When I finished this blog I decided it consisted of a “traveling” conversation. That’s what I call a lot of rambling on about nothing … which leads into topics not even planned … and that’s what happened here, so here goes.
A belated Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all of you. I can’t believe the holidays are suddenly over. When did that happen? There is such a buildup toward Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. I think it’s all too close together. Too bad we can’t have Thanksgiving one month then about 6 weeks later Christmas and then New Years a month or more later – and then not worry about 4th quarter taxes until April and year-end taxes in May. It’s all much too crammed together – full of shopping and decorating and wrapping and cooking and parties and excitement and them BAM! It’s done, and you’re left with going back to the same old job, sadly taking down the decorations, finding a place to put all the presents, wondering what to do with leftovers and – worst of all – trying to get tax information together for 4th quarter and also end-of-year.
I guess the best way to look at it is that winter is already half over and just as fast as the holidays came and went, we’ll turn around and it will be spring and warm and green and flowers will start blooming.
The seasons come and go … and we are another year older. If we’re lucky we’re still healthy, and thank God we live in a place where there is no civil war going on and we still enjoy our freedom and relative peace. If we can honestly say we have 2-3 good friends, that’s great, too.
So, life goes on, and we should be glad we were even here to celebrate another Christmas and another new year. I just find the rush a bit overwhelming. I want to say “stop!” Let me enjoy this moment a little while longer. Let me lie on the sofa and stare at the Christmas tree. Let me watch the joy in the eyes of my grandsons as they unwrap their presents.
This year I got my grandsons lighted world globes from National Geographic. I decided they had enough video games and i-pads and cell phones and such. I wanted to get them something educational, and with the world situation what it is today, it’s important to be able to find some of these countries (like Syria and Iran) and see where they are in proximity to Europe and Israel and the United States. We’ve become so “global.” When I was a little girl, I never gave such countries a second thought. For me the United States was my whole world and everybody loved us and wanted to come here. The rest of the world was far, far away and would never bother us. Yes, we had WWII, but we never felt truly threatened by some kind of invasion. Today things are different and our children and grandchildren need to be more aware of “the rest” of the world and all the other cultures out there we know so little about.
Personally I think National Geographic is one of the best sources for our children to learn about the rest of the world. It is always full of fascinating articles and pictures about other countries and how they live and govern themselves. Read, read, read. That’s what our children should be doing, rather than playing games. They should follow the news, read about other countries, even think about finding a job that might take them to other places, expand their horizons, learn that there is so much more out there than the little area where they live. That’s more important today than ever.
I don’t know how I went from Christmas to world culture, but that’s how the mind wanders and how conversations go from how you feel to how many people died in a civil war on the other side of the world. Women are probably the most notorious for what I call “traveling” conversations. Two women who are strangers to each other can get on an elevator and by the time they get off they sometimes know all about each others’ children and their birthdays/jobs, whatever! And sometimes they have come up with ways to solve the world’s problems.
And so here is my “traveling” conversational blog – a lot about nothing – or not much about something important – however you want to look at it. I’ve been away from writing for a while because of the holidays and that annoying tax matter, so I guess it just feels good to write something down. It’s time to get busy on a new book that’s been brewing in the background for quite a while now … and to warn all of you to watch for more exciting things to come in my writing and promotional efforts. Keep an eye on my web site and Facebook and Twitter for a special promo for my Savage Destiny books through a “Buy The Book” campaign. And before you know it, I’ll be holding a big promo for PARADISE VALLEY, my book coming in July! I can’t wait! And yes, summer will be upon us in a sudden rush, just like the Holidays come upon us too fast. Maybe I should write a book about how time slows down and suddenly one day consists of 48 hours rather than 24, and there is lots of time to stop and enjoy all the good things in life … a world where no one thinks about the “next” day and their “next” project or what they will be doing for the weekend when the weekend isn’t even here yet.
When my children were young, a very wise woman once told me, "the days often go by slowly, but the years fly." I think about that often because the older I get, the faster the years seem to go. If we could only hold onto them a little longer! Love your traveling conversations and they all make quite a lot of sense.
ReplyDeleteI am so excited to read your new book! I have read almost all of your books and have found no one that rivals your North American Indian knowledge.
ReplyDeleteYou mostly write about the Lakota and I recently read a book written about the Crow ("people of the whispering waters" Medawar) and they are such an interesting tribe. I did not know that the Crow were considered the most attractive among all the tribes. Have you thought of writing a book about the Crow?
Happy belated Holidays to you ! And a blessed New Year with much success !