BUSY NOVEMBER

November this year is a busy month. We had national and local elections, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving. Forgive me if I have missed any other recognizable event. My apologies for not posting in October. I had serious back surgery which took me “out of pocket” for a...

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HISTORY OF THE PUMPKIN

We tend to associate autumn with the pumpkin automatically. Pumpkin decorations, pumpkin pies, pumpkin muffins, and even Jack-o-Lanterns. Its name comes from the Greek word “pepon” which, means “large melon.” Throughout various languages, it changed to become the...

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FRIENDS

Friends are important in our lives. Friends are the family we choose in life. You may be like me somehow, having friends come and go throughout your life. If you are young, you may not have experienced losing a friend over time. Perhaps you’ve lost touch, or some...

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INDEPENDENCE HISTORY

This is the month we celebrate the USA’s independence from Great Britain on July 4, 1776. We love the warm weather, picnics, swimming, barbecues, and evening explosions of fireworks. We’ve probably enjoyed a few chuckles from social media memes reminding the British...

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MORE OF THE WEST

Cheyenne, Wyoming The famous Frontier Days will be held July 19-28 this year. The town of 69,000 will be inundated with visitors that total more than their population. The rodeo has been part of Cheyenne's history since 1899. Starting as a one-day event, it has now...

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MINING

Mining for gold started in California (not yet a territory) in 1863. When gold was discovered, people traveled from back East via ship or overland to find their fortunes. Placer mining commonly known as panning for gold was the beginning. It took hard work and...

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ENCOURAGEMENT

How many times have you felt down in the dumps over…well, anything? It could be that you have been sick too long, your last job interview didn’t go well, or you’ve had writer’s block. The last one occurred to me recently. I prayed about being stuck, but apparently, I...

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TEACHING & ONE-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSES

Teaching out West was important to settlements with five or more children. Despite some of our images of the Wild West, education was important to help the future generations expand the western United States. Children would receive a free education (first-eighth...

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REJECTION

Years ago, my draft manuscript was rejected by a publisher who insisted I find an agent. When I couldn’t find one (it wasn’t easy), they assigned one to me, and I didn’t particularly care for him. After much criticism and nonacceptance, I shared with others that I had...

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WORDS

I’ve been reading a romance book with Old English wording. Many words are no longer used in daily communication, but I thought they’d be fun to share with you. You might even know their meanings.   Arras -  Agog - Countenance - Ebon - Emend - Gonfalons - Roweling...

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