If you follow me on Facebook you know I recently took a trip out west. We visited Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park, the Grand Teton Mountains, the Bad Lands of North Dakota and then back home via the Great Lakes. It was a wonderful journey. God created some really beautiful landscapes here in the United States. From hills to mountains to prairies, each state is unique in it?s own special way. But as usual, after taking a trip I found the best place to be is home.
Yes, I am a homebody. I can stay snuggled up in my house for days at a time. Though quite regularly I must venture out into the sunshine for a Vitamin D fix. I almost never get cabin fever, even in the winter. Nothing I have is fancy, but boy is it comfortable. My end of the couch, the rocking chair on the porch, my favorite frying pan, a good cup of coffee from my old mug, my kitty cats and my granddaughter. Goodness did I ever miss home.
During the eighteen days I was away I started to heal from my aunt?s recent death. It was a special time of renewing of body and spirit. I feel energized and ready to sink my teeth into some good reading, writing, and of course, editing. The guts of my next novel, ?The River Keeper? was born on this trip. As we wound through valleys and speed down the interstate my trusty pencil was penning words that someday I hope will be read by you.
The birth of a new novel is all consuming. It is the first thing you think of when you wake up and the last thing that?s on your mind when you go to bed. And of course all during the night you wake to another twist in the plot or a character change. The birthing of a novel is like that of a child. Each one is unique in it?s own way. What?s between the binders may look the same, but as the story grows, it develops its very own personality.
I?ve always had a fear of losing one of my novels due to a computer crash, or an accidental push of the wrong button. So I back my important stuff up in Dropbox. It?s a handy way to store information that you are working on. You can also easily go back and forth from desktop to laptop using Dropbox. I also have a fear of lightning running in on my computer and frying it or someone breaking in and stealing it. So much would be lost, about seven years of me gone forever.
While on our trip no one broke into my house and stole my computer, but an intruder did prize open our storage-building door and steal our lawnmower, weed eater, leaf blower, two boat motors, and a few other things. I simply detest a thief. Someone who sneaks through the shadows of night, preying on objects that other people?s hard earned money has bought. A thief is a low life, no good bum. If you?re hungry, please, just ask me and I?ll give you food.
The sad part of a thief?s life is that when they sell their loot, food is not purchased, but more than likely drugs are. What a person will do for one more pill, or a whiff of something up their nose is beyond me. An addict will steal from his or her own grandmother. There is no limit to what a person will do if drugs rule their life. So please, think twice before you take that first pain pill. I?ve seen some fine people destroy their lives after becoming addicted to prescription drugs.
When the call came from our daughter early that morning I knew something was wrong. We were hundreds of miles away in Montana and couldn?t very well do anything about it though. The news could have ruined our trip, but it didn?t. You know why: Because possessions can be replaced. My family was well and safe and that?s all that mattered. As for the low life?s that stole our stuff, well God Bless your little pea pickin? hearts. Me and Smith and Wesson are praying for you.
