Online Writing Classes

I like online writing classes. I have not liked every class I have taken, but I have learned something of value in every class. For example, lyric essays confound me and I learned that in a lyric essay class. I now attempt to read something the teacher has written before I sign up for his/usually a her class.

The options are many. The promises are grounded in reviews by previous participants. The classes with Story Circle Network have consistently pleased me. Oh, there might have been one or two that were disappointing or less interesting. I would like to teach a class for SCN someday but the resumes of the facilitators are so impressive. First, I must send out work to become published which means I must “set myself up for rejection….after rejection…..after rejection.” That is one goal for 2023! Send my work out!

The classes for SCN have just been posted. They begin in July. I am debating, but thinking the class with Anne Randolph “Write Hot” might stir my inkwell. Want to join me?

https://www.storycircle.org/class/write-hot/

"Deal" Cried the Loser

I am beginning to understand why old folks reminisce. We have time and memories. We try to sort out what life has dealt us and how we played our cards.

I think about timelines and how there is confusion in my mind as to what occurred when. I need to document and literally create a calendar.

I think about how I spent the years being a stay-at-home wife raising the five children while their father traveled and supported us.

I think about the debt we incurred because we acted like there was never going to be a downturn in our financial situation. I question our immaturity and lack of budgeting which created tension and embarrassment for all of us, including teenage children.

I think about not reminiscing, about purging the past like it barely occurred and just forging ahead with activities and busyness of an old woman.

However, I want to make sense of my life and to do so I much accept my responsibilities in the decisions that were made, bad, good, and those that really didn't matter. I don't believe there are many of the latter. It seems like all decisions affect one another.

And so I shall reminisce, maybe write a page or two, maybe ask the children for some photos to recall those times as my memory flounders. I made mistakes and I suffered consequences. We all did!

I have no photos of the first marriage, the raising of the children, the vacations, the graduations, family get-togethers. However, the children may have the shoeboxes or they may have disappeared in the divorce and with the deaths of the father and step mother. It's possible. 

I haven't been interested in this challenge until recently. Along with the recognition of choices made that created disharmony, I may find peace in knowing I am still alive and willing to ask for forgiveness and one more chance to heal the disconnections in our family.

Let's just say that I am playing poker, holding the cards and probably have a full house of memories to deal with, gently and cautiously.

Ava

 

This is our dog, Ava. We adopted her through adopt a pet.com. She wasn’t a rescue. The owner needed to find her a home die to commitments with her job and her Army Reserve status.

Ava has been with us 2+ years. She was 2 years old when we adopted her.

We love her. She is with us in our journeys and our staycations. We have yet to board her as she is a marvelous traveler.

One of our favorite excursions is a trip to the gorgeous unleashed dog park in Kerrville, Texas, ten minutes from our home. It is alongside the Guadalupe River where she wades, never swims.

She is now the proud owner of a new doggie backpack. We are using it only for long hikes and I am hoping the connection of wearing it and long walks will be her next positive reinforcement.

What is she? you ask.  Maybe Husky and Aussie and a whole lotta’ wonderful companion!

Farragut State Park

Farragut State Park - my home away from Texas until after Labor Day. The travel trailer is parked and hooked up to all the amenities on Volunteer Loop. I am awaiting my new outdoor screened room to be delivered by Amazon.

This park is only 30 minutes from my daughter’s home in Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho.

I am a volunteer here working with the Junior Ranger program. The designated room is beautiful with many opportunities to learn, explore artifacts and earn a Junior Ranger badge.

Today is very quiet,  Thursday and school is not out yet. I imagine the campground is very quiet too.

The trails are plentiful and I am just getting acquainted with the other volunteers and the myriad of activities.

https://parksandrecreation.idaho.gov/parks/farragut/

Check it out and plan an adventure to someplace somewhere in our beautiful “Land of the Free.”

I feel blessed to have this opportunity.

The Blog and More

I am contemplating the value of blogging, the possibility of blogging with advertisement and how to increase my audience with this simple personal blog.

First, I am convinced that I do NOT have a following. I am also convinced that I do NOT know the "ins-outs" of this particular blogging machine. Definitely a learning curve for me.

I took a "how to blog" class once and it was quite specific with lessons on getting one's blog to the top of the heap when folks surf the net. The logistics of blogging were overwhelming for me. I filed that class folder away.

This blogging site is sufficient for me with its user-friendly format. Should I just remain with this free site?

I don't have the answers and I certainly don't have the knowledge. I guess you could say that I am out of my comfort zone.

What exactly is my comfort zone?

I am journaling about that as I type. Perhaps my analyzing pen will tell the secret today as I blog and seek where my summer journey is leading.

Stay with me for the whisperings that my journal will reveal.

06/01/2022