• The Compass

    By Tammy Kling and John Spencer Ellis The main character of The Compass could be any of us. Though his name is Jonathan, and his situation may be different, we all experience loss at some time in our lives, often to the point of making us unable to function in our current reality. This book is Jonathan’s journey from crippling emotional agony to a better understanding of himself and what truly matters. The story begins with Jonathan wandering in the wilderness where he is found by Marilyn, a dying woman who chose to camp in the desert and photograph its…

  • Holiday traditions

    Thanksgiving rolled on through, like a freight train through a sleeping city. The day was pleasantly spent with family, sharing traditional food and catching up on all the mundane things that happen between family gatherings. There also was planning for the future, watching grandchildren play and a general atmosphere of comraderie. Though it sounds a bit droll, it really wasn’t. I love the holiday season and the time spent with family. It’s nice to take a day and stop the business of everyday life to relax with people I really care about. But it rolls through too fast. If I…

  • Voting Day

    The photo is of celebrating 4th of July. I know there are a lot of messages today circulating about voting, but I am going to add one more. GET OUT AND VOTE! I plan to. Some people say this presidential election is one of the most important elections in history. I’m not sure I agree with that because our country has gone through many things, both good and bad. But our current economic situation, along with our country’s foreign relations, does make this election an important one. Next to those two issues is our health care climate. I was not…

  • Third-person narrative

    I have an interesting writing exercise for you. It is one I use to stimulate creative word use. Take an everyday happening and describe it in a third-person narrative. The length does not matter. It can be one sentence to 250 words. Have fun! I look forward to seeing your stories.   For example, the following is a writing exercise I did while in Malaysia:   Though she missed the opportunity to spend a few more minutes with her husband, keeping him company down the elevator ride from the 24th floor to ground level and following him through the hallway,…

  • Fuzing glass

    Have you ever fuzed glass? I hadn’t, but I recently took a class and found out how easy it is. Actually, getting out of South Minneapolis was harder than the class. Artistic creativity, which is a big deal to me, has been sneaking in through the cracks of my busy life. In the last couple of months, I took a painting class and a glass pendant class, both through the blessing of Groupon discounts. I had a hard time finding the host of the pendant class, Glass Endeavors, in South Minneapolis. It is on 31st Street in an unfamiliar area.…

  • Walking With the Great Apes

    By Sy Montgomery (Published 1991) The first time I read “Walking With the Great Apes” was on my way to Malaysia. I was fascinated with the relationships between Dian Fossey and the gorillas she studied, which was depicted in the movie “Gorillas in the Mist”. My quest was to learn about the?relationships between the women and the primates they studied. The stories are what stuck with me. The book is a triple biography of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas, protegees of the Anglo-African archeologist Louis Leakey. Each woman was selected by Leakey to study the primates most closely…

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