Tree Hugging Time

Noted Thanksgiving, Pinehurst NC:

I hugged a tree tonight. It was a great hug. I felt a little strange at first, but it was just me, and the Tall Pines.  Need I say more?
What strength.  What straightness.  What warmth.  I remember one of my most favorite people on this whole planet, Greg Samata, once hugged my vintage refrigerator. He wrapped his arms around it and squeezed.  This place of the Tall Pines is sacred.  I am thrilled to be here.  And I love that tree. Enough to hug it to pieces.

Another Lovely Lunch!

I had the great pleasure of reconnecting with Francina's son Bill, and his lovely wife Nancy (both are featured in Stay For Lunch) after not seeing them for over eighteen years.   I was struck how much Bill favored his mother, it was almost as if I were looking across the table into my friend's bright eyes. I was amazed how neither seemed to have aged a bit.  I guess grand parenting and living life large agrees with them.  We shared many laughs, Francina stories, and caught up on all the young ones in our lives who have aged along with us.  Nancy regaled the table with tales of her daughter-in-law, who is expecting her seventh child this month. She recently visited their mountainside home and found the mom camping (for the adventure of it!) by the side of their creek with her six other children all bent on getting water boiling, in order to cook breakfast. They are a colorful family.  Even though I've met few personally, they feel familiar to me since Francina shared many of their escapades during our visits.  I hope to meet more along the way and definitely will not wait another eighteen years before I see dear Nancy and Bill again. An added bonus to the visit was their son Clarke, who chose to join us.   Francina was a major beacon in his life and I look forward to sharing thoughts about her influences and inspirations with him.  Towards the end of our visit, I commented on how Francina would have loved our lunch, and we all agreed that we felt her smiling with us.  Next update, Francina and Anne hit the streets of Manhattan.  Stay tuned.

"Top Pick!' per Midwest Book Review!

'Stay For Lunch' received a 'top pick, highly recommended' review in the October online issue of Midwest Book Review.  (Please see link below)  A happy honor indeed!



Biography Shelf

Time for Tea.

I really don't like the word 'blog'. It sounds like the combination of several bodily functions gone awry. The concept of 'Notes to Myself' is pleasing to me, so that is what I will be posting from now on-
Note to Myself: Sometimes you find the most unexpected treasures in your own back yard. Enter the Angel Museum in Beloit, Wisconsin (http://www.angelmuseum.com/). I had the pleasure on national 'Be An Angel" day to be the featured guest of their lovely annual, full Victorian Tea. If you know me, you know that I am crazy for a tea sandwhich done right. And they were crazy about the angel qualities in Stay for Lunch, so it was a perfect pairing. We were in the 'Heavenly Cafe' which is nestled in well-tended, lovingly cared for gardens below the 14,000 angels housed in the reclaimed brick 1920's 0ld church on the shores of the Rock River. (Oprah's collection is housed there.)The volunteer 'angels' of the museum know their Tea. It was perfection.

But my favorite part of this unexpected road trip with Francina, as experienced yesterday, is the stories shared when groups, large and small, gather to chat with me about life lessons gleaned from the book (see bookmarks, on home page, http://www.pleasurablepausepress.com/). I'm amazed by the commonalities in the twists and turns life offers each of us. We had many laughs over tea and shared experiences, (I was positioned between the savories and dessert, so we kept it moving!) and I also saw many eyes brimming with tears, mine included. A truly delightful, genuine, intimate gathering of what became, new friends. Thank you Angel Museum for being here and for thinking of Stay For Lunch and for having me to Tea.

Sandwich anyone?

I have recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by a couple of radio stations regarding Stay For Lunch. I joined Stacy McKay on The River in Ohio and Mary in The Morning on YOU-FM out of Traverse City Michigan. Radio is a challenge for me. I tend to not find my words as quickly as I would like, especially at 6:OO AM! But gaining the experience is fun. The topic on the show prior to my visit with Mary was 'The Sandwich Generation', the challenges we face simultaneously taking care of both our families and elderly parents. I am definitely part of this phenom and last night after a particiuarily discouraging evening with my parents had a quiet contemplation and came up with this thought: If more of us made the effort to befriend people of different generations and spend time with and help these friends and enjoy these friendships as Francina and I experienced, we might not need a term such as 'The Sandwich Generation'. By sharing a sandwich with Francina on a regular basis, perhaps I helped ease her children's minds on their Mother's well being, at least over the lunch hour! Maybe it takes a village to raise a grandparent as well.

OOPS!

Greetings! Just learned that my 'contact' button on my website http://www.pleasurablepausepress.com has not been working quite right.
My feelings were becoming a little hurt because I never heard from all those people who promised to email me from my website so I did a little test and discovered I've been unattached.
Darn it. Anyway, if by chance, you are someone who did try to reach me, to comment on the book or just say 'hey' please try again! Love to hear from you. best. a.

It's a Gold!

Greetings after a little book hiatus. After finding out that my medal was indeed a sole Gold IPPY awarded in the inspirational/spiritual category of the Independent Book Publishers awards (the category with the most number of entrants), I returned to New York with my friends Jeanne and Dawn (team Anne we called ourselves) to attend the spectacular IPPY awards event. What fun to meet other IPPY recipients and learn of the fabulous books that independent publishers produce each year. I was proud to be in such fine company and compliment the event organizers and judges who commit so much time and attention to recognizing our efforts. And I must admit the gold sticker looks pretty darn good on my book.

Since then I've been enjoying some quiet time at my cottage on Pleasant Lake as I plan for the next phase of introducing Stay For Lunch to the world-at-large. Stay tuned for more info on that front. And it was my pleasure to chat with a Pleasant Lake Book Club in the 1920's one room lake cottage that belonged to my mother-in-law, Kathryn Goodwin who was a dear friend, inspiration and first fan of my writing attempts. We had a lovely discussion centered around my 'Francina's Calling' bookmarks. People actually told me the experience was life changing for them. Francina would have been thrilled to hear that her simple messages are still making ripples and shining light on peoples' lives. This is fun.