Image Workshop brings insights for year ahead
Posted by: jlsemmel on: January 15, 2012
- In: Inspiration | Workshop
- 2 Comments
Usually the mention of 9 to 5 brings visions of a long work day doing mundane things, watching the clock and itching to go home, but the Image Workshop held by Sallie Christopher on Saturday, Jan. 14 brought nothing but pure joy, relaxation, great people and creativity. Read the rest of this entry »
Author shares life, writing insights
Posted by: jlsemmel on: November 20, 2011
Anne Lamott writes “Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life,”a hilariously serious account of writing and events from her life. The expression laugh out loud applies to this book in many instances, but in others, the author takes a serious approach tinged with humor to get readers to absorb the important writing lessons and life situations she shares.
Anne Lamott writes "Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life."
Memoir reveals abducted child’s ordeal
Posted by: jlsemmel on: October 1, 2011
On Monday, June 10, 1991, Jaycee Lee Dugard’s life changed when Phillip and Nancy Garrido abducted the 11-year-old girl as she walked to the school bus stop. For the next 18 years, Dugard remained with her captors and gave birth to two daughters in the compound behind the Garrido’s house.
- Jaycee Dugard writes “A Stolen Life: A Memoir.”
NEVER FORGET 9/11
Posted by: jlsemmel on: September 11, 2011
Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 started out as a special day since I made up my mind to leave the house at 5:30 a.m. to drive to Cave Creek and capture the sunrise. In those days, I worked long hours as a bookkeeper instead of writing and taking photographs as I do now. I took my point-and-shoot film camera and headed out. I arrived in Cave Creek, but the beautiful sunrise never materialized. While I sat in my car contemplating my next move and listening to the radio at approximately 6 a.m., Big Shoe Stu and Dena on KMLE announced the first news of a plane striking the World Trade Center in New York City. I listened and the conversation became more serious and soon came the news that another plane hit the World Trade Center.
On 9/11, the early morning sun lit up the mountains around Cave Creek, Ariz.
Spirits visit Paradise
Posted by: jlsemmel on: August 25, 2011
- In: Poem
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Last night in the early morning hours, someone came into my sleep. I don’t know who, maybe God or a ghost from the deep. The wind howled and sent eerie sounds my way, but I decided to cuddle up and stay. The sunset before my sleep was pastel shades of pink and blue, sent directly from my grandma in heaven a new.
A pastel pink and blue sunset sent by my grandma from above.
No way did I think a storm would disturb the night, but it never led me to feel a fright. I could not return to sleep for the spirits inhabited my mind, so I dreamed and tried to find, what the spirits were trying to say, as I started a brand new, beautiful day. As I walked from my home, I saw the pink and orange spreading across the sky, so I walked to the top of a hill to capture it before it went bye.
Vibrant colors start to spread across the morning sky.
It tried to avoid me by flaring up here and there, but I walked my route and found it where. On the north side of the mountain, blazing and amazing like a fountain.
The colors flared over the mountains.
The beauty stayed long enough for me to capture its hues before the magnificence I would lose. And then not at all to my surprise, another day started in Paradise.
And then not at all by surprise, a new day began in Paradise.
Gentle soul, friend shares his magical poems, stories
Posted by: jlsemmel on: August 10, 2011
- In: Book Review
- 1 Comment
Sometimes we acquire friends in the strangest places, but they turn out to be our dearest friends. Even though I’ve never met Tiger Windwalker in person, I’ve tweeted with him @coyotedolphin on many occasions and spent some anxious moments as we searched for a missing, well-loved peep.
Tiger and I don’t always see eye-to-eye on politics, but I love the poems, haikus and quotes he writes and posts online. They always bring a smile to my face and sunshine to my day. We share a love for the creatures and the beauty of the Earth, and we share photos of our surroundings and the creatures that cross our paths when we’re out wandering through God’s country. Read the rest of this entry »
Suspense, mystery invade national parks
Posted by: jlsemmel on: May 13, 2011
Even though I don’t read many mysteries, I find the Anna Pigeon series of novels written by Nevada Barr fascinating and sometimes so scary, they fill the dark corners of my sleep. She weaves her experience as a park ranger into her books and provides great detail on the national parks in her novels. The action never stops from beginning to end, but the reader never nows ‘who done it’ until the final pages of the book. Read the rest of this entry »
Channeled writing unlocks mysteries of Divine
Posted by: jlsemmel on: March 27, 2011
- “Writing the Divine” by Sara Wiseman explains channeling and much more.
After attending my first channeling session, I decided I needed to learn more about the subject. Since I’m also a writer, the book “Writing the Divine” by Sara Wiseman made a connection on both levels.
Dad’s always there
Posted by: jlsemmel on: February 28, 2011
Every year on March 3, I get to missing my Dad. He pulled a fast one on me and died on March 3, 2003. He knew that I’d take notice of all of those threes, and he also told me about the cardinal at his bird feeder before he died. It just so happened that a cardinal showed up three times in three weeks after he died. They say there are no coincidences, and now I believe them. Read the rest of this entry »
Book focuses on family, faith, freedom
Posted by: jlsemmel on: February 15, 2011
- In: Book Review
- 1 Comment
Sarah Palin writes "America by Heart."
In Sarah Palin’s second book, “America by Heart” she shares her travels and meetings across the country and compares how past presidents, their families and the Founding Fathers thought with how politicians and folks think today. Read the rest of this entry »
