Tools to Help You Cope: Visualization and Guided Imagery by Sarah Raplee

 

KODIAK ISLAND BEACH
( courtesy of Pixabay)

I have one trick to uplift my spirits that I haven’t seen mentioned in any other posts this month. It’s called Guided Imagery or Visualization. I learned Guided Imagery over forty years ago while living in Alaska.

The method I used told you to go to a place in nature where you are happy and relaxed. Then close your eyes and relax your body completely. Focus on your breath for a minute or two. Then turn your attention outward and spend a minute or two focusing on each of your senses. What do you smell? What do you hear? What do you feel on your skin, etc.? Open your eyes and look around. Save this memory and go back to this moment in your mind when you need to relax and lift your spirits.

My memory is of sitting on the beach with my husband and small children enjoying a non-rainy day in Southeast Alaska. The smell of the sea breeze and my husband’s cologne, the sounds of children’s laughter and water rippling on the shore, the grainy feel of sand beneath my hands – you get the idea.

Going back to that moment when I was happy and content, connecting with loved ones and nature, never fails to lift my spirits when life gets overwhelming.

Here is a link to a Healthline article about Visualization and Guided Imagery if you are interested in trying these techniques.

Have you tried meditation or related techniques to help you cope with stress?

Blast from the Past: BLINDSIGHT ( AKA The Never-ending Story ) by Sarah Raplee

{This Blast from the Past was first published in 2017.}

Hi, I’m Sarah Raplee and I’m a closet perfectionist.

That’s the main reason it took me seven years to finish my first book. I am a slow writer. And things like births, deaths, illnesses, surgeries, business slowdowns—the stuff of lives being lived—played a part. As did co-managing this blog, and writing half-a dozen short stories, three of which have been included in anthologies.

The publication of BLINDSIGHT, my debut paranormal romantic suspense novel, is a testament to stubborn perseverance, faith and the kindness (and patience) of my family and my “tribe” of fellow writers.

Sometimes I felt like this book would never end. I wrote. I re-wrote. I edited. I ‘fixed’ things. I delved deeper into characters and theme. I paid an editor to find more things for me to improve upon. Her advice was sound and made the book stronger (and taught me a lot). Then…I polished. And polished. And, as my husband likes to point out, I changed happy to glad and back again many, many times.

My husband also told me it was time to “shoot the engineer and build the device,” which translates into “shoot the writer and publish the book.” But something held me back. After much prayer and meditation and consultation with friends, I finally internalized the truth that no book is perfect—and that’s okay. It was the part about it being okay that I hadn’t really taken to heart.

No book is perfect because no writer is perfect, and that’s also okay. As poet Joyce Kilmer so eloquently put it, “Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.”

SARAH RAPLEE

After this epiphany, I finished the book. BLINDSIGHT is not perfect, but my Beta readers loved it. And that is more than enough to make me happy.

BLINDSIGHT, Book 1 in the FBI Psychic Agents Series, will be published by Windtree Press and available at all major E-Bookstores on Valentine’s Day.

BLINDSIGHT BLURB:

A tenacious FBI Psychic Agent who can find anything…
A lonely blind woman with a dangerous kiss…
A brutal psychic criminal obsessed with killing one and controlling the other…

FBI Level-10 Dowser Hector Guerrero, undercover at a drug lord’s remote wilderness wedding, learns the man that murdered his family plans to kidnap the psychically Talented blind wedding singer. Unable to allow the Cartel to enslave another victim, he tries to protect her and ends up in a torture chamber.

Luckily, Melisenda Smith is as resourceful as she is beautiful—and she needs Hector’s help to escape with her elderly guide dog. Fighting a perilous attraction, Meli and Hector must rely on one another to survive a relentless wilderness pursuit. When they stumble onto the Cartel’s hidden prison camp Hector’s been seeking, will ghosts from his past destroy their chance for a future together?

EXCERPT:

Melisenda set her drink down and tipped her head to one side as if she could see straight through him from behind her dark lenses. “Are you a friend of the bride or the groom?”

Hector blinked. “Uh, I’m here for the groom. I’m one of his bodyguards, currently off-duty.”

He scanned the room for Killingsworth and spotted him moving toward the bar. Biding his time. Sweat beaded his upper lip. How long before Killingsworth ran out of patience?

“So you’re here out of loyalty, Hector?”

The question caught him off guard. A bitter laugh escaped him. “I’m here because I want to keep my job.” He shifted in his chair, angling his body toward her. “What about you?”

Color blossomed in her cheeks. She picked up her champagne and held the fluted glass between them. “I need to keep food on the table.”

He narrowed his eyes. Her body language told him there was more to it, but he didn’t want to spook her. He changed the subject to a humorous description of a mismatched couple dancing.

When the lively music ended, the trumpet player teased the first liquid notes of the old Beatles’ ballad, Yesterday, from his instrument. The rest of the musicians joined in the second refrain. More richly-dressed couples rose from their tables and headed for the dance floor.

Melisenda’s smile turned wistful. Was her resolve wavering? “I bet you dance like you sing—beautifully,” he said.

She moistened her lower lip with the tip of her tongue. “Dancing’s against the rules.”

He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Whose rules?”

She tucked a stray curl behind her ear. The rhinestones rimming her glasses flickered. “My rules, from the Wedding Singer Rule Book.”

Hector smiled at her little white lie. “There’s no such thing.”

“There is a rule book. I wrote it myself.” She was even pretty when she frowned.

He shook the thought out of his head. He had to get her onto the dance floor so they could slip outside where he’d deliver his warning. He couldn’t let Killingsworth kidnap another woman on his watch. Doc would have to understand.

As he slid his chair back, the rubber-tipped legs stuttered across the polished floor. Melisenda flinched.

¡Mierda! The last thing he needed was to frighten her. “Please, I haven’t danced with anyone in a long time.”

She raised her chin and her rhinestones sparked. “Forgive me if I don’t believe you.”

A muscle twitched in his jaw. They were running out of time. Intending to overwhelm her resistance with action, he grabbed her lace-gloved hand. An electric buzz bolted through his hand and up his arm. He remained in his chair. Her fingers tightened. The overwhelming sense that she yearned to trust him dragged out a piece of the truth he’d never intended to share.

“I haven’t danced since my fiancée died. Maybe I can, with you.” Heat rose in the agent’s face. What the hell had come over him? Why would he reveal something related to his real past, not Hector’s imaginary one?

Melisenda’s face paled. She wrenched her hand away.

“You couldn’t have known,” he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone. He glanced around. No one seemed to have overheard him. But what had just happened? He’d once met a touch telepath who could transmit thoughts and sensory details through skin-to-skin contact. This was different, as if he’d been overwhelmed by her emotional energy.

“I know what it’s like to lose someone you love,” she said softly. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

His throat tightened. It had been years since he’d last heard those words. He reminded himself he knew next to nothing about her. He’d be a fool to let her get under his skin just because she was Talented. His goal was to get her out of Mendoza’s compound to safety without blowing his cover. Doc employed expert squints to sort out the complexities of Talent.

Taking care not to let his fingertips brush her skin, he lifted a long curl off her shoulder and pretended he’d felt nothing. “Your hair is like burnished copper. So beautiful.”

The silky strands slid between his fingers. The way she trembled tugged at a place in his core he’d thought long dead. ¡No manches¡ This was not the time for his libido to resurrect itself. He had to focus on getting her out of here. Afterward, she’d be Doc’s problem.

Thank you for reading this excerpt from BLINDSIGHT. If you enjoyed it, remember the book will be available on Valentine's Day! ~Sarah Raplee

www.sarahraplee.com

Copyright 2017 Sarah Raplee All Rights Reserved

The Universal Golden Rule of Happy Relationships by Sarah McDermed

Most of us have heard of “The Golden Rule”, but did you know it is taught by various religions and cultures all over the world? 

"The Golden Rule art print"  Copyright 2020 by Jeffrey Streiff
The Golden Rule

We are imperfect human beings, but if we strive to apply this universal rule in our relationships, we and those around us will be much happier in those relationships. It’s not easy, but that’s the nature of relationships. Positive ones require us to practice virtues like trustworthiness, patience, empathy, loving-kindness, and acceptance.

The Golden Rule, in all it’s iterations, tells us it’s not enough to coast along. Relationships require effort. They help us to grow, to do better, to become a better person—and in so doing, to build a better, happier, more just society.

What’s another virtue or quality can you think of that helps us practice the Golden Rule in a relationship?

I’m Alive!!! Now What??? By Sarah Raplee McDermed

 

Eight months ago a near-death experience plowed through my Baby Boomer delusions of immortality (Don’t worry, Seventy is the new sixty! Eighty is the new seventy! Death is the new ninety!)

Being kept alive by advanced technology, a top-notch team of medical professionals and most of all, the Grace of God, does that to a person. To paraphrase a truth I read in the holy writings of the Baha’I Faith, ‘We are all but one step away from eternity.’

While waiting for life-saving open heart surgery in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic’s winter surge, I had a number of days to think about how our choices define us. I need to make some hard ones because my time on earth is limited.

Some choices are needed to support my mental, physical and spiritual health. Some are needed to nurture important relationships. Some are needed to revitalize my writing life.

Even before my brush with death, I was wrestling with how to go forward with my writing career. I got some wise guidance from Author, Writing Instructor and Publisher MaggieMcVey Lynch. I’ve written and Indie Pubbed a novel and had short stories included in two anthologies. I like writing short stories because they are fast and fun. I like writing novels because they are complex.

It’s become clear to me I don’t want to spend much time on promotion (which I hate). And making money is not the big goal for me (although it would be nice.) I do want to reach an audience and uplift them with my stories.

I choose to concentrate on writing short stories.

I plan to volunteer to write grant proposals and press releases for a charity of my choosing.

What’s next? When I feel overwhelmed by the choices I am facing, I say a little prayer and trust my intuition.

So far, so good…

 What do you do when faced with a difficult decision?

 

Amazing Low-FODMAP Pumpkin Pie by Sarah Raplee

 I’m Sarah Raplee, author of Paranormal and Steampunk Romance Stories.

I’VE ALWAYS LOVED PUMPKIN PIE. It’s my favorite. But now that I’m on a Low FODMAP Diet, my pumpkin pie has to be dairy-free, wheat-free and soy-free. It doesn’t have to be pumpkin-free, but I can only indulge in one slice per day, so it must be AMAZING! I savor pumpkin pie one tiny bite at a time.

In my efforts to find a really AMAZING pumpkin pie recipe, I modified a to-die-for recipe by Gluten-Free HomemakerLinda Etherton called Pumpkin Pie – Totally from Scratch. (Follow the link for the original recipe.)

I LOVE Bob’s Red Mill products. I use their gluten-free pie crust mix to make AMAZING pie crust.  (http://www.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free-pie-crust-mix.html ) This crust does not crumble like so many others! And it tastes like pie crust.

SARAH RAPLEE

Here is my recipe for Amazing Low-FODMAP Pumpkin Pie:

Ingredients

·        1 gluten-free pie crust

·        1¾ cups mashed pumpkin

·        ¾ cup sugar

·        2 eggs

·        ¾ cup almond milk

·        ½ teaspoon vanilla

·        ½ teaspoon salt

·        ½ teaspoon cinnamon

·        1½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

    Directions

1.     Combine all the ingredients (except the pie crust) using a fork or electric mixer to mix them together.

2.     Pour it into an uncooked pie crust.

3.     Bake at 400 degrees 45-50 minutes.

4.     Let cool before cutting.

 I hope you savor every morsel. ~ Sarah Raplee

A Short Poem About Abundance shared by Sarah Raplee McDermed

 

by Theodore W. Higginsworth

Thankful for Mundane Things by Sarah Raplee

What would we do without hot running water?

As I've moved through life, I've learned to pay more attention to being grateful for mundane things. I'm talking about things we take for granted that make our lives easier or more comfortable than it would otherwise be; or less frustrating or less annoying in some way.

For example, every time I take a hot shower, I thank God for hot running water and indoor plumbing. Millions of people don't even have clean drinking water. Or they must walk miles to fetch and carry water to their homes. And toilets! Don't get me started.

How about zippers? Have you ever counted the buttons on a dress from the eighteen-hundreds? My arthritic fingers ache at the thought.

The Mute button on the tv remote is pure genius for getting a child's attention! Am I right??? And how about the one on your laptop? Your cell phone?

Office items alone could fill a whole blog post: paperclips, ballpoint pens, sticky notes, file cabinets, laptops, office chairs, foot rests, staplers, printers - the list goes on and on.

I hate to waste food. Thank heavens for bag clips that keep chips and cereal fresh! And canned food, microwaves, refrigerators, can openers, freezer paper, coffee mugs, baby spoons...

Garden tools sure make outside chores easier. Think about hoses, shovels, hoes, trowels, rakes, brooms, wheelbarrows, clippers, pruning shears and so on.

Combs, snaps, nails, clothespins, tape measures, sponges...this could be The Never-ending Blog Post, but i think I've made my point. 

What everyday items are you most thankful for?

Inner Peace, Justice and Peace on Earth

clipartbest.com

         Hi, I'm Sarah Raplee, author of surprising and uplifting stories.

         Whenever I listen to the song that begins, “Let there be Peace on Earth, and let it begin with me,” I wonder, How? How do we as individuals incorporate peace in our lives? How do we work toward peace in the world?

          For this post, I collected quotes from around the world that helped me to understand what I can do to find peace, to spread peace in my daily life and to support world peace.

Finding Peace

• “Peace begins with a smile.” ~ Mother Theresa
  
• “When you make peace with yourself, you make peace with the world.” ~ Maha Ghosananda
• “Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” ~ Dalai Lama
• “In everything, do unto others what you would have them do unto you. For this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” ~ Christianity, Matthew 3:12
• “Do not offend others as you would not want to be offended.” Buddhism, Udunavarga 5:18
• “None of you are true believers until you love for your brother what you love for yourself.” ~ Prophet Mohammed
• “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” ~ Desmond Tutu

Understanding, Justice and Love

• “Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division.” ~ John Lewis
• “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
• “Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.” ~ Albert Einstein
• “Cleanse ye your eyes, so that ye behold no man as different from yourselves. See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends. For love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on otherness…we must be at one with every people…for each of the creatures is a sign from God, and it was by the grace of the Lord and His power that each did step into the world; therefore, they are not strangers but in the family; not aliens, but friends, and to be treated as such.” ~ Abdu’l-Baha’
• “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will have peace.” ~ Jimi Hendrix

One World, One Human Race

• Peace is not the absence of conflict. It is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means. ~ Ronald Reagan
• “Peace is not merely the absence of war, but the presence of justice, of law, of order—in short, of government.” ~ Albert Einstein
• “It is incumbent upon the sovereigns of the world…to convene an all-inclusive assembly, which either they themselves or their ministers will attend, and to enforce whatever measures are required to establish unity and concord amongst men. They must put away the weapons of war, and turn to the instruments of universal reconstruction. Should one king rise up against another, all the other kings must arise to deter him. Arms and armaments will then be no more needed, beyond that which is necessary to ensure the internal security of their respective countries.” ~ Baha’u’llah

 I will end by sharing with you a poem and a prayer that help me to find inner peace.

From a Sanskrit Poem:

Look to this day!
For it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course lie all the verities and realities of your existence:
The bliss of growth,
The glory of action,
The splendor of beauty.
For yesterday is but a dream
and tomorrow only a vision.
But today, well lived, makes
Every yesterday a dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore, to this day.
Such is the salutation of the dawn.

The Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept
the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.

Happy Peacemaking!!! ~Sarah

Expect the Unexpected: 10 Examples by Sarah Raplee

One of my favorite sayings is "Expect the unexpected" or "You never know what life will bring." Here are ten examples from my life that illustrate how unpredictable life can be - and that's okay.

1. Weather. In 2008 we lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when the worst flood in a thousand years hit the Midwest.
   
   
   More recently I found a voice mail on my phone from my oldest son, who still lives in Iowa. "Mom, I just wanted you to know we're on the basement stairs in case the house falls down. Please tell 911 there are five of us here if that happens." A Tornado? No, it was something no one had heard of called a Derecho: a severe, widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms. This one swept through the Midwestern states. Every building in the Cedar Rapids area was damaged or destroyed. (I know this because my son's business does storm damage repair. Luckily his house was reinforced to prevent damage; the neighbors lost their roofs.)
   
   
   Then there was the time (before phones and tablets and earbuds and movie screens in cars) we were driving across the country in early June with two bored little kids in the back seat. To keep them busy, my husband offered to pay them a nickel for each deer or antelope they spotted from the freeway. We drove across South Dakota and Wyoming through a rare summer snowstorm that drove the herds down by the Interstate to take shelter from the wind. The kids made over twenty dollars each.
   
   
2. Babies. When my husband was planning to have a vasectomy because I had been so sick during our first two pregnancies, I thought I had caught the flu. God had other plans for us. I told The Almighty we would name the baby "Worth It", because he'd better be!!! It was another difficult pregnancy, but luckily he was and IS worth it. As usual, God knew what He was doing.
   
   
   I've known women who got pregnant while on every type of birth control (which is an oxymoron in my opinion.) I've known a woman who got pregnant while nursing twins. I have an old friend who had her tubal ligation undone so she could have a baby with her new husband at the age of 53 (better her than me!) And after all my children seemed to be done having children, my surprise #3 child and his wife had a #4 child. 
   
   
3. Phone Calls. Out of the blue, my sister called from her home in California to ask if her nineteen-year-old newlywed daughter could stay with us while her husband (who'd joined the Navy) went through Basic Training near Chicago, which was a five-hour drive from our Iowa home. Of course, we agreed. I returned to the dinner table and said, "You never know what life will bring!" 
   
   
4. Birds. You  never know what will show up at the feeder or on the fence. We live in the country in the Cascade Foothills of Oregon. The other day, I took our puppy out into his play yard. While he explored and peed, I heard a strange, difficult-to-describe sound that I couldn't identify. Thinking it might be from a bird, I looked up and spotted a rather large bird flapping its wings desperately like a duck, but it wasn't a duck, and it flew in a circle at treetop height making that funny squawk. I couldn't figure out what it was. Then movement higher up caught my attention. A full-grown vulture soared in a circle far above the struggling bird. The light dawned. I as watching a young vulture leaving the  nest for the first time! After half a dozen circles, the young bird flew into the trees, no doubt ready for a rest.
   
   
5. Ants. Just when you think your fourth attempt to kill the workers and queen with a new brand of ant bait has actually worked, they are back in full force.
   
   
6. Drivers. I try hard to be an predictable driver. I use my turn signals, leave plenty of room between my car and the next, never get emotional or take other drivers' mistakes personally. (And pray. A lot.)  Even so, I have been in accidents. There are no guarantees.
   
   
7. Young Children. Case in point: Our two-year-old great-grandson had to go to Urgent Care because he grabbed a cactus. That's why we keep dangerous stuff out of their reach for as long as possible.
   
   
   We must never let down our guard. Years ago another two-year-old threw a rock in the pond we were visiting and then ran in after it! Grandma (Me) ran after him and caught him by the shirt just before he disappeared in the murky depths. (It's a story that gets repeated at family gatherings to his great embarrassment.)
   
   
8. Change. Change often happens when you least expect it. I fell seriously ill and had to resign from a job I loved. I was so scared! But in the end, everything worked out well.
   
   
9. The Economy. A college Economics Major recently told me that predicting economic trends is about as accurate as predicting the weather.(See #1) 
   
   
10.  Opportunities. Sometimes all you have to do is summon the courage to ask. I found homes for six cats that way. I found customers for my small business that way.
    
    

The unexpected makes life interesting. Could be good news or bad news, but often when it first happens -  it's too early to tell! 

What unexpected things have happened in your life?

Blog Queen Memories

Hi, I’m Judith Ashley, one of the Blog Queens and author of The Sacred Women’s Circle series, romantic women’s fiction with light paranormal elements.

Today is a special day for me as I share my memories about how fate takes a hand in our lives---or maybe its synchronicity? I saw a post on the Rose City Romance Writer’s loop about getting together with other writers to talk about all things writing.

Who knew when Sarah Raplee McDermed and I met up for coffee/tea at the then Border’s book store and café, that out of those conversations, Romancing The Genre would be born.

Judith and Sarah - our first book signing

It wasn’t that we were excited to start or even be a part of a blog.

In fact just the opposite. We were dismayed that in 2010 – 2011 blogging was a “thing” for writers to do to get exposure, establish a platform, gain an audience, etc. Neither Sarah nor I wanted to blog – at least not every day or multiple times a week as recommended.

An idea to “share” a blog was born when we decided we’d be okay to post once a month. Who else might join us? That discussion blossomed into the idea of a diverse group of international authors who write in a variety of genres. That has not changed!

When we launched on May 1, 2011 not all the Genre-istas were published. That slowly changed over the years and now, not only are we all published (both indie and traditional) but our definition of genres has expanded. We started out with only romance authors. Now we have authors who write in various genres including non-fiction!

You are invited to check us out. Our right side-bar lists all our authors. We have an alumni page so you can see who has been with us and who has moved on.

It’s been a wild and crazy ride at times. And I’ll admit, I’ve thought of giving up but then I see one of the Genre-istas’ posts and maybe I’m inspired or maybe I laugh or maybe I’m more thoughtful. And thus I recommit to another year.

And do join us throughout this year. All the Genre-istas are talking about 10 – very creatively I will say. Next month our theme is Relationships/Partners. July we’ll talk about Peace and in August our topic is Thankful.

And thank you for being along for the ride!

If you are not yet on my mailing list, you can sign up for Choices here. I’ve created a new free offering that includes the novella Sarah’s Ankh along with the first chapter of Lily: The Dragon and The Great Horned Owl. I hope you enjoy them.

Look for my next non-fiction Yes, You Can Create The Life You Love by late spring aka early summer. And if you need guidance on handling stress, Staying Sane in A Crazy World is available as are all of my books at your favorite e-book vendor. Be sure to ask your local library if you’d prefer to read my books through that resource.

Learn more about Judith's The Sacred Women’s Circle series at JudithAshley.net

Follow Judith on Twitter: 
JudithAshley19

Check out Judith’s Windtree Press author page.

You can also find Judith on FB! 

© 2021 Judith Ashley

The Gift That Keeps on Giving...by Sarah Raplee

Sarah and Judith

Looking back at ten years of running Romancing the Genres group blog, I realized the connections and support we've experienced and the skills and lessons we've learned have been so much greater than Judith and I could ever have imagined! Plus we have so much fun...

I believe the whole of an enterprise is greater than the sum of it's parts. When the parts are dozens of smart, talented writers and savvy readers, the whole is a complex, crazy, interconnected community that produces thousands of entertaining, insightful and informative blog posts and thousands more thoughtful, uplifting and thought-provoking comments.

We've supported each other through struggling and stardom, through the ongoing transformation of the publishing world, through debuts and retirements and learning new technologies. And in our personal lives, through moves and mayhem, joy and sorrow, deaths and births and new loves. We've learned to enjoy our differences, and realized we are all more alike than we are different. Maybe that's what makes the differences so interesting?

For me and Judith, this  has turned out to be a gift that keeps on giving. Everything we put into RTG comes back to us tenfold. 

Thank you💗 ~Sarah

Spring (eventually) Overcomes Writer's Block by Sarah Raplee

 

I never understood what it was like to have writer’s block until a couple years ago when my family was faced with a series of unfortunate events. We learned our forty-seven-year-old daughter and her husband were addicted to opioids and meth about the same time my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Dementia.

My mother and my daughter lost their grips on reality over the next few months. Mom moved into a top-notch memory care facility and died of heart failure three months later. My daughter broke into our house multiple times because of her delusions and hallucinations. She refused to get help and became homeless and dangerous as their lives unraveled. We had to get a restraining order and learn the cold, hard truth: there is nothing we can do unless she wants help. She believes she is sane and everyone who tries to help her is insane.

Thank God for NarAnon and for our therapist. We learned about processing grief, the horrible disease of addiction, detachment and letting go. But the grief resurfaces in nightmares, crazy texts or on icy winter nights.

We got hit with the pandemic, which has hospitalized and killed people I know. We evacuated due to wildfires. American citizens stormed the Capitol and some of them attacked police and threatened lawmakers and the Vice-President. Recently an ice storm forced us out again.

I’ve struggled with writer’s block through all of this. Just surviving has been all I can manage.

And yet…Spring arrived this year, and I find myself enjoying the daffodils, the birdsongs, the antics of our new puppy, spending time with my ten-year-old granddaughter and writing stories in my head again. 

Spring reminds me that life goes on, life is good and I am blessed.

Have you suffered from writer's block?  Please share your experience in a comment.  ~Sarah  

500,000 Love Stories and Counting

Courtesy of CNN

Today we mark the passing of 500,000 Americans from Covid-19.

As President Biden said during tonight’s memorial honoring them in Washington, D.C., “These people were extraordinary. They spanned generations…We ask you to remember, so we can heal…”

“While we've been fighting this pandemic for so long, we have to resist becoming numb to the sorrow," Biden later said. "We have to resist viewing each life as a statistic, or a blur, or on the news."

Each of these people lived a love story, or multiple stories of love: between parents and children, between grandparents and grandchildren, between brothers and sisters, between friends, between neighbors, between lovers and spouses, within a community…

My Uncle Jimmy is one of the 500,000 we have lost. He began working at a grocery store as a bag boy at the age of fourteen, eventually working his way up to manager and ultimately owning his own chain of six markets.

He married Aunt Bev despite the prejudice they faced because of her Catholic faith. She was also a diabetic from childhood, but he loved her enough to promise to stand by her “in sickness and in health”, which he did through raising two children, losing a third baby, her later blindness and worsening health that led to her early death.

What I remember is their zest for life, their love for one another and their family, their unfailing kindness and sense of humor. Uncle Jimmy was surrounded by love and loved all those around him. The world is a better place because he was in it.

Yet he is only one of so many.

Please take a few minutes to follow this link to CNN’s memorial page and honor the extraordinary love stories of those we have lost, whose loved ones are in mourning.

500,000 Lives Lost

I ask you to remember, so we can heal…  ~ Sarah Raplee

ANIMAL ANTICS-"The Pet Door" Free Funny Short Story

pixabay.com

I use humor to get through tough times. Sometimes dark humor, but humor none the less. I hope this true mouse tale makes you smile!

We recently put in a pet door so our two small dogs can go out into their fenced yard and come back inside at will. Marcus, our elderly tan terrier mix, has developed a urinary tract condition which makes it difficult for him to wait for someone to let him out when the urge strikes. A pet door seemed like the logical answer to avoid ‘accidents’ in the house. Dog problem solved!

THE NEW PET DOOR

Enter the cat. Freckles is the elderly orange and white feline who rules the roost around here. He was the first of the three rescue animals we adopted. Each dog, in turn, learned to respect him. He’s actually quite fond of Marcus and Mac, our small black Schipperke/Cairn terrier cross. Mac plays with the cat, Marcus mostly avoids him. When the cat feels paternal, he insists on washing their faces. When he’s in a mood, he steals their toys and blankets through intimidation. We all know Freckles is the boss.

We trained all three pets to use the new pet door, but Freckles does not like the plastic flap he must push up to get through the opening. He especially doesn’t like going outside when he can’t see what might be lurking nearby. He insists on a human opening the door.

MARCUS

BUT…(this is a big but) he has no problem running in through the pet door with a mouse in his jaws. Never a dead mouse, always a stunned mouse—which he brings inside triumphantly, yowling with his mouth full to announce his prize. He makes it as far as the kitchen without fail before he drops the little rodent, intending to play with it. The mouse promptly springs into action and disappears under the closest appliance with my husband and me in hot pursuit.

The first night this happened the mouse took refuge underneath the stove. We opened the slider to the deck a few inches, turned off the inside lights in that part of the house and locked our pets out of the area. My hope was the mouse would smell the night air and make his way along the counter base to the open door and outside to freedom.

I’m not sure that happened, but since we never smelled anything dead in the house, I choose to believe the little creature acted sensibly and left the building.

MAC

A week later, the next mouse Freckles brought inside ran into the pantry, and my husband almost caught it with a dishrag. Then the clever little creature ran between his legs back into the kitchen and hid under the refrigerator. We pulled out the refrigerator to no avail. He’d gone into the appliance’s nether regions.

Later that night, the cat turned up in the living room with a mouse in his jaws. We’d been watching television and hadn’t noticed if he came from the kitchen or through the pet door. When the cat dropped the rodent, my husband grabbed the stunned little pest by the tail and tossed him outside before slamming the pet door shut.

We agreed it was probably the same mouse, since he didn’t spring to his feet right away. We also agreed to buy some mousetraps in the morning, just in case.

FRECKLES

We awoke the next morning to a broken down refrigerator.

Time for mousetraps, and a cat curfew!

Thank you for reading my story. I welcome feedback.

~Sarah Raplee