Happy Birthday America

In addition to being a national holiday, the Fourth of July is my birthday. For years I thought all the fireworks and picnics and parades were just for me, and, boy, did I feel important. Then I found out that 99.99 percent of the American public was celebrating Independence Day, and just my family cared about my birthday.

When I matured, just last year, I got over the disappointment and was thrilled to share my birthday with America. I get tingly all over when I hear "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy." Sometimes I even sing it at the top of my lungs, which makes my kids want to run and hide.

As with so many other events since September, this is another one without my husband, and it has been hard to think about having fun without him. But life does go on. That is what we try to get our minds and hearts around when we are grieving. So the kids are coming to party with me, and we will do some things differently this year. That way maybe we won't all miss him so much.

Happy Birthday

To me and to the USA

I thought I would celebrate with some pictures of past fireworks displays that my kids have put on out here at "Grandma's Ranch." There have been some good ones.

 

I will come to announce the winner of my free short stories sometime late in the day. Like my friend, Slim, said yesterday, I will be busy throughout the day with parades and picnics in the real world.

What the Fourth of July Really Celebrates

Today's Wednesday's Guest is my friend, Slim Randles, with some thoughts on the Fourth of July and what the parades and picnics all mean. I think he is on to something here.

The annual Fourth of July picnic was a celebration of time and freedom. We’d all watched the parade, earlier, because that’s what you do on the Fourth, and we believe in it.

Our parade features Scout troops in uniform, the high school band, floats with pretty girls … well, okay, it’s actually Delbert’s convertible with signs on the doors … and little kids proudly leading their dogs down our main street. In other words, pretty much everyone.

Those of us who aren’t marching have been known to say things like, “Hon, isn’t that the O’Brien kid with that German shepherd? My, he’s grown.”

You know.

Hope Slim had some of these cupcakes at his picnic.

 And then we go to the picnic and gorge ourselves and play softball and horseshoes and soak up the sun and laugh a lot. It’s a time for asking mere acquaintances from grocery store sightings just how they’re doing, in hopes of becoming real friends. It’s time to catch up on friends who have been solid bricks in our wall of life forever. It’s also a time to rejoice and see new bundles of babies that have joined us since last year, and feel a bit sad at those who have left us, too.

It’s a time when two guys on opposite sides, politically, can just smile and talk sports and enjoy each other. There’s time enough to disagree on policies later on. No rush.

And we know, deep inside, that this is the real reason we celebrate our Independence Day. Because we can set aside our differences and have fun together. We can be free to have fun together because a long time ago some men in powdered wigs were smart enough to look ahead toward … well, toward this very picnic of ours, actually.

They wanted it to be fun, too.
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Don't forget to leave a comment to be in the drawing for my present to one lucky reader tomorrow.

Birthday's, Gifts, and Bargain Books

I know, it's Tuesday and I don't normally post on Tuesday, but there are so many neat things going on this week, and this month, I just had to tell you about them.

First, of course, is my birthday on July Fourth. The other day my friend, Alex J. Cavanaugh suggested we have fireworks to celebrate. What a novel idea. I think I'll try that while my kids are here at "Grandma's Ranch" helping me not to feel too bad about reaching another speed limit number. By the way, it is not the speed limit that is recommended to get the best gas mileage. In fact, one should not even watch his or her gas gauge while driving at this speed. 

It seems that July is the month that lots of publishers and authors have decided to run special sales on their books. I told you last week about the sale Untreed Reads is having on short stories - 4 For the Fourth - in which you can purchase 4 short stories for a dollar.  There's a list of books, as well as all the details on my blog post Special Sale For the Fourth of July.

Tying into the themes of birthdays and gifts, I decided that this year on my birthday, I should give a gift or two, so I am giving one person who comments on any of the blogs from last Wednesday through tomorrow all four of my short stories that are at Untreed Reads. All you have to do is leave a comment, with a contact e-mail please, and I will draw a winner on Thursday morning and arrange the gift. The short stories are; The Visitor, a retelling of the Goldilocks story; Making it Home, a story that was first published in Lady's Circle magazine; The Last Dollar, a holiday story with a message for any time of the year; and SAHM, I Am, a humorous story about a woman and a home computer.

One of my publishers, Books We Love, is taking part in the month-long sale at Smashwords, where many books are priced at 50% off. What a terrific deal, and my short story collection, The Wisdom of Ages, is offered in the sale. As is my YA novel,  Friends Forever. 

Here is the opening of the book:

"Growing up isn’t easy,” Debbie’s mother said as she worked a touch of yellow into the flowers coming to life on a canvas in front of her. “Goodness knows it’s never been easy, but the worst thing I had to worry about when I was your age was whether I’d get a new pimple on the night of my first date. We didn’t have to deal with drugs or wonder if someone was hanging around school with a gun.”

Debbie stood there half-listening, impatient to be off to meet Lauren. She knew her mother meant well, but really. How many times did she have to listen to this same litany?

Her mother’s voice droned on. “I’d never heard of uppers or downers. The only pills I’d ever seen were aspirins. The first time one of those melted in my mouth, I decided I’d never...”

“Mom,” Debbie glanced at the door. “Could we talk about this some other time? I promised to meet Lauren and I’m already late.”

There are lots of great books being offered in these sales, so I hope you find some good books and stories to add to your summer reading list. I have grabbed a few and plan to spend some early mornings on my deck enjoying them.

What do you have on your summer reading list?

Monday Morning Musings - The Truth of the Matter

As the trial of George Zimmerman goes into it's second week, I thought about the fact that the outcome largely depends on who you are going to believe. Zimmerman is charged with murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin, a 17- year old who was walking home after buying snacks at a convenience store. Witnesses have differing accounts of what happened, so it truly is going to be a case of he-said, she-said. When writing fiction you, the author, can put words into a character's mouth and manipulate the story to take it in the direction you want it to go, but in real life, we aren't supposed to do that.

Unfortunately, people manipulate the truth all the time. Do you like the way I came right out and called anyone a liar?

People manipulate the truth to avoid prosecution, to avoid public scorn, to avoid responsibility, and it seems to be an acceptible mode of behavior. Lie as long as you can get away with it.

Okay, sorry, I couldn't avoid the word any longer.

I don't know who is lying in the Zimmerman case, but someone is. There was only one way this scenereo played out. Either Martin attacked Zimmerman first, or he did not. Since Martin is dead and cannot tell  his side of the story, the jury is going to have to rely on what they are led to believe.

Let's hope it's the truth. Either way, let's hope it's the truth.

Well, I didn't mean to get all heavy and philosophical this early in the morning, but this kept running through my mind as I took my walk this morning. Don't even ask me why. I have not been following the trial at all.

Thursday is my birthday and we will be having company for the Fourth of July and through the weekend, so I will be busy all week getting ready. It is always fun when most of our kids and grandkids come out to Grandma's Ranch to celebrate the birthdays, mine and the good ol' USA, and they do have to suffer through me singing "I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandy" over and over again.

Don't forget to leave a comment if you would like to enter the contest to win copies of my short stories. This is part of the Untreed Reads sale - 4 for the Fourth - in which they are offering four short stories for only a dollar through Thursday. Details and lists of books on my post last Wednesday. I decided that I would gift someone with my four short stories on my birthday, so leave contact information in your comment and I will have the drawing early on Thursday before all the fun starts here.

This picture has nothing to do with anything I wrote about. I just thought you might like to see what our Harry was doing recently. I think he wanted the horse to play with him. What would be a good caption?

Special Sale for the Fourth of July

If you stopped by to meet Wednesday's Guest, you might want to check yesterday's post for a guest who could not make it today and get to know Ellen Harger. I am over at the Blood Red Pencil today where we are discussing authors writing book reviews. It is a discussion that started on Kristen Lamb's blog a week or so ago, and there are lots of pros and cons being tossed around. You might want to toss an opinion into the mix.

On another note, Untreed Reads is having a special sale to celebrate Independence Day! 

Now through July 4th, you can pick any four short stories (priced at $0.99 or less) and add them to your cart. During checkout, enter coupon code FIREWORKS and you'll get those four stories for only a dollar!

Even better news! You can use this coupon over and over, so come back and pick any other four short stories and get those for only $1.00 as well. We've even improved The Untreed Reads Store so that for many titles you can send the EPUB version directly to your Nook from your bookshelf, or send the MOBI version straight to your Kindle.

Click HERE for mystery short stories.
Click HERE for horror short stories.
Click HERE for romance short stories.
Click HERE for science fiction and fantasy short stories.
Click HERE for literary short stories.
Click HERE for experimental fiction short stories.

So many books - How can I choose?

I have four short stories with Untreed Reads - Making it Home - The Last Dollar - The Visitor - SAHM I Am . They are all included in the sale, so this is a great time to sample them. I have also decided to offer them as a special gift on July Fourth. Since that is my birthday, I thought I would give gifts as well as receive them. So I will give the short stories to one of my visitors who comment on any blog post starting with today's and continuing through the Fourth. Names will be put in a hat and one of my cats will use a very sharp claw to draw one out.

Don't forget to leave an e-mail so I can contact you.

Happy Birthday to Me, The USA and Terrance Dean Jr.

Photo courtesy of The Dallas Morning News

I was considering what to write about this July 4th since I've written about it before and don't want to bore readers with the same ol' same ol'. Then I read about this amazing 10-year-old, Terrance Dean Jr. and discovered his birthday is today, too. 

In addition to sharing my birthday with the good old U.S.A, I share it with some pretty famous people: Neil Simon, Mitch Miller, Eva Marie Saint, Gina Lollobrigida, Malia Obama, and many others. Pretty soon when you do a Google search for "famous July 4th birthdays" the list will include Terrance Dean Jr.

This young man attends the Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, and is an incredible orator. On a Sunday evening in March he gave an impromptu speech during a rally for Trayvon Martin, the young teen killed in Florida. He captivated the audience of hundreds and spoke with the eloquence of seasoned speakers.

Terrance has been speaking and/or singing in church since he was six and has a gift for both. His grandmother, a music teacher, says sometimes she had no idea where the things come from that come out of his mouth. He is a frequent speaker at many churches and civic organizations, and is a youth choir leader at his church. He also performs in the theatre program at the Black Academy.

Last month, Terrance had the honor of going to New York to speak and then introduce Ruby Dee who was the headliner that night. His mentor, Curtis King, founder and director of the Black Academy, arranged for the boy to go to the Apollo and wrote most of the speech Terrance delivered. Of the boy's ability to mesmerize an audience, King says, "There's something going on deep inside. It's like he's been here before."

King lists Terrance among the most exceptional youths he has worked with in 35 years with the academy and firmly believes the young man is "Destined to be a world leader."

It is always such a thrill to find a story like this that is celebrating such a special young person, so I am thrilled to share it with you.

So Happy Birthday to me - Happy Birthday to the United States - And Happy Birthday to Terrance.

 

To see some fireworks from the show my kids put on here at Grandma's Ranch, check out The Blood Red Pencil Blog, where I wrote another piece about the day and what it means to me.

Happy Fourth of July

Just making a brief appearance today to wish all my American friends a Happy Fourth of July. Hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend with lots of friends, family, and good times. 

My long-time followers may recall that I also celebrate my birthday on the Fourth, although I am not nearly as old as the U.S.A. So I am partying all weekend with my husband and our son and our new daughter-in-law. Tomorrow, some of the other kids will be out and we will have a Texas BBQ. (That's barbecue for all you non-Texans.) So I will not have my regular posts today or tomorrow.

The kids like to come out to Grandma's Ranch for the Fourth because we can usually do our own fireworks show in my front pasture, but not this year. We are under a burn ban and fireworks are limited to a few places where the volunteer fire departments are set up to handle any flare ups that may occur. Some of the kids joked that if we couldn't do fireworks there was no reason to come for my birthday, but they were just giving me a hard time. They really like to do that.

Anyway, we are going to have to be satisfied with looking at pictures of fireworks from last year and the year before.

The Party's Over

The last of my company left today, so now I have no more excuses for not working. Darn. I sure was enjoying myself. I guess that is one reason that I like having my birthday on the Fourth of July.

I was playing the "It's my birthday" card all weekend until one of our sons reminded us that it was America's birthday, too. And since he is American, he could play that birthday card. Double Darn. .

In addition to lots of company and lots of good food, I got lots of neat presents. New books to read. An exercise mat so I can work off all this good food. Some lotions to make me all soft and pretty, and a new camera.

This is a Nikon Coolpiix P90, so I can no longer blame the quality of the pictures I take for WinnsboroToday.com on the old camera I was using.

One of the neat features this camera has is a setting for taking pictures of fireworks automatically. My daughter has that feature on her camera, too, so Saturday night we shot a whole bunch of pictures as the guys set off the fireworks.

Here are a couple of the better shots I managed.



My husband gave me the camera, and as I was shooting the pictures that night, I realized that he had given me a 35mm camera about 40 years ago, and one of the first things I did with that one was take pictures of fireworks.

I still have those prints in an album, and it was really neat to make that connection from so long ago to the present.