Category: Uncategorized

Posted in Challenges, Uncategorized

#SoCS – Jan 14/17

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Pajamas are a wonderful thing. I’ve been exhausted from trying to get ready to travel for a trip where we will be gone for about six weeks. I’ve also been desperately trying to keep up with my writing. Last night, I finally decided that I had to rest. I put on my pajamas and just relaxed, although I have to admit that I made a list of things I have to do this weekend. Writing things. Travel things to get ready to leave in a couple of days. Just putting on my pajamas relaxes me even though I still did some mental work.

Pajamas, a robe, and house slippers. What is better than that? My little dog, Betsy, is so happy when she sees me putting on my pajamas. She knows I’m staying home. Dogs are pretty smart like that. If I’m putting on makeup, other clothes, jewelry, Betsy knows I’m going out which is something she surely does not like.

I get some of the same relaxation effect when I put on leggings, which tend to be my “around the house” clothes. But, they don’t give me as dramatic a relaxation effect as pajamas. What relaxes you? Do you get the same effect as I do from putting on your slippers, robe, and pajamas?

 

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Posted in Blog Series, Uncategorized

BLOG SERIES: Snow #4

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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What if you looked out your window and saw THIS? Again, this is a house in Truckee, California after the blizzard. I would be scared to death, but the people who live here know how to deal with blizzards and the snow. The added benefit is that this kind of know in the High Sierras will help break the California drought this summer.

Posted in Blog Series, Uncategorized

BLOG SERIES: Snow #1

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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The beginning of the blizzard in the Lake Tahoe area.

I’m going to write a short snow blog series. After all, it is winter in most of the U.S. and the Northern Hemisphere. Even though snow is not my thing, lots of folks live in snow country and find activities that they love to participate in. I’ll have to admit that I love the Winter Olympics. I’m just glad I, personally, aren’t out in the snow!

I’m lucky enough to have a direct line to the High Sierra region of the Rocky Mountains in the U.S. They are having a blizzard. That’s very fortunate for California as it will help with their drought conditions. However, the people who live in the High Sierras have to be prepared.

My cousin and her husband live near Lake Tahoe and they are being inundated with snow. She is sending me beautiful snow pictures that I want to share with you although she has to stay in until it’s safe to go out. The snow is like a sculpture. Smooth in spots. Very uneven in other spots. Beautiful to look at.

Watch this space for my Snow Series! We’ll follow the western blizzard near Lake Tahoe and go some other places as well!

The picture at the top of this post is some of the initial snow they got near Lake Tahoe.  This is my cousin’s deck. The Sierra’s are under a blizzard warning today, January 10, 2017.

Posted in Uncategorized

Betsy’s Seizure

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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A few days ago, some of you know that my little dog, Betsy, had a Grand Mal seizure. She is four years old. She had never had a seizure before. She had never been ill before. It was totally out of the blue. It lasted 6.5 minutes, which according to my vet, is not a good thing.

I rushed Betsy to the nearest vet. On the advice of the vet, she had complete blood work. Betsy, you see, is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. They have some genetic issues. The vet was worried about her heart. She passed all her blood tests with flying colors. Nothing was wrong.

Right. Nothing was wrong. I saw Betsy have this seizure. SOMETHING was wrong.

To find out what is wrong, or to possibly find out, Betsy will have to see a specialist, but it makes the most sense to try to track down any possible environment causes first. I live in the forest. My previous dog, Eliza, developed pancreatitis from eating parts of a dead bird that was in my large fenced in back yard. She, subsequently, had chronic pancreatitis the rest of her life. The first thing I thought of was that something was in the back yard that Betsy could have eaten. It made me feel like I was reliving a nightmare.

It is simply not possible to keep things out of a forested yard. Critters are in that yard every night. Birds are there. Insects are there. It is winter and nothing is growing, but birds drop berries, some of which could be poisonous. Betsy will eat anything! Taking inventory of all this made me feel helpless.

There was another possibility. Something could have bitten Betsy. There are virtually infinite possibilities. Another previous dog was bitten by something. I never knew what but it was a terrible bite. It could have been a snake, probably non-poisonous. It could have been a opossum. I live in the forest! There are other possibilities. He was sick a long time. But, Betsy had no visible bite marks.

But, insects may not leave visible bite marks, at least not on a heavily-coated dog. Then, it struck me. A spider! We have a number of poisonous spiders here like the brown recluse spider.

Sigh…..the bottom line is that we don’t know and may never know. Alternatively, there may be a veterinary neurologist in Betsy’s future. Keep your fingers crossed for her. She’s the sweetest dog and best companion in the world! #JusJoJan #amwriting #amblogging #writing #cavalierkingcharles

Posted in Uncategorized

Resilient

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

It’s been a tough year for many of us. We’ve had to be resilient. That is the theme of this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge – resilient. To me, nothing is more resilient than the ocean. Resilient is defined as recovering to its original form easily and quickly. What could be more resilient than the ocean? If we have to be, we can be resilient again, like the ocean, in 2017.

This is Ft. Myers Beach, Florida in the United States at the end of the day.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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Posted in Politics, Uncategorized, Writing

#SoCS – Dec 24/16

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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Good morning to everyone! I only have one thing of importance on my mind today. I want to say Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone out there celebrating the holidays. In the United States, it has been such a disturbing year from a political standpoint. Since starting to blog on WordPress this year, I’ve met so many wonderful people of all political and religious persuasions. When we interact, their politics or religion never occurs to me.

I hope that, in 2017, we can all come together – Christians, Jews, Muslims – and every other religion and every political persuasion – and show our governments who seem to be trying to tear us apart, that WE are, indeed, the world. That despite the differences in how we worship or who we elect to lead us, WE are the world. The people and not the small groups of governmental officials. Those officials don’t represent us all and, in some cases, represent very few of us.

When we interact one on one, politics and religion don’t matter. We’re all just people, trying to survive, take care of our families, somehow make our way toward self-actualization. We can get along with our neighbors who may worship differently or have a different view of political governing, but WE, the people, are the world. WE are important, not the little groups at the top who try to cook up something between us. No matter what country we live in.

I’ve met a lot of people this year from all around the world. I want my blogger friends on WordPress to know that knowing them and reading their work has enriched my life. I have new friends on Facebook because of my writing who are also writers and I feel the same about you. I’ve come to like Twitter as there are people there who will help a budding writer and I’ve certainly made new friends there and I want to thank them. It hasn’t mattered one bit about their politics or religion and they haven’t let it matter about mine. I respect all these people immensely. I want to thank all of you for your friendship and help this year.

My old friends. What can I say? The year has been hard for me and to those of you who have shared those hard times with me, I will never be able to repay you and you have my gratitude. My old friends are more than special to me and I hope you will always be in my life.

To all of you, have a blessed holiday. WE are the people and WE are the world. Don’t let anyone take that away from US. #religion #politics #Christmas #Hanukkah #amwriting #amblogging #writing #WordPress

Post in response to Stream of Consciousness Dec 24/16

Thanks, Linda!

Posted in romance, Uncategorized, Writing

On Relationships – Haiku Interpretation

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Haiku #2 – On Relationships
the sun will set slow
people go home for shelter
sun will rise again

Interpretation:

Some relationships die. Even good relationships sometimes die. Many die slowly, like the sun setting slowly. After a relationship dies, many people need time to grieve, to adjust, to deal with what is usually sadness. They retreat. Some retreat from social life for a time. Some retreat from life for awhile. They go to whatever they call home and seek shelter because home represents a reprieve from pain. Even though, at first, the people in a relationship that has died may not realize it, they will move past the pain. It may take a long time, or not so long, but they will start to feel better and feel lighter, and they will look around and it will seem like the sun has come up, like it has risen again.

#amwriting #amblogging #writing #relationships #haiku

Welcome to    Incredible Blogging Marathon Challenge          #04

Given to you are five haiku’s. Pick any one and write your interpretation to it. You can build a story and make the haiku part of it. You can continue the haiku and make another poem out of it. Let the creativity wander and hunt it down the way you want.

Posted in Uncategorized, Writing

Randomness

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

Living in the country is peaceful but sometimes it’s boring. I hate inkjet printers and prefer laser printers as long as they have a color function and hold at least ten reams of paper. Never wade out in the Gulf of Mexico at night to fish because you will risk your limbs. My favorite cat is a purebred Maine Coon cat and I had one for many years whose name was Abby, a good New England name. I can’t remember if there is a jail in the county I live in because I am so seldom downtown and I don’t usually have time to read the local newspaper. I feel like what I am writing here is ridiculous but it is supposed to be disconnected and ridiculously funny in order to complete this challenge. My favorite country in Europe is Portugal because the people like Americans, the castles are awesome, and I love the fields of cork trees and grapevines. Most people don’t know that I had a German Shepherd mix dog at one time that tried to kill the UPS man who inexplicably laughs about it now. My favorite restaurant in the nearest big city is named after a type of grain. My favorite rock and roll band recorded a song called “Wild Horses” and horses are my favorite animal but not wild ones.

This Post is written for the International Blogging Marathon Challenge #3. The challenge has 10 tasks and this is the third one. Randomness Challenge!

 

Posted in The Economy, Uncategorized, weekendcoffeeshare

#weekendcoffeeshare 12/17/2016

Posted on by R.M. Carlson

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“Hello, Jenn! It’s great to see you for the #weekendcoffeeshare this week! How have you been?” I ask as Jenn comes through my side door.

“Good,” Jenn replies. “But the weather has been too cold for me. Looks like you have the hot beverages ready for everyone!”

“I think I do, Jenn,” I said. “I decided to serve just regular stuff today. A breakfast blend coffee, English Breakfast and Irish Breakfast Tea, and Hot Chocolate. I will also make lattes for anyone who wants one. I hope everyone enjoys it. Here they come now.”

After everyone got settled in the writing studio, the first topic was the strange weather we’ve been having. If we were having coffee, I would tell everyone about the weather here where I live. After a very warm early and mid fall, it suddenly turned bitterly cold with Artic air dropping down into the Ohio Valley and resulting in very cold temperatures until today. Today, it is 60 degrees! We’re supposed to go back into the deep freeze after today.

If we were having coffee, I would tell everyone about how much I’ve been writing during the last week. I’ve been participating in some writing challenges that I thought would challenge my writing skills. In my opinion, that is the reason to participate in writing challenges and prompts. They help you kick your writing up a notch because you really have to think and research along with the writing. You can also get some feedback from other writers participating in the same prompt or challenge which is invaluable. It seems to have been busy this past week, here on WordPress, with prompts and some new challenges. Has anyone else noticed that? Also, what do you think of the look of the new WordPress Reader?

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that, even though I am working on a novel, I find great value in continuing to blog. You make great contacts, improve your writing skills, and get an opportunity to read other writers’ works. I have, in fact, done more blogging this week than writing on the novel. That has to change in the week to come. Is anyone else working on a novel? What has been your experience?

If we were having coffee, I would ask you if you are finished with your Christmas shopping? I am not and only have one more gift to buy but it is an important one. I have thought the trend toward online shopping might cut down on the traffic in the city around the malls and shopping centers. I was wrong! Have you noticed any improvement in the traffic where you live?

Last week, I talked a little about a fellow blogger’s list of gifts for writers (Chuck Wendig). I am buying at least two products he recommends. I received my Brother Laser Printer this week but I have not yet had time to hook it up and use it. I’ll keep you advised how well it performs, particularly the WiFi. I will let you know.

I am about to buy another product Chuck recommends. I use an iPad a lot for my writing. Not exclusively. I work on a laptop when writing my novel but for blogging and other things I use a BIG iPad. As we all know, an iPad’s keyboard is not very useful if you are going to type much! Right now, I use a cheap external keyboard with my iPad, but it has to be charged often and it is pretty flimsy. Chuck recommends what looks to be an awesome external keyboard for the iPad. You can see it if you go to this site for an awesome external keyboard. Folks, this thing is on sale until 12/20. I am BUYING IT. I’ve decided to order it today. Yes, it is way expensive. I think it will make me way more productive. I will report back!

Now a personal note. I hope all of you are having a happy holiday season. I don’t do much for Christmas except I do enjoy buying gifts for friends. Christmas is a hard holiday for me for a myriad of personal reasons. The next #weekendcoffeeshare will be on Christmas Eve and we’ll talk about all things Christmas and other holidays associated with this time of year. Keep on shopping and writing and I hope all of you are having a wonderful holiday season! #amwriting #amblogging #writing #chuckwendig #WordPress

*This post in response to parttimemonsterblog.com

Thanks, Diana!