Sunday Morning Sunshine: Dust if You Must

Dust if You Must

By Rose Milligan

Dust if you must, but wouldn't it be better                                 to paint a picture or write a letter,                                              Bake a cake, or plant a seed,                                                    Ponder the difference between want and need?

Dust if you must, but there's not much time,                   With rivers to swim, and mountains to climb,                             Music to hear, and books to read,                                                Friends to cherish, and life to lead.

Dust if you must, but the world's out there,                                                                                                     With the sun in your eyes, and the wind in your hair,                                                                                        A flutter of snow, a shower of rain,                                                                                                                    This day will not come around again.

Dust if you must, but bear in mind,                                                       Old age will come and it's not kind,                                                       And when you go (and go you must)                                                     You, yourself, will make more dust.  

Serious Wednesday: A Winner, and More About Suspense!

Time to announce a WINNER!

Dawn Psik

You are the winner of Shirley Reye Redmond's 

Courageous World Changers!

Congratulations!

***

More About Suspense...

Let's talk about some examples of suspense. 

*  If you want to create suspense in your books, use Words. Certain words are powerful in creating atmospheres and emotions. Take a book like Tarzan. When the gorilla is described by Jane as an antagonist, what is brought to mind? A powerful beast? A creature who is much stronger than mankind? Something to be feared? A danger? Use your words to bring images to the readers' minds. 

*  Use Irony. For example, the reader will know that such and such is not guilty, is not in the wrong, is not unworthy, etc. BUT by using a character who constantly drills into the other person's head that his companion is guilty, tension will build in that character's life. The reader will feel the stress, the sense that any moment something is going to cause a serious problem. Look at Shakespeare's Othello. It's a perfect example.

*  And if you like fantasy, consider a vampire and a normal girl who fall in love. Think about the always-present temptation to suck the blood from his beloved. Twilight would come under this situation and be a good one to study. 

Remember, whether it's internal or external tension, it keeps your readers on the edge of their seats. Study it, write it, use it. Your readers will love it! 

Happy writing!

Sunday Morning Sunshine: Sending a Smile Your Way

"Grandma, look!"

In his child-like innocence, he was sharing love with me.

In this time of Stay-at-home orders,

let's share love!

Through your masks, let your eyes convey happiness!

Speak words of kindness. They never go out of style!

Thank you

You're welcome.

Please.

How are you today?

Have a good day!

Call someone. 

You don't have to talk for a long time.

Just listen and encourage.

Send a card.

To an ailing person.

To a normally shut-in person.

To a friend.

To someone celebrating a milestone.

Pray for someone.

Yourself.

Loved ones.

Friends.

Our country.

Let's share some love!

Rambling Friday: Don't you Just Love Words?

I do! I suppose because I love writing and reading, research and words. 

Some of my very favorite words are simple ones; others more "sophisticated or longer. Let me list a few of my favorites, quotes, scriptures, reasons why, etc. for them. Here goes:

• HOPE:  Ah, this is my all-time favorite. Why? The scripture from Hebrews 11:1 stands out to me:  "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The encouragement in this one verse that we can, will and should hope by having the faith that our desires/wishes/pleas will come true. The word "hope" suggests so many possibilities!

• Liberty:  This word makes me want to spread my arms wide and hug in the freedom this word offers. No restraints. No chains to hold us back from pursuing our dreams, our beliefs, our dedication in serving our God. Such a chain-breaking word.

• bumblebee:  The only thing I can come up with, with this word, is I enjoy saying it. Bumble, bumble, bumble. Good enough reason? :)

• Lightning. No, I'm not especially fond of being in a lightning storm, but I love the word. Powerful, electrifying, awesome. A mighty word. and then my friend Donn Taylor has a book with the word in the title:  Lightning on a Quiet Night.  Good enough reasons to like it, huh?

And one more to wrap it up:

• Chef. This is a simple one: it brings to mind food, good food, excellent, extremely creative food that entices me to sample and enjoy something I don't ordinarily prepare myself. It's a relaxing sort of word for me. 

There you have it. Five words that I love. 

Now, tell me, what are some of your favorite words? 

Maybe, I'll share more at a later time. 

Maybe.

Happy Word Day!

Serious Wednesday: Confusing English

Think About THIS!

UP.  This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as an adverb, preposition, adjective, noun, or verb.

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car.

At other times this little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. 

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. 
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP!
 

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. 

It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. 

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it soaks UP the earth. When it does not rain for a while, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now. My time is UP! 


One more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? 

U...P! (Get it?)


Quote:  We write to taste life twice; in the moment and in retrospect. --anais nin

Blessings!

Serious Wednesdays: You Said What?

I ran across this list the other day and checked it out to see if I was guilty of any. 
What do you think? Are you guilty?
Have fun reading it!

1. Nip it in the butt or Nip it in the bud?
2. I could care less or I couldn't care less?
3. One in the same or One and the same?
4. You've got another thing coming or You've got another think coming?
5. Each one worse than the next or Each one worse than the last?
6. On accident or By accident?
7. Statue of limitations or Statute of limitations?
8. For all intensive purposes or For all intents and purposes?
9. He did good or He did well.
10. Extract revenge or Exact revenge?
11. Old timer's disease or Alzheimer's disease?
12. I'm giving you lead way or I'm giving you leeway?
13. Aks or Ask?
14. What's you guyses opinion or What's your opinion, guys?
15. Expresso or Espresso?
16. Momento or Memento?
17. Irregardless or Regardless?
18. Sorta or Sort or?
19. Conversating or Conversing?
20. Scotch free and Scott free or Scot free?
21. I made a complete 360-degree change in my life or I made a complete 180-degree change in my life?
22. Curl up in the feeble position or Curl up in the fetal position?
23. Phase or Faze?
24. Hone in or Home in?
25. Brother in laws or Brothers in law?

There you have it. Now, 'fess up! Are you guilty of any of these?

Sunday Morning Peace: Kindness

One Kind Word

Drop a word of cheer and kindness--

just a flash and it is gone,

But a half a hundred ripples

go circling on and on.

Bearing hope and joy and comfort

on each splashing, dashing wave,

Till you can't conceive the volume

of the one kind word you gave.

Drop a word of Gospel kindness--

in a minute you forget,

But the gladness that it started

swells and circles even yet.

And you've rolled a wave of comfort

whose sweet music can be heard

Over miles and miles of water,

just by dropping one kind word.

--Christian Trails

On Passionate Writing: Inspiration

You never have to change anything

you got up in the middle of the night to write.

--Saul Bellow

Sometimes the words won't come

We reach a plateau

a stump in our writing.

We sit and stare at the screen

Our notepads are blank

Or, maybe, filled with notes

that give us nothing.

Our minds are tired,

blank,

empty

of inspiring words

that we need to WRITE.

We struggle to write scenes

that feel blah

uninspired,

boring.

Have we lost it?

Should we quit?

Maybe we're not writers after all.

But wait!

Hang in there.

The night is coming.

Suddenly, a scene appears in our thoughts

It's just what we need.

We jump from the bed

(and hopefully, don't wait till morning!)

to write it down.

We feel energized

relief floods our being

Inspiration hits us like a firecracker in July.

Words are coming like a light bulb lit up inside our bodies.

We've found our muse again.

Because we know

that the middle-of-the-night scene is

 just the thing to 

get us going again.

Blessings!

Think About This Word: UP!

Think About THIS!

UP.  This two-letter word in English has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as an adverb, preposition, adjective, noun, or verb.

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends, brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and fix UP the old car.

At other times this little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. 

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. 
We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP ! 

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look UP the word UP in the dictionary.. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. 

It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. 

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it soaks UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now. My time is UP! 


One more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? 

U...P ! (Get it?)


Quote:  We write to taste life twice; in the moment and in retrospect. --anais nin

Blessings!

Sunday Morning Peace: Worship

Worship Him

in thoughts

in words

in actions

by reading and studying his word

by praising 

by sharing his love

Many blessings!

On Passionate Writing: Conversation

The real art of conversation

is not only to say the right thing at the right time,

but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing

at the tempting moment.

How true!

It's so easy to say what we think--or not think.
Those of us who are "chatter boxes," rattle on and on,
sometimes not realizing how boring, how irritating
our constant speech
about our life, our problems, our ideas
can be.

Sometimes we say hurtful things, meaning to
or not.
But is it because we talk too much?
Is it because we're too thoughtless?

When someone insults us
or cuts us off
or betrays us
or whatever.

How do we respond?
How do we react?

Prayer is the key.
Ask God to guard our lips and our tongue.
To say only what he would have us to say

It could possibly be the hardest thing we've been called to do.
The Bible cautions us to guard our tongue.
To not wound
To keep the peace
To encourage
To uplift.

In so doing, we've climbed that ladder to heaven
just a bit higher!

Blessings!

A Writer's Goals

(or anyone else who needs this . . .)
There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them.
There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them.
There's no telling what will happen whe you act upon them. (Jim Rohn)

Inspire
Believe
Act

Three beautiful words.

Quote:
Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. Thomas Edison

Blessings!

Useless, But Interesting

Stewardesses' is the longest word typed with only the left hand.

And 'lollipop' is the longest word typed with your right hand.
(Bet you tried this out mentally, didn't you?)

No word in the English language rhymes

with month , orange, silver, or purple.

' Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.

(Are you doubting this?)

Our eyes are always the same size from birth,

ut our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog'

uses every letter of the alphabet.

(Check it out!)

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same
whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.
(You're not possibly doubting this, are you ?)

There are two words in the English language

that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.'

( a e i o u)

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made

using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

(Come on, get those keypads out and see for yourself.)

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

.
(Some days that's about what my memory span is.)

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

(I know some people that could do this too.!)

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
(I know some people like that also .

Actually I know A LOT of people like this!)

Babies are born without kneecaps.

They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history
not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast,

the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE 2,moves only six inches

for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher

walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
(Good thing he did that.)

The winter of 1932 was so cold that

Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Now you know more than you did before you read this post.

Quote: One of the greatest gifts adults can give to their offspring and to society, is to read to children. --Carl Sagan

Blessings!

Your Inner Self



Went to a writing seminar yesterday. One of the class speakers gave us an exercise which consisted of writing on a large sheet of paper the first six words that came to mind to describe yourself. Here are the words that I thought about and which are important to me:



1. loyalty



2. caring



3. privacy



4. dreams



5. travel



6. family



I'm sure these aren't the only ones that are important to me, but they are some of the top ones.



Here's why:

Loyalty to yourself, to your faith, friends and family. To me, the word speaks of what a person is when he can be called loyal.



Caring is something that comes from deep inside one's self yet it extends beyond self to others. It's a gentleness and concern that is a strong trait of personality.



Privacy is a valuable commodity. It's a place where you feel safety and peace and strength and strong.



Dreams. What would we do without them? Who can really live without a dream--whether small or large, one or many? It gives us something to strive for. Something that makes us look beyond our own little world.



Travel is a fun thing for me. It can be tiresome if used too much or incorrectly, but in its place, experience and knowlege can be gained.



Family. You can't value them too much. Those who have none, wish for it. Those who grumble about them, fight for them when push comes to shove. There's something to be said for knowing that there's always a blood link, always some one to turn to when the chips are down.



Quick: off the top of your head, write six words that are important to you. Then think about it. Why are they?



Have fun!





Quote:

To be wronged is nothing unless you continue to remember it. --Confucius





Blessings

I Need Something Fun Today!


How about some more word fun?

Some of my favorite things are:

Trees:

• Oak
• Dogwood
• Sassafras
• weeping willow

Cowboys:

• big hats
• rough
• hard-working

Cars:

• My 69 Mustang
• Antique cars
• Jeeps
• fast cars

States:

• Ohio
• Arizona
• New Mexico
• Idaho
• Montana
• Virginia
• Tennessee
• West Virginia

Dogs:
Ha, most of them. Here's a few:

• Collie
• Jack Russell
• German Shepherd
• King Charles Spaniard
• Taffy, Noah, Molly, Mackie

Flowers:

• roses
• lilacs
• sage
• geraniums
• pansies
• lily of the valleys
• iris
• lilies
• daisies
• carnations
• petunias
• holly hocks
• gladiolas
• honey suckle
• peonies
• sweet peas
• morning glories
• phlox
• primroses
• asters
• four 0 clocks
• red buds
• yellow bushes
• sweet williams

I could go on and on. I wanted to see how long you'd read. . .

Have a great evening!

Quote:
If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you. --Winnie the Pooh

Blessings

Fun with Words


Ring, communication, disturbance
phone

Hot, red, burning
sunburn

Kraut, slaw, cooked, raw, brine
cabbage

Work, words, ideas, typing
novel

Dates, numbers, pictures, days
calendar

Work, money, boring, enjoy
job

Sweat, move, strain, burn, calories
exercise

Strong, sinewy, tools
blacksmith

Friend, sibling, fight
brother

Round, holey, sweet, delicious
doughnut

Chirp, peep, tweet, fly
bird

Hard, published, love/hate relationship
book

Round, holey, black, road
tire

And that's your baker's dozen for today!



Quote


Blessings

More Beautiful Words

See if you can top these:

Patriarch
Pathos
Pauperize
Pawn
Photosynthesis
Philippine
Pitchfork
Plaintive
Plectrum
Playwright


Mantua
Manysided
Manuscript
Maraschino
Marble
Marine
Measurable
Meadow
Mayhem
Maya
Metermaid


Exploit
Experienced
Expatriation
Expedient
Euphemism
Evergreen
Emulation
Encase
Effortless
Elderberry
Eggbeater
Egypt




Quote:
Take your life in your own hands, and what happens? A terrible thing: no one to blame. --Erica Jong

Blessings.

Fascination with words

What do you think of when someone says the word "twang?"
Music?
Clashing?
Guitar strings?

I love words.
Here's some favorites of mine:

linger
sailing
Meander
garden
ice
watching
Starbucks
blatant
blindfold

S words and names

Starli
Sami
Sean
Samuel

simpering
simmer
Starlight
Shadow


manuever
manipulation
raspberry
rationalize
ravish

lush
shaggy
shadowy
tete a tete

octopus
spider
stammer
stutter
psychologist
preacher

azure
chocolate
gazebo

I could go on and on. Words. Lovely. Strange. Fascinating. Fun. String them together. Write them singly. Whisper, stutter, shout them. Think or speak them. Use them in poems, letters, documents, court case arguments, White House speeches, beggar pleas, novels.

Bad words. Good words. Gospel words.
Words that send you straight to a dictionary.
Words that are so common we don't even think about them.

What if we didn't have them? Had to draw pictures like some ancestors did?
I'd be up a creek and without a paddle; I can't draw a stick figure!


Quote:
The purpose of life . . . is life. --Karl Lagerfeld


Blessings!

Word Associations


What words automatically make you think of another word? For a writer, the sky's the limit. (Or maybe the dictionary!) Here's a few fun descriptions for you to savor. Wanna add your own?


Ding, dong, enter, visit
Doorbell

Pictures, dates, schedules, appointments
Calendar

Not-so-famous, famous, thinking, writing, people
Quotes

Fast, cool, fifties, bobby-sox
Hot rod

Depression, poor, war, stock market and hobos
Early 1900's

Persuasive, products, money and bargains--or not
Door-to-door Salesmen

World-reaching, productive, easy and hard, popular
Computers

Colds, runny, soft, throw-aways
Tissues

Best friend, brown eyes, wagging and barks
Dog

Funnel, scary, killing, and black
Tornado

Blue and black, red and yellow, star-studded and orange-glowed, rainbow-hued
Sky

Complex, simple, wordy and silent
Writer

Big and wonderful, smart, dumb, best friend, Adam, boss, hen-pecked, strong, oil-changer, lover, male, dynamic, big/little boy, toys-lawn mowers, tools, motorcycles, boats, etc. etc.
husband


A Baker's Dozen. More later . . .



More "be good" hints:

• Remind yourself that you're not the general manager of the universe. Oh, yes!
• Do something for the kid in you every day.
• Sit on your ego.
• Slow down.
• Talk less; listen more.
• Be kind to unkind people
• Develop a forgiving attitude.
  

Quote:
Persevere. Even the snails made it into the ark.

Blessings

Words That Make Me Think of . . .



Clitter, clatter, ting, tang, tong and swinging
Chimes

Flitter, flutter, dart and beating wings
Hummingbirds

Winding, purr, soft, and claws
Kittys

Tall and straight, bent, green, and brown
Trees

Splashing, cool, wet and soothing
Fountain

Dreamy, imaginative, lazy and hard-working
Writer

Kids, learning, reading, riting, and arithmetic
Teachers

Understands, forgiving, mind-reader
Friend

Graceful, unique smell, fast and long-legged
Horse

Native Americans, sand, burrs and beautiful nights
New Mexico

Mine, favorite, drink, hot and cold
Mug

Destruction, damage, death and burn
Fire

Big, smart, loving and heavenly
God


A Baker's Dozen. More later . . .


Have you checked out Cindy's interview, Friday, July 13th. Do it, for a chance to get one of her books!




Surviving the rest of summer hints:

• Don't like creepy crawly insects enjoying your picnic? Place the legs of the picnic table in containers of water. Ants can't swim.

• Baby wipes will temporarily soothe bug bites.

• Use apples to ripen your tomatoes. Place in a container with a lid.

• Put tomatoe-stained plastic containers out in the sun where it can bleach out the stains.

• Leave uncut watermelons out on the counter--helps keep their health-friendly levels of lycopene. Store in fridge only after they've been cut.

• Want a good night's sleep? Spend at least 30 minutes a day outside in natural light.

Quote:
The miracles of nature do not seem miracles because they are so common. If no one had ever seen a flower, even a dandelion would be the most startling event in the world.


Blessings