four years later, and now it’s personal. Especially when the evidence points to the last person on anyone’s radar: Rembrandt himself.
Now he’ll have to use the clues from his pasts to track down the killer in the present.

But the killer is onto him and puts the one person Rembrandt loves in his cross hairs. Now, Rembrandt must outwit time to save the people he loves.

Because time is playing for keeps.

The fourth installment of the True Lies of Rembrandt Stone will have you holding your breath and leave you gasping for more.

I am also reading Rahab’s Courage by Naomi Craig, which releases August 17. It is a Biblical fiction book and quite good so far.

Here is a description:

A scarlet cord tethers one ruined woman to the salvation of mankind.

Harboring two fugitives in a city slated for destruction, Rahab has one small chance of escape. In exchange for their safety, she bargains for her own. Their agreement rewards her courage, and she flees Jericho and a life of prostitution for a new life among the people of Israel. Never again will she have to depend on anyone—especially men.

Except Salmah won’t take the hint.

High ranking soldier and leader of the tribe of Judah, Salmah is determined not to repeat his parents’ mistakes. He will keep the Lord’s commandments. Rahab’s growing faith fits right in with phase one of his plans: find a wife who loves the Lord and settle down in the new land.

Rahab finds shelter and meaning in the Lord’s ways until her past comes back to haunt her. As her new faith is put to test, she finds herself alone. Isn’t that what she’d always wanted?

With her courage waning, only the Lord can turn Rahab’s life around again, but will He do it before she loses everyone and everything that really matters to her—to her heart?

I will need to finish both books in the next couple of weeks, so wish this slower reader luck. It shouldn’t be too hard since I am taking a news and social media break this next month. I won’t be totally off social media since I administrate a couple of book groups and am releasing a book, but I am planning to be on very, very little, probably once a week.

What’s Been Occurring

This week was full of more time spent watching the little girls who stay with their great-grandmother, our neighbor down the street, during the week. She used to watch them at the same time, but now she only watches one at a time because they are quite active, and she gives out of energy fast. Much of my week was spent watching them play in the yard and ride their bikes in front of the house.

My husband took one of Little Miss’s training wheels off to get her used to balancing more and prepare her to ride her bike without the training wheels. She was so proud of herself she blazed up and down the street over and over again Friday and Saturday. Each of those nights she fell asleep super fast, of course.

This past week was apparently our week to interact with wildlife. Early in the week, my son saw a toad in the yard while he was mowing and caught it for Little Miss and her friend to see.

They put the toad in a bucket and took turns holding him, decided he was a girl and named him, er, her Violet, later released her, found her again when she didn’t moved from where they’d placed her.

Then Little Miss proceeded to fall in love with her and it took a little convincing for Little Miss to release Violet again 20 minutes later, even though Violet had been making terrified little squeals since they had caught her. I don’t know what Violet thought of me but she leaped toward the camera in a bid to escape at one point. It happened so fast, I didn’t have time to focus on her leaps toward me.

Little Miss’s friend told me Little Miss had decided the toad was a girl by “looking.” I have no idea where Little Miss looked to tell the frog was a girl, but I just let it go.

On Friday, Little Miss and her friend traveled with me when I took The Boy and his friend over to my parents so my dad could take the boys to our county fair. On our way back to the house we saw two racoon babies along the road near my parents’ house, but sadly I was too far away to get a good photo of them. About ten minutes later, near our house, we saw a young buck. I actually didn’t notice the deer was a buck. Little Miss’s little friend pointed out his antlers.

I tried to grab a photo of the buck, but my camera kept focusing the grass in front of him instead. He was probably only about five feet away from us at the time, on a small bank above us and near my neighbor’s house.

Little Miss’s friend said her and her Nana saw an adult buck in her backyard yesterday morning. I’m hoping to catch a glimpse of him in our backyard at some point. We haven’t seen as many deer in our yard this year as we did last year.

What We’ve Been Watching

Last week we watched Key Largo with Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson, which I had never seen before. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

For those who have never seen it, I pulled a description off Rotten Tomatoes.

This classic film noir by John Huston stars Humphrey Bogart as World War II vet Frank McCloud. Visiting Key Largo to pay his respects to the family of his late war buddy, McCloud attempts to comfort his comrade’s widow, Nora (Lauren Bacall), and father, James Temple (Lionel Barrymore), who operate a hotel. But McCloud realizes that mobsters, led by the infamous Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson), are staying in the hotel. When the criminals take over the establishment, conflict is inevitable.

I’ve also been watching a lot of To The Manor Born, a British sitcom from the 70s and Lovejoy to try to avoid news sites.

What I’ve Been Writing

On the blog this week, I wrote a blog post with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs about the schools in our different parts of the world (she lives in a more urban area, and I live in a rural area, so we’ve started a new feature where we compare “our worlds” so to speak).

I also shared some random thoughts/events on Friday to replace Fiction Friday for now, since I am working on completing corrections to the manuscript of Harvesting Hope (which comes out on Kindle August 12) and don’t have another story to share right now..

What I’m Listening To

I’ve still been listening to songs from Danny Gokey’s new album and I highly recommend Agradecido being turned up loudly and repeated at least twice.

So those are my random thoughts for the week. How about you? Share what you are doing, reading, listening to, watching and writing in the comments.

Randomly Thinking: My sleep sheep keep talking to me, creepy creatures, and lucid dreaming

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Randomly Thinking4 Comments

I have had this Randomly Thinking file started for two weeks but have not had enough material or enough time to put it together. Since I don’t have anything for Fiction Friday today, I figured it would be a good day to post it, though I usually post it on Wednesday or Thursday. 

So, without further ado, my random thoughts from the last few weeks.

***

My husband posted on Facebook a couple of weeks ago that he had been having trouble sleeping so he had decided to count sheep. I told him I couldn’t count sheep because when I do they just repeat all my worries and problems back to me as they jump.

 “Did you look at your bank account today? baa…”

“What in the world is going on in Israel now? baaaa….”

“You don’t have an ending for your next book and that book on writing you read said you have to have a beginning and an ending planned before you even start writing. Baaaa…”

“What’s with Donald Trump’s hair anyhow? Baaaaa…”

So, I just don’t count sheep anymore. Noisy little things anyhow.

***

I make oatmeal every other morning and I always try to put only the smallest amount in, so I don’t end up with too much. I am very bad at this measuring by the eye thing, I guess because every single time I still end up with a huge bowl of it. No matter what. 

“It expands, Lisa!” I yell at myself every time.

I mix it with peanut butter and a few (hundred) drops of maple syrup so it is sort of like a no-bake cookie.

***

About two weeks ago small grasshoppers and katydids started showing up in our backyard and Little Miss decided she needed to capture them and keep them in small containers so she could look at them or something. I don’t really know why she wanted to keep them. All I know was that my living room soon had four plastic canisters full of little hopping insects and that those containers didn’t keep them contained very well. 

I had planned to release them after Little Miss went to bed or the next morning but before I got that far, I spotted the kitten in the kitchen with one cornered ready to eat it. Neither the kitten nor the child seemed able to catch it, until the next morning when the kitten ate it in front of The Boy while he was waiting for his grandpa to pick him up for work.

Luckily, the grasshoppers and katydids have hopped off to somewhere else for now. If they show back up, I’m letting Little Miss that if she wants to look at them outside, that’s fine, but no more bringing them into the house where they can escape and possibly crawl on me at night.

***

Speaking of creepy creatures in our home, one night last week I thought I saw something fly in front of me while I was sitting in our living room. I have eye floaters, so for a moment, I thought maybe it was something like that. Or I was having a stroke. Instead, the dark streak I saw in my vision was a bat.

Yep. A bat.

It had somehow got into our house and was flapping around the living room, trying to figure out how to get back out.

I wish I could say I was calm about it all, but I was not. Not at all. 

When that thing kept flapping toward me, where I was sitting on the couch, I kept picturing its little face and then imagining it gripping my hair in a panic, getting stuck there and flapping around like a crazy person.

Little Miss knows all about animals, of course, so she was delighted by it all and kept running around, giggling and telling us facts about bats and how they fly by sonar. I didn’t care what they fly by. I just didn’t want that thing in my hair. She was very excited when the bat landed at one point and she got to have a good look at him with “his cute little ears.”

I called my parents in the middle of it all to ask how Dad had gotten the one that had been in my room one time and my mom suggested I put a blanket over my head, so I did. I placed a pill and blanket over my head and screamed anytime it came near me while my dad scoffed on the other end of the phone.

I don’t think the fact we had watched The Birds, the Alfred Hitchcock horror movie, a couple of weeks before, had helped. 

I was legit terrified and finally ran to the downstairs bathroom while my husband and son opened the doors and eventually convinced it to fly out our back door.

I spent the next week thinking I could hear bats crawling in the wall or squeaking, but so far, no more have shown up.

***

My children aren’t excited by this next piece of news, but I am. I ordered a large chunk of their curriculum two weeks ago and it arrived last week. I was so excited to open the boxes and check it all out. I wanted everyone else in the house to be excited too, but they weren’t. The Boy rolled his eyes. Little Miss grunted and the husband said, “Cool. Have fun.”

Oh, I will. I will.

I honestly can’t wait for September 1 to get here.

*** 

I was chatting with someone online about the ability to imagine scenes, people, or events in vivid detail, which made me think about vivid and lucid dreaming.

Lucid dreaming is when you recognize that you are dreaming and then you change your dream while it is happening.

I have been able to do this a time or two. The one time it stands out the most for me is when I had a dream about an elderly friend and his wife who passed away 13 years ago.

My friend, Rev. Reynolds is in the dream with a dark background and a bench in front of him and he says “Oooh, Leeesa (as he always pronounced my name this way in his thick Northern Irish accent), I’m so happy to see you. Come and give me a hug.” He gestured with his arm toward the bench after I hugged him. “Let me get Maud for you. You’ll want to see Maud.” Then he turned slightly like he always did in life when summoning his wife, “Maaaaud! Maud! Come see, Lisa!”

Usually when he gestured, though, he was suggesting Maud make me some tea.

In the dream, I suddenly realized I didn’t want to see Maud. Maud was dead. Maud might look like a zombie. I didn’t want to remember Maud as a zombie. 

Then, before I could stop it, there was Maud on the bench and her face was normal at first, then it began to slowly deteriorate into blackness on one side, decomposing before my eyes. I held up my hand and turned away. “No! This dream is going where I don’t want to go.” 

In a room that was more like a cave in front of me were “people” or figures sort of golden on the edges, staggering against each other and moaning but I was already turning away and saying, “No. I don’t want this dream. I’m going to wake up because this is not how I want to remember my friends.”

And I woke up and ending the dream.

What about you? Are you able to change your dreams? 

***

Every once in a while, as we will be eating steak at my dad’s and he’ll say, “It’s not too bad. For being bought off the back of a truck.”

 Either that or “Grabbed this up on super sale. It was probably about to expire.”

We never know exactly what to say. 

***

Little Miss attended a church camp last week. She and her little friend were the only children at the camp but had a lot of fun.

Some of her comments during the Bible lessons were hilarious, but also a little nerve-wracking for me. At one point the young lady leading the group was talking about the story of Joseph and asked, “What would you think if you had eleven older brothers?” 

Little Miss responded, “Oh man. That would be so annoying.” She then proceeded to explain how annoying her older brother could be at times and how there are times she just has to punch or kick him. Sigh.

The young lady then told the story of Joseph being throw into the well and Little Miss said, “I might punch my brother or something, but I wouldn’t throw him in a well. That’s crazy.”

Later the young man told a story and he said something about a golden scarf. Little Miss, however, thought he said golden skull so when the young man asked what the girls thought of the story she said, “Well, I think that’s creepy.”

“What do you mean?” the young man said.

“That man pulled out a golden skull . . .” Little Miss said.

I laughed and let her know that he had said “golden scarf” not “skull.”

“Oh good,” Little Miss said. “That’s much better.”

***

Those are my random thoughts for this week. I actually had another random story/thought but I decided to break that one off for a separate, future blog post, so next week keep your eyes open for the blog post about my son and dad finding the cat I had as a child more than a decade after he died.

How about you? Any random thoughts? Let me know in the comments.

Hometown Views: Schools

On By Lisa R. HowelerIn everyday musings, Hometown Views5 Comments

Welcome to a new feature from me and Erin at Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs called Hometown Views, where we share views and stories from our respective hometowns (or the towns where we currently live anyhow).


Today, Erin and I are focusing on the schools in our areas. Because Erin lives in an urban area and I live in a rural area, our schools are obviously going to be much different. While the schools in her area are large, the schools in my area are small and many of them could probably fit twice over in the school buildings in her area.In the county I grew up in, and attended school in, there are seven school districts. The majority of those districts have two or more school buildings, one for elementary, one for middle (in a couple of cases) and one for high school. The rest of them only have a junior-senior high school building for grades 7-12. This was the case for the high school I attended, which is located about 10 miles from where I live now. When I was growing up, the school district I lived in, Wyalusing School District, consisted of an elementary school in all the little communities in the district that went from kindergarten to sixth grade. That was four elementary schools.

After sixth grade everyone went to the high school, which is about 20 minutes away from where I lived (15 if you floor it).

The school as it looks today. Photo by my husband.

Several years ago, after a lot of arguing, the district closed all the elementary schools and built a joint elementary school on the same campus as the high school so now there is one junior-senior high school and one elementary school for the entire district in one place.

We visited that campus with our children a couple of years ago and they enjoyed playing on the playground that did not exist when I attended school there. In fact, when I attended high school there, the space where the elementary school is now was swamp land and woods. It was located behind the high school track and football team.

The new elementary school. Photo by my husband.
The playground that wasn’t there when I was a kid and teenager.
Behind my son is the elementary school that did not exist when I was a kid.
You can see the pretty, slopped, front yard of the school in the background of this shot.

This was hard for the communities where the schools were located because the schools were a central part of the community. Events were held there and the children who attended the schools became a close-knit group in many cases. I would not say that the children from my school became a close-knit group, necessarily, but that did happen in other schools. When I attended the elementary school, which was two to three miles from my house, our classes were very small. There was one classroom for each grade, and we had about 25 to 30 children, often less, in each classroom.

In the elementary school in the same town as our high school, Wyalusing, there were sometimes two or three classrooms for each grade with up to 30 children in each room. The other, outlying elementary schools, were similar to mine with only one classroom per grade.

My old elementary school as it looks today (despite that time stamp. I pulled this off a map site.)
This is the back of the school and behind the photographer would be the playground. That slide was one of those metal slides that set your legs on fire in hot weather.
Missing from this photo is the tether ball that used to be off to the right. This is also what the playground looked like after I left the school. Those monkeybars on the left aren’t the same monkey bars I fell off of and blacked out under when I was in second or third grade but they look very similar.

Thinking back, I can remember almost all of my elementary school teachers, except my Kindergarten one. I don’t think she was there very long, but I’m not sure why. Next up was my first-grade teacher who made you stand in front of the classroom on your birthday so she could pull your ear the number of years you were. She also had it in for one of our classmates and treated him pretty awful, despite him having a cruddy homelife.

My second-grade teacher was considered the nicest teacher in the school, and I believed this until she yelled at me one day for asking a question and tossed a workbook at my feet for answering a question wrong. Honestly, looking back, I have a feeling she was in the middle of menopause, and we had hit just one too many raw nerves that day. She was still one of the nicest teachers, but I regarded her with a healthy dose of suspicion from then on.

My third-grade teacher was said to ride a broom to school. She had a high-pitched voice that probably made the ears of dogs’ bleed. I honestly do not remember any horror stories about her but I don’t remember her being the nicest teacher.

My fourth-grade teacher was a man who owned and bred Huskies and used to bring the puppies to class on occasion where one promptly pooped the largest, slightly green pile of poop in the middle of the floor, leaving the class in stiches for the rest of the day.

I don’t have a ton of memories of my fifth-grade teacher, other than I think she was fairly nice. I also know that she passed away of a brain tumor several years ago, which is heartbreaking.

My sixth-grade teacher developed laryngitis frequently throughout the year, which the class eventually learned to use to their advantage. She would give assignments out for something, and we would pretend we couldn’t hear her. “What? I’m sorry, Mrs. Corson. I can’t hear you. Was that math you wanted us to do?”

She’d eventually scowl at us and write the assignment on the chalkboard. This was a big issue later when it was discovered that part of the reason she developed laryngitis several times throughout the year, was that she was allergic to chalk dust. Or at least that’s what I heard from a family member after I was an adult. I’m actually not sure if that story is true, but she did lose her voice often.

In sixth grade, every sixth-grade class from the district would pile on to busses and travel to Washington, D.C. for a three-day trip. The year I went, they made us wear the ugliest neon green hats with a W written on it, but there was a method to their madness. They wanted to be sure that if the groups were separated, they could find each other from a distance. It worked very well. Once, when we were separated from our group, we looked up across the Washington Mall and there were fifty-some neon green hats dotting the horizon, alerting us to the fact we were way off base from where we were supposed to be. Of course, we had chaperones. These were either a teacher or parent, and as far as I know, they did a wonderful job.

I don’t know if it is “politically correct” or “Christian” to mention this, but there was an Asian woman selling Bart Simpson T-shirts on the streets in Washington near Ford’s Theater during our trip and you could hear her up and down the street yelling, “Who da’ hell are you? Ten dolla!” over and over again. The shirts, of course, featured one of Bart’s famous sayings. His famous sayings are some of the main reasons I was not allowed to watch the show as a child, by the way. And yes, since you asked, several children came home with Bart Simpson T-shirts with Washington, D.C. emblazoned under an image of Bart and “Who the hell are you?!” emblazoned on the top of the image.

We also enjoyed listening to people try to pronounce the name Wyalusing. I’m sure I’ll mention this in future editions of Hometown Views, but Wyalusing is actually shortened from the Native American name M’chwihilusing. There is another Wyalusing in Wisconsin and I know the two towns are connected, but I can’t remember how. I believe settlers from this Wyalusing traveled to Wisconsin and weren’t very original, so they reused the name of the town they came from. I’ll have to touch on that in a future blog post.

Anyhow, I have digressed greatly from providing information about the school district I was educated in.  The Wyalusing School District educates approximately 1,350 students from K-12. Graduating classes are around 80-130 children, but usually closer to that lower number. My class of 130 was said to be among the largest when we graduated mumble, mumble years ago.

The school mascot is a ram. The school colors are green and gold and, yes, I can still sing the alma mater.

In the Wyalusing Valley, on the Susquehanna shore, stands our noble alma mater . . . okay, I won’t bore you with the whole thing.

The high school offers a variety of sports and extracurricular activities, including football, wrestling, golf, baseball, softball, cross country, track and field, volleyball, and basketball. I did not play any of these sports. I did participate in Orchestra, where I played the bells (xylophone) and chimes (oh, I could tell you some stories from that experience, but I won’t. Not today anyhow.). I also wrote the high school information column for the local weekly newspaper, where I later worked (after college) and where my husband is now the editor.


The high school was very well known for an extremely strong drama department when I was a student. I don’t know if this is the case now, but when I attended high school there, the popular kids were on the sports teams, yes (the most popular being on the wrestling and football teams. Quite a few state champions came out of the wrestling program over the years), but almost as popular, if not sometimes more popular, were the singers and actors who performed in the annual musicals. Many of those students thought their poop didn’t stink, as the saying goes, and I think a couple of them might still feel that way, even though only one of the students I knew from the program at the time, went on to have a nationally recognized career.

If you weren’t an athlete or a member of the drama department, you were pretty much a ghost at my high school and, for me, that wasn’t a bad thing. I liked being left alone to read a book, sketch, and write in my journal. I never had any interest in being popular. Let a friend of mine sing her heart out on the stage and date the star, then receive a bunch of attention for her beautiful voice (much deserved, I might add) because all I wanted to do was hide in my room and be left alone to the characters in my mind and in my books.

I’m sure the school district can boast many successful students who have graduated from its ranks, but one student who stands out to me and other alumni is Lucas Steele, who was nominated for a Tony in 2017 for his role as Anatole in Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812. Other students (even the ones I joked about above) did well for themselves in their own right, however, and I truly hope they have all had happy lives, no matter where their career paths have led.

In the county where I live now, there is one school district – the Sullivan County School District – and one high school and elementary building for the entire county.

You read that right.

The schools are the only schools for the entire county. Well, two if you count that the elementary school building is right next to the junior-senior high school but not connected. I did not drive the 12 minutes from my house to photograph the school buildings because I had too much going on this week and last. I searched for photographs online and there were zero. I mean zero photographs of the school buildings, other than a few I found on Facebook of the building after firefighters had to respond to a fire there in 2019. The building was damaged, but luckily renovated and repaired. I also found another one of the building on the first day of school, though most of it is blocked by the busses. The photograph does, however, show part of the lovely campus the school is located on.

The district educates approximately 600 children.

Yep. That’s it. Six hundred children from K-12. People who live in larger cities are reading this right now and saying, “Six hundred children?! In two schools? For the entire county?! One class in our school had 600 students!”

It should be noted, however, that there are only about 6,000 full-time residents in this county. A large part of the county is made up of state gameland and there are also a large amount of cabins that are used throughout the year, but mainly during the summer, by people who live out of the area (usually in Philadelphia and New Jersey).

Because of its small size, the Sullivan County High School does not offer football. It does offer basketball, baseball, volleyball, wrestling, track and field, cross country, and soccer It also has a band, but not usually a marching band since there are no halftime shows in soccer or the other sports. The only time the district’s band performs a halftime show is at the two-county band exposition held each year in the neighboring county.  Like the school I attended, they offer chorus and various music programs.

The school mascot is a griffin.

I had to research was a griffin is because I always forget. According to Wikipedia, it is “a legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion; the head and wings of an eagle; and sometimes an eagle’s talons as its front feet.”

You may be wondering, if you are new to this blog, if either of my children have ever attended any of the schools I have mentioned. The answer is no. My son attended a small, private Christian school until sixth grade and my daughter has been homeschooled for her entire school career so far. My son is now also homeschooled.

When I was mentioning the schools in our area, I did forget to mention the three private, Christian/ Catholic schools. The protestant school educates up to twelfth grade and the two Catholic schools educate up to eighth grade, after which students can either attend the high schools in the district they live in or they can go the Catholic high school in New York state, which is about a half an hour drive from the one private school and an hour from the other.

Now that my rambling about local schools is over, you can hop over to Erin’s blog and read about the “big city schools” outside of Detroit.