I have a challenge for you today! Actively look for all the things you can fall in love with that genuinely matter to you! History, exploring, nature, kindness, and sparkle are just a few of the things that I genuinely love! I love going on the hunt for anything history and what turns up! Every history journey I take is thrilling and exciting, and you never know what you might discover!
One thing I have a particular passion for is, in fact, TREES! Trees have honestly played essential roles in all of our histories! Stop for a second, and think of a few of the things you can think of today that trees contributed to improving your life. We appreciate the shade they provide and the beautiful colors that inspire each of us in the fall! Toilet paper, who remembers the toilet paper catastrophe during COVID? I still have not entirely recovered from the shock! Each time I walk into Walmart and see the shelves partially barren, I have minor anxiety that history is planning a repeat! Now for a little more, did you know! Did you know on average, it takes 10 to 60 years for a tree to mature fully? Did you know that trees act like an air filter for the earth? Now pause for just a minute! You heard me correctly! You can play a part in helping climate change and global warming. How can you help? By planting trees and not just one tree but a lot of them! Then consider that it will take time for each tree to develop!
Theodore Korthanke was born in 1860! Beyond what you know of his extraordinary story, which you guys have heard me explore, he might have had a vision for what was needed to protect the earth and did it in vibrant sugar maples. Today, Hiawatha Kansas has a memorial that commemorates his contributions in color to Hiawatha. For me, that is something I can absolutely fall in love with! Theodore caused quite a bit of upset at local nurseries because he was so passionate about trees that he gave them to anyone willing to the tree. He began charging $1 for labor digging up the person’s tree to avoid further upset. So I have a question and challenge for everyone today, are you willing to care for the trees? Today, you can purchase a hybrid sugar maple that has been created at Grimm’s Garden. Reach out and contact them for your little piece of Theodore Korthanke’s dream. As always, there is so much more to every story! Find it! Be sure to stop by and share with me what you discover! #historymysteries #travel
I linger in my thoughts and dreams where I can be free to inhale you.
Feel your touch as it caresses my skin… the absolute brilliance of your heart and the freedom you given to me I am a carefree spirit who can let her curls cascade down in a fiery curly chaotic mess
You pull them back softly and gaze into my eyes beautiful golden eyes that leave me breathless every single time, the memories of your touches leaving a glittering crimson sparkle
across my skin
I love when we are together time stops and I am free to be who I’m meant to be
The trials and obligations of life that sometimes weigh heavy upon my shoulders suddenly evaporate when you and I escape to the places where our hearts unite and you and I begin!
Liars bore me; I mean, seriously, if you are going to go to the trouble to make something up, then you should try to make it colorful and interesting! Liars are boring; why not color the world jazzy and paint your truth all over the place! Speak your truth; after all, you only get one shot at this, so why not jazz it up with brilliant, wonderful honesty! As always, there is so much more to every single story! Find it! Be sure to stop by and share with me what you uncover! #historymysteries #kindness #sparkle
Water! my favorite drink is water. Delicious water! You know, the kind that is entirely refreshing and satisfying. I also love to drink other things, but water is underappreciated. See, I also appreciate the smell, the aroma of water, and, don’t get me wrong, the aromas from a delicious cup of hot coffee or tea. There is a critical ingredient in each of the previously mentioned. Stop the presses; you guessed it! Water! I love water for other reasons, and we don’t take the time to appreciate water. I love how water makes me feel as I slide into a pool, ocean, or lake for a swim! I love dipping into my hot bath, “lava water,” as my husband calls it. Each warm bath beckons utterly delicious and complete relaxation!
I have a lot of favorite things, not just water. Take, for example, glorious forests and trees! They come in all shapes and sizes and are filled with stories! They are the air filter for our earth! Get a grip, people! When you wonder about things like global warming (it’s real!), take, for example, we saw a lake due to warming and flooding! A lake, people! Show up in Pakistan in the period of, oh, about 45 days. We can fix this! We get one shot! We have one earth! We are all one race! HUMAN! Not a single one of us is better than another human! It takes all of us to fix this. Plant trees, love each other, and work together! Pick up your trash! Leave the world better than you found it! Share your stories! #sparkle #kindnessmatters #travel
PS there are so many other things that I love, and you love, for that matter! Find them! Be sure to share with me what those things are and why they make you happy. My top favorite, curling up, my husband’s arms wrapped around me, listening to him tell me stories, and nuzzled in his chest. I love that it is the perfect, safe place for me, where I am free to explore every dream I have and that he protects me! I love dreaming and being a dreamer! I love that I believe the world can and should be a better place! Instead of trying to wipe each other out! LOVE! Freaking love each other!
If you could permanently ban a word from general usage, which one would it be? Why?
The word is NO, and all the toilet bowliness that pursues! Is that a word? For the sake of a good argument, let’s say that all words that fall into the category of “yucky” systematically fall into the region of toilet bowl-iness, and let’s just get rid of them all! I have said it before, and I will repeat it! Well, ladies and gents, ain’t one of us getting out of here alive, so just be nice! Is it bizarre I can hear my grandmother and the “don’t say ain’t prose in my head!?” Nah! It’s good! Tiny diversionary rant. It’s all good!
We get a choice, to love or to be yucky. I would also ban things like preventing law-abiding citizens from having the general liberty to go wherever they want. I am trying to understand why we get a passport to obtain a visa. It seems like a lot of freaking paper; who is out there replanting after systematically knocking down the forests? What does it mean exactly? Wouldn’t it make more sense to say yep, you got your ID, you have a passport, thank you very much, pack your bags! While we are at it, let’s decimate NO! from our vocabulary and our mindsets. You are unique, and you can do anything you want to! So get up and do it already!
Consider my mantra to be the following, what makes you different sets you apart. The very thing that sets you apart is your sparkle. For example, in my childhood, I was often teased, taunted, and generally bullied for my red, tightly coiled curls. Today the very same red coils are my superpower. Consider your power! Spread love, joy, kindness, and happiness, and share your sparkle. Stand up for the things you love and believe in; that is all, my sweet angels! #kindness matters #sparkle
Tell us about your favorite pair of shoes, and where they’ve taken you.
Sadly, I have had more than my fair share of them. The last one in July 2022 could have swallowed me whole. But this is not the one I am writing about today…. and let’s just say. with me at the helm of operator owner of the “bird’s nest … things are a little bit more “controlled chaos!”
My dad was in my tiny person world in the grand scheme of things, my leading man Jack Nicholson, and I was his biggest fan. I use words to express outwardly the things written in my soul! I couldn’t say these things when I was a little girl, and I hope I represent my feelings and thoughts in a manner that does not hurt anyone. Reflecting on the person I want to be is still essential despite events and actions! I want to be a better human. I never told my dad how much I looked up to him. (PS here I am in that soft pink Shaun Cassidy sweatshirt and rocking the bird’s nest afro that my mother loved. Yes, that is actually what she called it! Breaking news for 2023 trendy haircuts the “birds nest” )
Soooo! My Dad! My dad left the earthly world on August 25, 2018. I will forever remember this painful day etched in my soul. It does not even seem profound enough an expression to say I love and miss my dad! I remember the day because I coordinated a meeting with the artist as part of the museum’s traveling exhibit, where I currently hang my professional hat. You might be asking, “what’s a traveling exhibit?” If you don’t know what this is, I hope when COVID has ceased rearing its ugly self to anyone and everyone, you will have the opportunity to uncover this rare treasure. If all of this COVID nonsense is over and we can still interact and be gentle with one another, we all gained a reminder of things we all need to continue to learn. I remember the text from my Uncle asking me to call home. That was an odd experience. I remember being painfully aware that my stepmother was painfully serene. Now, I am not going to make excuses. I have NEVER been good at death. Should anyone truly get good at it? I remember talking to the stepmother, and she explained that Dad had been out pulling weeds on the embankment in the back of their house. What in the world had driven my dad, at 69 years young, to take himself outside to pull weeds? Pull weeds in what is probably the hottest part of the New England summer. I was angry with myself! I had been working while my dad was dying! I remember the next few days, there were moments I went off by myself, and I would scream. Rage poured out of my soul! I had wasted so much time. I should have made it a point to go back and spend more time with my dad. I kept telling myself there would be so much more time for everything. I was waiting for a sign from my dad that he was ok in heaven. I didn’t feel like I got any big gestures, which made me even more upset. I got tiny signals. I would go into the museum and smell cigarette smoke. No one smokes in there, and I am not a smoker. My dad had quit smoking many years earlier, so who was letting me know they were ok. My dad may or may not have known that I love the smell of Marlboro cigarettes while I do not smoke. I also love the smell of wood burning in the fireplace or wood stove. There are so many things that I can credit to the world I love and cherish. I love the crackle of autumn leaves underfoot. Make your lists in your head, on paper but celebrate the things you love. One morning we went out for breakfast. I heard a song playing in the background, Mercy Me’s “I Can Only Imagine.” While this might not seem odd, it still made me tear up. We began talking about memories again, and the song slowly ended, and through laughter and tears, I slowly regained my composure. Suddenly I became aware the same song was playing again. I caught my breath, and in my consciousness and then verbally, I said can you guys hear the music. I still don’t know if my dad communicated to my grieving soul or if my Heavenly Father told me that my dad is ok. My dad married the stepmother shortly after he had come into my life. The summer prior, he had been dating a beautiful woman named Geri, who had two boys and a lovely house; that summer, I cracked my collar bone riding my bike with flip flops on, and I will also tell you this allowed me to perfect one-armed cartwheel. I don’t know if Geri was lovely or not, but this is the memory I have. My dad was engaged to the stepmother the following summer and married on August 16. I wore a beautiful yellow sundress. Did anyone ask me what color I wanted to wear? Note to anyone who cares, I wouldn’t say I like yellow, and with red hair, it’s not really on my color wheel. It was a lovely dress, just not my color! The stepmother, I am sure, for her part, was overwhelming as hell having a child of her own already and two more children plopped in her lap! That was enough to derail the train. There were a lot of things that happened. I never forgave her for a lot of the things she did. After all, I was the child in the picture, and she was the adult. Many things were taken from me in those moments that she can never give back! I was angry about the countless things taken from me that were not hers to take! In those moments, I gave her my power; I was the child, after all! I was powerless to control any of her lies. I was powerless to control how people would interpret her words. The adult me is returning all my innocence, sparkle, and magic! So you take your words and actions, and I will own the TRUTH! We all must meet Jesus on our terms with everything, the good and the bad. Note to anyone who cares that when you make a child feel less than worthy, they begin to own that interpretation you instill in them. My life goals were to empower people, use words to motivate and love people, and always share my sparkle and kindness. While I am confident, it was less than ideal to plop additional lives into the family that was now yours to own. You had two options, use gentleness and kindness or bitterly bear the cross. You can, I am confident, imagine the route the stepmother took. The other thing is that COVID has forced us to develop many coping and survival techniques. We as a society have become good at distancing ourselves from people because our lives depend on it. We have been held hostage in our houses, watching the COVID nightmare unfold and then fold again in some sick, deranged origami experiment. Others were hell-bent on doing the exact opposite of the recommendations. Plot twist: did you know this writing prompt would go on some marathon trifecta of feelings? Me either! And PS, sorry folks, none of us, not a one, is getting out of here alive! Be a better human! #Sparkle #KindnessMatters
John Davis comes from Kentucky as an orphan. Little is known or written about John’s life as an orphan. Upon his arrival in Hiawatha, Kansas, John will get a job at the Hart family homestead. John will work hard for over 50 years to amass what some might consider a fortune. John gets a job working as a farmhand on the Hart family homestead. John Davis attends church each Sunday and, in time, falls hopelessly in love with Sarah Hart, and Sarah returns these affections. The initial reaction of the Hart family is one of disapproval, and for how long, we can’t estimate, but Sarah was disinherited. We can also assume they were forgiven, at least in some measure, because the wedding takes place at the Hart homestead.
Sarah and John begin their life together and buy a farm, where the Davis family will work diligently and make a fortune for themselves. Sarah and John, in their over 50-year marriage, were extremely frugal. While the Hart family liked John while he worked as their farmhand, they did not express the same fondness when John shared that he had fallen in love with their daughter. However, John & Sarah worked hard and spent their lives saving, and in the end, they amassed what could be considered a fortune. The Davis’ amassed quite a fortune. Sarah was plagued by rheumatoid arthritis, and John was her caregiver.
Hiawatha’s townspeople thought they knew how best to spend the money the Davis family saved and earned! The community expressed a desire for a hospital or a new swimming pool. John had artistic etching that sprang brilliantly to life in his head! John had the idea to see Sarah depicted in pink and white Italian marble throughout certain portions of their life together! John gave the people exactly what they asked for in the purest of ironies! He gave the people of the community “something” for Hiawatha. Each year people travel, vlog, and enjoy this monument! Now you don’t have to take my word for any of this; read, explore, and enjoy some of the brilliance others have written about the Memorial. One more piece of advice if you have not seen the Memorial, I hope you will get out and see this truly remarkable Memorial that has been resting in Hiawatha for nearly 100 years! As always, there is so much more to every story! Find it! Be sure to stop by and share with me what you discover! #historymysteries #travel
One of the best gifts! Honestly, this one is harder to answer, not because I didn’t know what the gift was but how to illustrate the magnitude of the present! So… if I am disclosing, it was a gift of many gifts! So, last December 2021, I had a mammogram. Don’t get your heads twisted. That was not the gift; I have zero clue who created this torture device… but for a person of small to average breast circumference, this is not a party! During that exam, they discovered a lump, now flash forward, and multiple sonograms and repeat trips to the torture machine; they determined it was a benign Bi-RAD 2. Here is the entrance of one of the gifts. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! It was a lot. It’s also during this time that I met my best friend, and then it evolved into so much more! He became the best thing that ever happened to me and I learned of a love I was afraid to dream might not actually exist! He exists! He makes my world brighter! I love who he encourages me to be! I took my first big girl trip across the world to be with him! The best gift was so many gifts and the woman I am becoming because he loves me!
Kind people! Gentle people! People who give more than they take! Love more! You see my beauties nothing is lost in giving, you only stand to gain! How brilliantly sparkly and wonderful is that! So with that, you heard me, right folks, even you can be a farmer! Get out there and grow some kindness! #kindnessmatters #random #sparkle
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Be kind… you can choose to be kind! When we experience, endure trauma or a crisis or whatever spin you put on your particular verbiage! We all only have one universal desire! To find hope, to be loved, accepted and know we are not alone! #kindnessmatters #randomacts #sparkle
That’s right folks, even you can be a farmer! Get out there and grow some kindness! #kindnessmatters #random #sparkle
I have been writing free articles for two newspapers for over four years. I have been blogging for about a year and recently started my youtube channel. I want to raise awareness about people taking time to explore all history and appreciating people. Much of this can and would be done through articles that I write. I want to raise awareness about global warming and projects that we can do to help people. I want to inspire people to care and grow gardens of kindness, which is done through communication and reaching people. I want to educate people about planting trees and helping solve poverty and homelessness. I have a passion for inspiring the world by using creative ways to excite people about being a part of solutions. I was a victim as a child, so much happened, and all of that doesn’t matter as much today if I use the tools I have learned to be a part of solutions, generate hope, and inspire people! Thank you for sharing a piece of my love for our world with you!
The money would be a seed start-up for technology to inspire more, a phone to record more videos, a blogging microphone, a camera, and a laptop. Then the rest of the money would be I want to give four yurts to homeless people; I want to buy trees to share on my journey and then start creating and inspiring hope and change in the world. Create homeless care kits to hand out. I want to provide gift cards to provide meals and inspire others to create community gardens that homeless people can access with a take-what-you-need portal that would be refurbished regularly. I love to connect with people, which would help me grow the project by completing research. Thank you!
Forest of Words 