“An extra yawn one morning in the springtime, an extra snooze one night in the autumn is all that we ask in return for dazzling gifts. We borrow an hour one night in April; we pay it back with golden interest five months later.” -Winston Churchill Did you remember to spring forward this morning and make it to church on …
“Never wish a thing done; do it!” (Shaker saying) I’ve shared with some of you on my Facebook page that I’m working on a new Shaker book. I’ve also probably shared with you here on One Writer’s Journal that I never planned to write more than one book about the Shakers. That first book, The Outsider, took years to be published. I had …
The storytelling gift is innate: one has it or one doesn’t. But style is at least partly a learned thing: one refines it by looking and listening and reading and practice – by work. – Donna Tartt I was once called a storyteller by a person I respected. I think it was one of the nicest things anybody has ever …
“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” (Charles William Eliot) Sunday I wrote about how some fear we are forgetting how to read because of all our electronic distractions. I do think I may have lost a few reading moments to my phone and …
I just read an internet post that suggests we’ve forgotten how to read. It included this quote from Eric Schmidt, the founder of Google. “I worry that the level of interrupt, the sort of overwhelming rapidity of information … is in fact affecting cognition. It is affecting deeper thinking. I still believe that sitting down and reading a book is …
February has been an interesting month down here on the farm. It all started on the first day of the month. Darrell hadn’t been feeling well, thought he might have a virus, but his group was supposed to sing that Thursday night. He had been looking forward to that, so he felt a little better, got ready and went. He …
Do you remember when you got your first library card? That was a big day for me many, many years ago. When I was a child, our library was one of those built with funding from Andrew Carnegie. It is mind boggling to think of all the lives Carnegie touched by choosing to become a philanthropist and give away 90 …
I have found that if you love life, life will love you back. ~Arthur Rubinstein Happy Valentine’s Day! Facebook today has been filled with pictures of flowers and candy and cards as many have shared their romantic gifts. Such fun to see so many happy posts. But some people don’t like Valentine’s Day because it makes them feel lonely. Perhaps …
Thank all of you who joined in with the fun of my “Name your Caption” game here. You all came up with some great captions for the pictures I posted. I appreciate all the comments and especially appreciate those of you who come check out things here every week. I don’t have a new picture up for a caption, but …
Fish Story – an improbable, boastful tale. So have you ever told a “fish story?” Something about pulling a fish as big as a car out of a lake as small as a pond. Fishermen are known for their exaggerations. They always claim to catch the biggest fish or talk about the one that got away. I don’t go fishing. …