New life

Spring is in full bloom here in Virginia. Daffodils and tulips adorn the front of houses and along the roadsides. Virginia is beautiful in the spring. The redbud bushes and flowering trees are planted along many highways making it almost a pleasure to drive for miles and miles. Spring and the flowers bring new life to the world.

Soon Easter will be here and it's time to begin to color eggs, find something nice to wear on Easter day, to go to church, have Easter dinner with your familes and celebrate the day.

Easter in the Christian religion is the celebration of when Christ rose from the dead and the Easter egg has become a symbol of new life all over the world. It is interesting to read about the way different nations use the egg to celebrate Easter. Some countries paint the eggs red to symbolize the blood of Christ, some have very elaborate painting. Most people in the U.S. color the eggs solid colors and might decorate them with pictures or various designs. It's a memorable thing for parents and their children to do together. Our family, like many others,
fixed Easter baskets with colored eggs, chocolate bunnies, jelly beans and pretty
ribbons. Children learn from traditions and hopefully keep them alive.

The Shamrock

The shamrock has been used to symbolize Irish pride. The three leaves of the shamrock, it is said, was used in St. Patrick's time, to symbolize the Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as three persons in one Godhead. This is at the core of the Christian religion.
Being partly Irish by heritage, I find Irish history interesting. I read recently that St. Patrick was captured and enslaved as a young boy and taken to Ireland to tend the sheep. Eventually he made his way back home, but later in life, as a priest, came to Ireland to preach Christianity and convert the Pagans.
The Irish have many sayings, blessings, poems, authors and have given much to the world. They have long been known as having famous authors. A few are: James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, Jonathan Swift, and on and on. More recently there are the Irish dancers on tour and singing groups. Angela's Ashes is a book that people of Irish heritage should like to read.
Many of the settlers in NYC became policemen and firemen and many lives were saved by these brave men and women.
As you wear your green, eat your corned beef (or Irish bacon), and cabbage, drink the green beer and watch the parades, find something to read about Ireland and the Irish in America.

What is love?

When I was a young teenager I asked my mother how I would know when I fell in love. Her answer wasn't very helpful as I remember. She told me I would know. Well, I didn't. There was always a question in my mind. Was it love? Was it infatuation? A crush? Some sort of obsession?

Science has studied love and attraction and come to some conclusions as to why a certain person might be more appealing to the opposite sex, etc. Psychologists talk about the father and mother complexes. Astrologers see it in the stars.
But what is love? And what sort of love? Certainly there is the love of a mother or father for their child. Love of humanity. Love of nature. But I'm talking about the love between man and woman. And is it really love or is it a mating game?
And why doesn't it always last?

I'm sure there are many stories around how someone knew he/she was in love.
If anyone wants to tell a story, you can comment here.
Happy Valentine's Day. Ann

I am privileged

Today I feel privileged to have witnessed a great historic event in the history of our United States, the inaugeration of the first black president. Regardless of our political standing, this day will go down in history. I was the daughter of a southern mother and northern father, neither of whom were very politically minded. I grew up in the north. When I was a little older I saw a few things that shocked me and never forgot them. I was very happy to hear our new president emphasize the need to be one united nation.
I was also privileged to have been born toward the tail end of the depression years, hear about days gone by in the old south, about the rise of Hitler, about unions and then World War 11. There were some terrible times in history, but I feel privileged to have been around to hear first hand about them. There was industry moving south and then to Mexico, competition from foreign countries, wars and skirmishes, the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam and most recent the problems in the Middle East. I feel privileged to have been around for parts of history that we would like to have been erased. I have been privileged to have known very fine people and read wonderful books. If I'm very, very lucky I'll be around to write about some of the things I
can remember. Most of all, though, I'm privileged to be an American.

New beginnings

Well, the holidays are over and people are beginning to get back to their usual ways of life. Some are still dieting, others have given that up. I never promised myself to stay on a diet because I know how terrible I am at that, but I did decide to try to eat sensibly. That means less sweets, generally.

I had a wonderful beginning to the new year. I received a check for a short story I wrote called "Cooling Off the Fireworks." It's published in the new Love Stories Magazine. Right now the magazine is by subscription, but soon will be on the stands. I'm wishing it lots of luck. I like writing short stories, but most of what I've written is not about love, but other topics. I have written a few about nursing subjects, sold two of them and would like to try to sell more if I could find a place to send them. I hope short stories comes back as a popular form of publication. I remember my mother spent many an hour reading short stories from women's magazines. I used to like Redbook Magazine with all its stories and it was a great place to try to sell what you've written. Other women's magazines used to sell more short stories, also. With today's economic problems, it's anyone's guess what's to happen.

Well, have to get busy catching up after the weekend. I'm going over a story I wrote.

Make a Smilebox greeting

The season and the spirit

Thanksgiving is over and Christmas will soon be here. The lights are on the tree and outside around the door. Christmas music plays on some of the radio stations, displays are in the stores.
There was much to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving. Most of the family was together and that's what made me most thankful. My grand-daughter was home from India, safe and sound one month before that terrible event. We have much to be thankful for in this country.
Christmas was always my favorite time of year. The good wishes around the town, the cheerfulness of friends and family. The spirit of giving and wondering just what would be the right gift for someone and giving to your favorite charity. This year I sent for the DVD of the Christmas show at Rockefeller Center. I was fortunate enough to go there many years ago and see the Christmas show. I'll never forget it or the rockettes. It truly is spectacular. I wish everyone would have an opportunity to go there someday.
Yesterday the writing group I belong to had its Christmas/Holiday party. It was so nice to be together with them. They are a great group of people and we all had a wonderful time. The people in charge worked very hard to have things perfect.
I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. Ann