Author Archives: Debbie

New Season Emerging

Posted on by

Adopt the pace of nature:  her secret is patience.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson, American poet

My Daffodils are peeking through, and I find myself eagerly awaiting the arrival of Spring! Yes, it will be weeks before these babies bloom and the temperatures stay consistently warm, but now that I see progress, it’s easier to be patient.

I found the following quote in a publication I was reading and decided it was appropriate for ALL of us (but especially those of us trying to write a book!) Have a beautiful Sunday, my friends!

Have patience with all things — but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You are a perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist. And no amount of triumphs or tribulations can ever change that. — St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of authors, writers, and journalists

Storied Tradition

Posted on by

On football weekend Fridays, guests of the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish can walk — for free! — the tunnel every Irish football player has taken into Notre Dame Stadium since the Knute Rockne era in 1930.

View the hanging national championship banners, take a photo with the field in the background, and imagine what it’s like to race into the stadium to the rousing Notre Dame Victory March and the cheers of thousands of fans!

Note: This is my take on Story, this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge topic. The idea is to use a photograph to convey a story. Kind of relates to the English idiom, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” don’t you think?

Sharing the Sorrow

Posted on by

A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. ~Peter De Vries, American editor and novelist

We’ve got to find a better way of teaching our kids how to drive.

Continue reading →

Nature is Industrious

Posted on by

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it into its nest. ~J.G. Holland, American novelist and poet

Clever Miss Spider
Spinning a delicate web
To catch her dinner.

Note: This is my interpretation for the weekly Photo Challenge by Word Press. The idea is to take something familiar and make it look Out of This World. I took this shot early one summer’s morning after a particularly heavy dew (hence, the cottonball objects scattered throughout!).

Performance Anxiety

Posted on by

Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.  ~Brendan Francis, Irish poet and writer

Dallas here.

I have a bone to pick with my mama and that flute of hers.

Continue reading →

Rushing To and Fro

Posted on by

Once you stop rushing through life, you will be amazed how much more life you have time for. ~Author Unknown

Chipmunk scurrying
Where ya goin’, Little Guy?
Too busy to talk.

Note: I’m participating in WordPress’s 2018 Photo Challenge. This week’s topic is A Face in the Crowd. I took this shot while visiting the Chicago Botanic Garden with my son a couple of years ago and this seems as good a chance as I might ever have to show it to you.

Sweet Dessert

Posted on by

Deliciously sweet

Booze, mint, cream, and Oreos

St. Patrick’s Day treat

 

Note: I’m participating in the WordPress Photo Challenge for 2018. This week’s topic is Sweet, and you have until next Wednesday if you’d like to participate. For anyone interested in making this yummy Southern dessert called Grasshopper Pie, here’s one recipe.

Sunday’s Gem — Ruby

Posted on by

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. ~Albert Einstein

One of four “precious” gemstones (the others being Diamond, Sapphire, and Emerald), Ruby is red Corundum, an aluminum oxide mineral with chromium responsible for its rich, red color.

Considered by many to be the most powerful gemstone in the universe, Ruby ranges from an orangey-red to a purplish or brownish red. The most prized color is “pigeon’s blood,” pure red with a hint of blue.

Unheated rubies from Mozambique; photo from http://www.gemstoneuniverse.com

Continue reading →

Touring the Land of Lincoln

Posted on by

No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow.  ~Lin Yutang, Chinese writer and inventor

I’ve been from coast to coast and north to south across these great United States, but I imagine that, despite its faults, Illinois always will hold a special place in my heart.

And since this week’s WordPress Photo Challenge is Tour Guide — what’s special about the place where we live — I’ve prepared a number of photos to show off some of the Land of Lincoln in its glory. If you click the first photo, you can view them as a slideshow. Please enjoy:

Right on Schedule

Posted on by

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver, African-American botanist and inventor

Dallas was making a terrible barking racket yesterday morning. At first, I thought he’d cornered a squirrel, but then I caught sight of these migrating birds. Geese, perhaps?

Racing for the outside, I was stunned at how many there were filling the sky overhead, snaking their way to points northwest of here. And the noise they were generating! Well, listen for yourselves:

https://player.vimeo.com/video/254210788

Isn’t Nature amazing?!!