Good Weather for Reading

Wow. Rocky weather churning stuff up around here for the past week.

Parts of the area I live in are smashed  by the tornadoes that came through earlier, a number of people are digging out and trying to recover. We were lucky that in this immediate area no one lost their life but a lot of people lost their house and possessions.

Today we have had thunderstorms all day.

I'm staying inside. I finished reading a stack of books I got from the library and since I'm not venturing far from home, I went through my "not yet read pile" and found a Meg Cabot. It's about vampires--not my favorite characters--but she is a great writer.

Being able to download books from my library to an e-reader kind of makes having one seem practical. Maybe I'll be able to wean myself off of paper soon...LOL.

Hope you are not under seige from threatening weather conditions or floods whereever you may be.

From my book to yours,

Susan

Rio - the movie

Today with a grandkid visiting we went to see Rio, the 3-D version. Pretty good, but not my favorite of the recent 3-D moives that have come out in the last couple of years.

It was, however, at the heart of it, a story about pairing up and falling in love. For a romance writer it is always about getting to this happy ending.

And is what I wish for everyone to experience.

Social Networking

Like a person afraid of heights who takes up mountain climbing, I'm afraid of plunging into the canyon of the social networking scene.

The people I know who are facile with the ins and outs of these sites seem to have jumped and instead of falling, took flight.

Still, being a solitary person by nature, I resist. And am thinking more and more about getting off both the electronic and cyber grid altogether.

The First Rose of Summer

Our one rose bush, a climbing variety that spreads across the side fence I can see from my writing area, has presented its first rose of the season. On the back fence, the Rhododendrons, probably my favorite of the southern shrubs, are in full bud. I eagerly await their unraveling.

Having grown up in an area of the country where blowsy beautiful peonies bloomed and the enticing smell of lilac purfumed the air, I miss them even after all these years away.

If I were an avid gardener perhaps I could find an adequate replacement for these two flowers, but I am not.

A Beautiful Day

The dogwood blossoms are almost gone. My resident robins are back and chirupping from the branches of the pine tree. Other birds, whose names I have to look up each year,  have been dining in my backyard.

Outside the Loop

Just learned a friend is dealing with a serious illness. Praying for them and if you pray, I hope you will give them a shout out in a biblical sense.

Susan

Around the US

Last week my husband and I finished the quest we were on to visit every state capital. What a grand adventure it was. We started out in 2002 and then the end was delayed a year because of the closure of the capital builidings in Utah and Idaho for renovation and for bolstering their ability to withstand a severe earthquake. Both are grand buildings and the effort to restore them to historical accuracy (but with all the new technology) was well done. Our last of the fifty was Montana. It is also an interesting and grand building, but on a smaller scale.

The week started with a flight to my home state for my high school reunion. We then caught a flight to Salt Lake City. The following day, we flew to Boise and then back to Salt Lake where we were supposed to catch a flight to Helena. Due to a delay, we missed the connecting flight. The airline booked a room and gave us meal vouchers...holy wow...and booked our flight for the next day. This worked fine, and we had a free night's lodging (with breakfast) and an almost free dinner that night and lunch the next day.

We got to Helena in plenty of time to visit the capital and then get back to the airport for the connecting flight back to Salt Lake City. The following day, we caught our flight home.

Now we need to set another goal. Not sure what yet. But even goals that seem insurmontable may not be if you work toward fulfilling them and do not get discouraged along the way.

Utah, Idaho and Montana are interesting places. Much less populated then the eastern seaboard. They have a certain majesty that I found only in the upper tier of mid-western states. Maybe we will do a Lewis and Clark tour next which would take us back there.

I finished reading another great book. Prophecy by Heather McCollum. It is published by The Wild Rose Press and available for purchase at Amazon books. The plot and the characters and the settings will sweep you away.

From my book to yours,

Susan