A Novel Creation www.WatersWords.com

The Yellow Rose is Blooming It is October. My garden is spent. The weeds are taking over. But a few days ago, before the weather turned cold and wet, I harvested the last of the tomatoes. Enough for a salad. A very small salad.     It occurred to me then how we sometimes miss seeing the beauty of the flowers for the weeds. Sometimes we focus on the thorns instead of the buds or the fruit.    For the past seven years now, the last week of October has been like that garden for me. My husband died on October 29, 2014.    We had just talked with our middle daughter, Danielle, three days earlier. It was her birthday. It has been my tradition to call my children on their birthdays and recount to them their birth story. That particular birthday in 2014, for the first time in a long time, Tom and I were not on the phone together. I wished Danielle happy birthday and then told her the story about the day she was born. After we spoke, her dad talked with her and told...

Of Fire and Air Through the years I’ve dabbled in many arts and crafts. I learned to throw pottery on a kick wheel in college. I’ve painted with watercolors, acrylics, and oils. I learned to sew. I’ve created images with needlepoint, cross-stich and embroidery. When scrapbooking was the rage, I was "all in" on creating scrapbooks for people I love. One Christmas a few years ago, I built dollhouses for my three granddaughters. Along with my oldest daughter and my mother, we made furniture for those houses.   All of these arts and crafts satisfied some desire in me to create. They all gave me joy. They were often gifts to others.    And…they were all “hands-on.”   When a friend invited me to a demonstration class on glassblowing, I was intrigued. The invite suggested we would enjoy light refreshments and get to make something. I had seen a snippet of someone glassblowing on a PBS documentary. I couldn’t see how we would be able to make anything, but I went. The project...

  Brain Breaks Yield Big Rewards Last week I suggested six fun things to do to take a break from your to-do list. Taking a break will actually help you get more done in the long run. If you missed that post, here’s the list.   1.         Splash in the water. 2.         Build an obstacle course with the pillows and cushions from the couch for you and the kids. 3.         Stand on your head. 4.         Have a paper airplane contest with your spouse or a friend. 5.         Sing at the top of your lungs. 6.         Laugh out loud.   This week I did more playing than writing. I did however manage to work on my latest novel. I was shocked at how much more I wrote in less time. I think it was due to the brain bre...

  It seems I’ve spent a great deal of time in 2021 on a path of renewal.     In June, my blog called  Filling the Tank  was about renewing our relationships after many months of social distancing. If you missed it, you can read that one by clicking  HERE .    Then in the July post on  Finding the “Write” Path , I revealed my own writing journey and the renewed vision of what I need to do after identifying writing as my gift and teaching as my calling. If you like, you can revisit that post  HERE .   In September, my post, actually called “ Renewal”  looked at simple life experiences such as a walk in the woods that served to breathe new life into my being. That post is  HERE .   You would think that topic would be exhausted. Not so.    Renewal is a day-by-day activity. Renewal is a choice. It is intentional.    If you are like me, you keep a to-do list. I often prioritize my list. But when my list ...