9-11. Today, the nation hangs its head in prayer. Years ago I wrote a little poem that I felt at the time and would like to share it with you.

Free

by

Annabelle Ambrosio

As I lay beneath my oak tree,

And gazed into the sky,

How peaceful was my home life,

No troubles, thought I.

The nails held down my shutters,

The chimney worked all right,

All was "peace" and secure,

Through the stillness of the night.

Then along came my neighbor,

And warned me of a plight,

"They're chewing beneath your foundation,

Working quietly with all their might."

The sounds, the signs, were only foolishness,

I told him with triumph,

No great threat to my fine home,

Of love, and peace, and warmth.

I could not be bothered to look for them,

Or protect my foundation more,

For the windows were down,

The glass was clean,

And I had shut the door.

So today I lie here gazing,

Beneath my old oak tree,

Out toward my shaky timbers,

My home that was "Brave and Free."

And I wonder why I hadn't seen them,

Hadn't heard their cries,

As they were chewing my foundation,

Beneath my very eyes.

The Drawing Board of Life

Transitions and backstory. Transitions in a story should be smooth and backstories should be filtered in gradually, to make for easy reading. How much of life can we say is a smooth transition? We hurry here and there, seldom thinking of how we go from one thing to another. If we have been trained well while growing up or are pragmatic by nature, we might have every bit of our lives planned out, preferably on paper. The backstories of our lives, hopefully, are where they're supposed to be-in the background. But, as in a story, a little bit filters in today, a little tomorrow. The pieces of our background affect the stories of our lives, like the imaginary characters we have written. The background of our characters make them who they are. The more they are planned out, the easier it is to write the story. I usually begin a story with an idea, then work on the characters. I have only done a real outline of two stories I've written, but suprisingly found they were the easiest to write in the long run.
The children here were excited to go back to school and see their friends again. They had new haircuts, new shoes, clothes, washed and pressed, baths taken the night before and they fell asleep early. Up and eager to go in the morning. Now, after a couple days, they stayed awake longer the night before and woke up with more difficulty. It took longer to get dressed and out of the door. What happened to the transitions? They weren't smooth. And maybe we need to go over the backstory .

Happy birthday, America

Happy birthday, America. The fireworks were spectacular and it made me think that this country will always have a spirit unlike no other. We're made up of tough, strong survivors from all over the world who looked for a better life. We might lose some battles, but we'll never lose the war.

PREPARATION

Recently, while at Lowe's, I thought I'd pick up a hummingbird feeder and let the children see the beauty in these small birds, if we could attract some. I remember, as a child, having seen hummingbirds quite often, but haven't seen any in years. They are so tiny that it's possible I thought they were large bees. Now I know nothing about hummingbirds, but made a mixture of sugar and water, having some long ago memory of this for the nectar. Today I finally looked up a website on hummingbirds and now know that I need a one to three part mixture of sugar and water. I also learned how to clean the feeder and how often. Then I went on to look up the flowers that would attract them. Next on the list is a small flower garden.
Like everything else, it's preparation. It takes so many years to go through school, to write a book, to gather information, but mostly to learn, learn, learn. And we are fortunate to have the resources available. Let's hope we will always have free libraries, the internet and all available sources.
For some great pictures of hummingbirds, look for Terry's Place.
That's all for now.

I've been working on something about the area where I grew up to go onto Terry's Place blog sometime this month. Please visit http://terryodell.blogspot.com

TPR

Time runs along quickly and the weather has changed to beautifully warm. The flowers are out here in Virginia and people are out doors, walking, jogging, and driving. I see a big increase in traffic lately. More and more people are moving here to this delightful state and to our lovely town. Soon we'll be finding lots of places to swim outside and the children will be on summer vacation. Busch Gardens has changed hands, but probably not much has changed about the place otherwise. Water Country is another popular place in the summer. There are many new restaurants and some new entertainment.
The one complaint I have is that life goes too fast. There is not enough time to do all the things a person would like to do and stress shows up on everyone who is overextended. We're overextended in time and in money. We need to take a break and just enjoy nature and enjoy life and family.
Tomorrow is Easter. How did this happen so quickly? I don't know, but I'm taking some time to relax this year and smell the flowers. I hope everyone else does the same. This summer take a day to enjoy the pool or the beach, read a book, go to dinner with friends and family. These are the things that help to unwind us and bring us together. What are we all rushing around for anyway?
Bye for now. Happy Easter. Enjoy!

January 2010

December was a very busy month, with 15 people for Christmas dinner. It's fun having lots of people around and of course the children are the center of the festivities. It's always a beautiful time of the year with many fond memories.

Here it is in January already and we have to get used to writing a new year. 2010. Doesn't seem possible so much time has gone by.

Tragic earthquake in Haiti the other day has killed thousands of people. Of course our country and other countries sent in people and supplies to help, but it will take a very long time to clear up things. Looking at the pictures on t.v. you ask yourself how can it be? Doesn't seem real. It's just unbelieveable. Thoughts of 9-11 return to haunt me. Those poor people have had so much tragedy in their lives already. Contributions flooded in from all over to many organizations that are helping. It is difficult getting supplies to many areas due to the damage and the many streets broken up and clogged with debris.

On a more cheerful light, yesterday we had another meeting of the Nightingales. We did not have a speaker, but talking among ourselves and getting acquainted was nice. We had thirty people, which was a very good turnout. I think this very young organization will begin to want to do more to help others. It's the nature of nurses to want to help, especially in an emergency situation such as the earthquake in Haiti.

Edits are done on the story I sold and information for the artist, blurbs, etc. were done. Can hardly wait to see how it will turn out.
While I'm waiting I'm trying to catch up on a few things and think about another story. I'm going over one I wrote and am planning on writing a couple new ones. One, a sequel and the other something entirely different.
Until the next time. Ann