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The Eldorado Courier
My grandparents and their children moved away from Eldorado, Oklahoma in 1958. Many of our relatives still lived there, so my grandparents had a subscription to The Eldorado Courier (pronounced “Elda-ray-duh Coo-yer”) to keep up with the happenings in their hometown. Sometimes Grandmother would include a clipping from the Courier in a letter to Mother when I was growing up. When I…
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Writer’s Retreat
I’m not sure I dare admit that I spent this past weekend at a writer’s retreat, because then I would have to admit that I’ve officially started my novel. That’s exciting for me, but very scary at the same time because, you see, if I start it, I have to finish it, right? And if I finish it, you’re probably…
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Writing
You know how I’ve said for awhile that someday I’m going to write a book? Within the last couple of years I have set some specific goals for myself in that regard, and I am very excited with the progress I’m making. It may not seem like much, but the baby steps are better than just wondering if I ever…
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Ozark Back Roads
Tuesday afternoon’s route took us winding through the Ozarks from Arkansas into Missouri. It was a gorgeous afternoon, sunny and warm like we never see in Idaho in March. We opened the sun roof and enjoyed the fresh spring air and the rolling hills. (We can’t bring ourselves to actually call the Ozarks mountains.) Wednesday morning was cooler and overcast,…
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Families Writing
My mother saved a few of my school papers, as all mothers do, I suppose. It’s interesting to see my little-girl handwriting, but to be perfectly honest, spelling lists and mimeographed worksheets are kind of boring to look it. My mother also saved letters. Boxes and boxes of letters. Now those are fascinating to me. They give a glimpse into relationships and…
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There and Back Again
And so I guess you’re probably waiting to hear how my trip home was, aren’t you? After my oh-so-colorful experience of taking the Greyhound bus to Seattle (and then on to Tacoma) on Thursday, I can’t say I was especially looking forward to repeating the experience on Sunday. I was to catch the bus at 8:00 a.m. in Tacoma and…
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Writer’s Conference
All my life I’ve had an inclination to write. Before I could even read I would sit at the kitchen table asking my mother to spell the words for me so I could write letters to my grandmother. When I finally learned to read and spell I expanded my correspondence to include several pen pals during the course of my…
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The Wheels on the Bus
Even though I am quite well-traveled, I had never taken a bus trip before. You see, Lyle had traveled across the country to college, from California to Indiana, back in the 1980s and he said it wouldn’t be safe for a woman to travel that way for a long distance. He’s always been willing to drive me anywhere I have…
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Grandmother’s Letters
For the past year or so I have been sorting and archiving my Grandmother’s “papers.” She was a prolific letter writer, and she kept most of the letters she received over the years. (My mother has done the same, so I have two generations worth of letters going back to the 1930s!) Grandmother had 10 children, and as far as…
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NaNoWriMo
All my life I’ve dreamed of writing a novel. Not because I have this burning story that just begs to be told. I don’t. But mainly because I have read so many mediocre novels that someone somewhere thought worthy of publishing, and I think, “I could write a better story than that.” That, plus my mother fully believes that someday…
