If you read my blog then you probably know I am an “indie” writer. I do it for fun and hopefully to help people smile. I would appreciate it if you would think about buying one of my books.
“Smiles from Heaven” is now available for purchase in paper book or Kindle at Amazon. I got my copies today.
It is a book of short stories, micro writings, and a smattering of poetry about the things that make us smile or remind us of God smiling down on us. All of my writing tries to encourage the reader for I feel we can all use encouragement.
I thank you in advance if you do purchase one. And I close as always reminding everyone of the beauty and power of kindness.
As we start this new day and this new week, lets us enjoy the beauty of it. Not only in what we see but with all of our senses. Below is another snippet from Smiles from Heaven, hope you enjoy.
A New Day
The early dawn broke quietly across the meadow. Dew was heavily laden bending the leaves downward toward the ground. As the sun crested the horizon, the flower faces turned towards it. They soaked in its warmth causing the dew to slip from the leaves. When it splashed to the ground, the sound awakened the sleeping chipmunks to another day of fun adventure. The first one poked his head out to see the beauty of a bright blue sky with the sun skipping through the branches creating patterns of shadow on the ground.
By the time the second chipmunk came to the surface, the birds were starting their symphony of song awakening anything else that was not yet awake.
They all knew that each new day was a gift from God allowing all of creation a brand-new start, a new chance to share kindness, a new hope that all is well. And a reminder that God’s love is always there.
May you have a beautiful new day surrounded with gentleness, love, and kindness. Share your kindness to make it even more beautiful.
When I retired, I needed something to do, I don’t sit very well So I started blogging. Some of the writing challenges I participated in made me understand how much I like writing stories, so I started writing a book. I remember reading from a season writer/teacher that you should throw away the first three things you write because it takes you that long to hone your skills. Now looking back on it he was right to a degree. Keep the ideas but trash the work and start over.
After spending way too much money going through a publishing firm, I discovered indie writing. Thank you Susi Bocks. Now I can explore my writing without a huge price tag through Amazon Kindle Publishing. My goal is not to make mounds of money but to share my thoughts and encourage others. I buy my books and give them to my friends or anyone needing a little encouragement. In doing this I have found that short stories are the most fun, keeping you focus on just a few pages at a time, then on to the next idea. I have been so busy writing these little stories over the past year, that I have not been writing much here, so I thought I would share a few shorter ones with you.
Excerpts from Smiles from Heaven to be published Spring 2024.
Essence of Pearl
Alone on the bench, Joe twisted his cane missing his sweet Pearl. She has been gone nearly two years now. Across the park, he saw children playing. He smiled as he remembered how Pearl would laugh as she made up stories about each child, even when she didn’t know who they were. Sadness engulfed Joe as he remembered her joy in doing this. Then in the back of his mind, he heard Pearl fussing. Don’t you be sad, Joe.Our joy comes from the Lord that lives inside each of us. Feel the joy.
Joe could not feel that joy today. Some days he could, but not today, on their anniversary. Then he heard a gentle voice.
“Hello.”
Joe looked up at a bright-eyed little girl whose smile was as bright as her eyes.
“Hello,” said Joe smiling.
She pulled herself up and sat on the bench with Joe.
“It’s a pretty day,” she said.
“It is.”
“Today is special. Every first Saturday of the month is ice cream day. I get to sit here while my mom goes into that shop to buy ice cream. See, here comes Mom now.”
“Come on, Pearl,” called Mom. “I have your favorite.”
“I’m Pearl, by the way. It’s been nice chatting with you. Maybe I will see you next month. Gotta go, but remember to be happy.”
“I will,” said Joe. The joy he once knew was being rekindled again by a different Pearl. He knew in his heart that hissweet Pearl probably had something to do with this encounter today and he smiled.
In my new book, Smiles from Heaven, I hope to make it a series of encouraging short stories that we all need to read once in a while. They deal with family situations, individual situations, nature, and of course dogs. I will probably always write about my dogs as they have been an encouragement to me with their goofy ways and their devoted love and kindness.
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One of the easiest ways to be kind is with a warm smile. Try to always be kind regardless of the turmoil inside. It reflects your inner beauty.
Green is the perfect color for February, especially when you have been surrounded by white for several weeks. What a wonderful reminder of soon it will think about being spring…just thinking about it make me smile. First we have proof of survival of 26″ of snow.
Then because it is still in the 30s we come inside and look at the green here. A favorite is the elephant tree. I have a thing for elephants, they are so cool.
Then the healing violet, hoping it blooms this year.
Last but not least is the variegated spider plant with many babies.
I hope my green made you smile and knowing spring is coming soon…or if you are down under, you may be losing your green before long. But smile for now and remember to be kind.
The joys of winter in the Midwest, or not. Being from the south, I could just pass on this weather thank you very much. But no, the second major storm for the New Year is upon us. I will have to say the wet snow still clings to the buildings and trees making them quite beautiful, well, at least the trees. Not much interest in a column except for the way the wind-blown snow clung to it.
The limbs of those trees are my favorite for catching snow. These are trees that I see from my window at work. And close up you can see their interesting shape.
Once I got home, my Christmas lights that are frozen into the ground are solar-powered and still shining through this bleak dreary weather making me smile.
If you really try, you can always find something that makes you smile. Smiling is an easy way to show kindness as it reflects the beauty of your heart. So smile often to help others smile. It is contagious, like yawning.
There are many of us who enjoy watching our birds. We learn which foods bring which birds and how to keep squirrels out of your feeders…but when you have a platform feeder, that brings on other challenges. Below you can see that George is non too happy that Chippy is in his feeder.
I am not sure a slinky works in this instance.
The Slinkies work great on the pole feeders. I put one on the feeder at the church and have not seen a squirrel since. If you are having squirrel issues, try adding a slinky to the pole. A lot cheaper than those weighted feeders.
Wish I had seen how Chippy climbed up the concrete blocks but I didn’t. I let him eat for a few minutes and then let Daisy out.
Look how full his fat cheeks are.
Since I lost the majority of my sunflowers in the storm on Saturday, The flowers that had already gone to seed I laid out for the birds. They are messy little critters but I am glad they are enjoying them still.
My favorite visitor to those seeds are the Goldfinches. Their bright yellow color with the sunflowers is amazing.
I am not that great of a photographer but my phone does at least give me pictures to make me smile. So I encourage you to enjoy your birds…and non birds. They are all part of God’s creation and meant for us to enjoy.
And as always, remember to be kind. It blesses your heart as much as the receiver of kindness.
While I do agree with Cee on the beauty of nature, but it can also has a fun whimsical side. My case in point, I give you the story of the potato family members where mother potato refused to let any of her children go out on their own. This family was pulled this morning from the community garden of my church.
The balancing act mom had to do did not bode very well so she used my juice glass from this morning to help stabilize herself. Even her other children stuck close to protect the baby in the center…
All in all, they are a very loving family. They must have been watching how elephants come in close to always protect the younger ones in the herd. And I am sure they will be tasty with my string beans tonight. 😊. Always remember the beauty of nature even when it looks funny.
Thank you for stopping by for a moment of silliness. I hope it made you smile. Remember that smiles are contagious so share them often.
Life can be frustrating, confusing and down right hard. So today we are throwing in a little silliness to bring a smile and possibly a chuckle to the day. I give you Daisy…
Hello, My name is Daisy. Some have seen me before but today I give you my official duties. Its not all love and cuddles. I am the chief protector of the home. The sofa is my favorite perch to look out. The softness of the arm is comfy on my bottom and allows quick jumping to the window to warn anybody of my presence…if they didn’t know already.
I love going outside. The yard is fenced in so no one else is allowed in my yard and I protect it with a vengeance. But sometimes I wonder what’s going on inside , so I go look in the window to see what my mom is doing. She watches a lot of TV.
My most favorite place to snooze is also on the sofa…the whole sofa. I am long and stretch out to the fullest. Preferable on my back. I like hanging my head over too…it stretches out my neck.
I kind of shadow my mom…wherever she goes…you can never tell what may go on in the bathroom…the shower is in there. That’s a bad place.
So hello, my name is Daisy and it was nice talking to you.
And like we all need to remember, animals like kindness too. So be kind to everything.
While we in Iowa are not suffering from Ida, we are having the typical summer rainy day. I am not complaining as we needed it badly. I was able to do my chore for the day before it started which was laying out some repair sidewalk pavers from a plumbing catastrophe from this spring. But since about 11:00am it has been softly to occasionally raining hard. I was thoroughly entertained by watching my birds. First it was the daddy cardinal that was still somewhat in molt. He looked even more stressed as what feathers he had regrown were not wet making him look like what we call down south “a drowned cat”. I found an example for you on the internet…
Now this cat is obviously getting a bath but you can tell how much he hates water. He just looks bedraggled, like the bird I saw. But I was very touched by this daddy bird. He was trying to train one of his fledglings how to eat from the feeder. He would show him, then he would feed him to make sure he understood the process. It was interesting and made me smile as all creation understand kindness. Mankind was the one that broke the system…in Eden…but that another story for another day. Today we are smiling.
The birds that were the most fascinating on this rainy day were the hummers. They were unfazed by the rain, sitting out on top of the other feeder hooks as it rained down on top of them with only occasional shaking of their feathers. My hummingbird feeder hangs under the eaves of the house so it is somewhat protected from the rain.
They usually always feed from the outer hole where she is about to land but as the rain would roll around the edge of the gutters above, it would drip right on her head. Boink! This young female would look up at the gutter and you could hear her say “What the hey!”
The wind and rain come up the hill from the river below and blow between mine and my neighbors house and that can sometimes create a strong tunnel of wind. After a few minutes she caught on and moved to the inside feeder hole giving me a better chance of closer pictures. They have gotten use to me always being there so they don’t shy away too often. Especially when I put out fresh food, like I did today.
All of nature is so fascinating and I have really gotten into the backyard birdwatching, well actually this is my front yard but you get the idea. So I post this so that even on a dreary day, if you look hard enough, you can find something to smile about. Maybe its nature, or a good book or what ever you desire is, just let more smiles out. I promise it will make your day brighter.
And as always, I remind you to be kind. It will make you feel more like smiling which makes you beautiful.
For the Love of 