Recently, I was having an off day, feeling sad and anxious. My spouse and I headed out to hike in one of our favorite local parks. We both find that getting out in nature often lifts the spirits. We followed one of our usual trails winding among the valley oaks along a dry creek bed. …
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Jack London: Writer, Revolutionary & Dystopian Author
I recently visited Jack London Beauty Ranch State Park and spent time in the House of Happy Walls (built by his wife Charmian after his death), which houses the Jack London Museum and is full of books and artifacts of their life together. A short hike brought me to the haunting ruins of Wolf House which was …
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Luke Skywalker & Princess Leia Have Nothing on Us: Welcome to the New Rebel Alliance
For now, Darth Maul has won. I wish it were simply a movie script for another Star Wars film, but it's real and it's happening here in the US and around the world. We can't wish it away. The evil overlords are here and fighting to destroy all that is good and just. Now we …
POW! SMACK! WHACK! – FOR THE LOVE OF COMICS
I participated in a thread on BlueSky where you listed one book a day for twenty days (no explanation) that had influenced you. Some books came to mind immediately, others took more thoughts. You can see the full list here. Then I began to think of what in my early years ignited my love of …
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Books Everywhere (Book Nerd Nirvana) *** Welcome to My Happy Place
I volunteer once a week with my local Friends of the Library organization. I sort donations, look for rare and/or collectible items and research their value (which I then list on eBay). We sell most of the donations in our used bookstore which is located right inside the library and also at twice-a-year book sales. …
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Threads: The Art of Sewing & Social Media
I switched from the bird app when the Nazis arrived and found a home on Threads. It struck me how appropriate that name is. There is a fantastic and diverse community of #womensupportingwomen, especially in the writing community #bookthreads. Threads were not always just a cute social media name but an integral part of women’s …
Capricious Cats, Thunderstorms of Thor and Other Unsolvable Mysteries
Maybe we shouldn't have named our cat Leo. He certainly thinks he's king of all things...like my laundry. He's right in the middle of it when I throw it on the bed. I literally have to shut him out so I can put on clean sheets and fold my t-shirts. His other talents include fetch, …
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Oak Woodlands: Fairylands of Magic, Wisdom and Power (Why the woods sacred to the Celts should matter to us.)
Oak Among Basalt - Photo by D. Fritz Pliny the Elder (who lived in Gaul, 1st century CE) was the first to write about the Druids use of oak trees in their religious ceremonies. Later, Christian churches were built in oak groves (most likely because some of those locations were pagan sites of worship). Oak …
J.L. Henker, Author 