When You Come Home

Book Review Friday

by Barbara Latta

When Daphne Abston met Raymond Kelley it was all over for her. She had met the man of her dreams, even if she did spill lemonade all over him at their first meeting. After several dates, they married, and life as a military wife began for Daphne. Traveling long distances to meet him when he had leave and then worrying when he had to go overseas took their toll on her.

When You Come Home

Daphne’s worst fears are realized when a poem she wrote and had given to Raymond before he left comes back in the mail and it is stained with blood. The yellow envelope containing the telegram with the fatal news confirms it was Raymond’s blood on the paper. Feeling the pain of loss and loneliness, Daphne thinks her life is over. How she overcomes her grief and has her faith restored in God shines through when she realizes one of her prayers was answered in the end.

Years later after Daphne had remarried, her adult daughter discovered the scrapbook where she had kept all the mementos of her life with Raymond and their story was revealed.

Daphne and Raymond's lives were highlighted in Tom Brokaw’s collection, The Greatest Generation. Nancy Cavin Pitts took her mother’s story to its completion in When You Come Home.

This book is available at Barbara's Bookstore.

Driving Safely in Bad Weather

Tuesday's Tips

by Barbara Latta

The United States has been encased in some type of bad weather within the last few weeks, with few exceptions. Even though authorities warn people to stay off the roads, some don’t heed that advice. If you are going to venture out anyway, or if you simply have no choice, here are a few tips to keep in mind to stay as safe as possible.

Stay Off Brakes In Curves

Snowy or Icy Road Travel

• Slow Down – even an all-wheel vehicle cannot do everything. Reduce speed by at least 10 mph and more if needed.
• Black Ice—be aware this can form on bridges, in shadows of buildings, or anyplace that does not receive sunlight during the day. The haze is hard to see and does not respond to the de-icing methods highway departments use.
• Don’t Tailgate—stay at least a football field length behind the car in front of you, but close enough to see its tail lights. This will give you plenty of stopping room if needed.
• Stay Off Brakes—when making a turn, simply slow down and feather the brakes, then coast through the turn with your foot off the brake and the gas pedal.
• If You Skid—stay off brakes and gas pedal, turn into the direction of the slide and the car will correct itself. If you are skidding to the right, turn the wheel to the right.

Keep Proper Distance Between Vehicles

Car Trouble

• Stay Out Of The Traffic Path—pull over as safely as possible to avoid being hit by passing vehicles
• Don’t Leave Your Vehicle—stay with your car until help arrives. You are safer inside the car, than out wandering in snow.
• Keep Tailpipe Clear—if snow is piled up behind your stranded car, clear the area around the tailpipe to avoid carbon monoxide fumes building up inside.

Hopefully, you can stay inside during inclement weather, but if you do get out, please do everything you can to stay safe. Next week, we will explore safe driving in rain and fog and share some tips to keep your vehicle prepared for whatever mother nature brings.

What driving tips have worked for you? Feel free to share your comments with others.

What Kind Of Pot Are You?

by Barbara Latta

I love pottery. Anytime I find a shop with these beautiful works of art, I am drawn to it and mesmerized by the talent these artisans have in their hands. Each piece is unique and reflects the imagination and creativity of the person sitting at the potter’s wheel. I was gifted with a trip to Seagrove, North Carolina for Valentine’s Day. I was in pottery heaven.

While perusing the shops, I saw the differences and the purposes in each piece. The variety is food for the eyes and sates the desires of the purchaser. If each piece of pottery were the same, it would be boring.

It’s the same with us. We are the pots of clay formed by the hand of our Creator. He made each one of us different, with a specific purpose. Sometimes we complain because we don’t like who we are or what we have. We want to be like someone else.

But what if we were? If we were all the same, there would be certain tasks that couldn’t be completed because there wouldn’t be anyone left to do them. We would all look the same and that would be boring. How would we tell each other apart?

“There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are differences of ministries, but it is the same God who works all in all But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all” (I Corinthians 12:4-6).

God is the potter, we are the clay. He has made us each into a vessel for His glory. Paul goes on to compare the parts of the body to the functions of the body of Christ in I Corinthians 12, verses 12-27. Each body part has a reason to be here and we are all to uphold and support each other and to expand the kingdom of God with our particular function.

It’s up to us to pray and seek God’s direction to find the purpose He put into us.

What kind of pot are you? No matter what it is, you were made for the glory of God. 

How To Write A Novel Using The Snowflake Method

Book Review Friday

by Barbara Latta

If you are a writer you have read all kinds of how-to books on story, plot, and dialogue. They all have helpful advice to speed your story along.

How To Write A Novel Using the Snowflake Method has a different approach to aiding a writer in the task of competing a novel. Randy Ingermanson takes the tale of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" and intertwines a writing school within the story.

It seems Goldilocks wants to be a writer and who knew Baby Bear was a writing teacher? I would never have thought Robin Hood would stop romping through the forest long enough to be still and listen in a class on writing. He does have some snide comments for the instructor. Old Mother Hubbard is still looking for that bone, but the Big Bad Wolf? His career as a literary agent is threatened by accusations from one of the Three Pigs.

This humorous look at the writing world will stick with you while teaching all the basics about putting a story together, writing a synopsis, and an outline.

This book is one of the best writing helps I have ever read. It is available at www.amazon.com. 

Prevent Pet Popsicles

Tuesday’s Tips

Unless you are in the desert southwest of the United States or you live below the equator, right now you are freezing. If you have pets, it’s important to take special care to keep them warm and safe during this kind of weather. Below are some helpful tips to help with the four-footed furry friends.

• Keep pets indoors if at all possible. A walk outside every few hours will give them the exercise and relief they need.
• If you do have dog that has to stay outside, make sure it has an enclosure big enough to stand up in and turn around. The floor should be a few inches off the ground and spread with straw. The opening should have a flap to keep out wind and rain.
• Pets staying outside require more food to keep their body temperature regulated. Water should be in a plastic dish, not metal. Their tongue can freeze to the cold metal. Check it regularly to make sure the water is not frozen.
• After walking pets, wipe their paws to keep them clean and dry. Road salt can build up on their feet and it’s not something they need to ingest. Protecting pads with booties can also keep feet warmer.
• Remember that cats and wildlife may climb under a vehicle or inside the hood to gain warmth. Beat on the hood before starting your car to scare them away and prevent injury.

Animals are subject to frostbite the same as humans. Noses, ears, and feet can become frozen before other body parts. Help keep your companions as warm as you would like to be.

Do you have other tips for taking care of pets during cold weather?

Do You Know Your Presidents?

 by Barbara Latta

How well versed are you in American history? Sadly, as time passes the education children receive in school is giving them a distorted view of our country’s founding and its patriots. History books have been altered to agree with political correctness instead of stating facts. While it is true there are dark days and tragedies in our historical record, wiping them off the printed page doesn’t take away their existence. We can learn from mistakes and we can profit from leadership accomplishments.

This week we recognize President’s Day, a combination of President George Washington and President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. I would like to share some little known facts about these two great leaders because so little is known today about actual history.  I saw a survey conducted on a street corner asking people historical questions such as "When was the War of 1812?"  Hmmm, let me think now, DUH! The answers were so astounding it was embarrassing.

George Washington

• George Washington did not have a middle name.
• Washington did not throw a silver dollar across the Potomac River. This river is one mile wide and no matter a person’s strength, the feat could not be accomplished. Also, there were no silver dollars during this time period.
• Young George contracted smallpox while on the island of Barbados in 1751. Surviving this disease gave him lifelong immunity which saved him during the smallpox epidemic during the American Revolution. During the war he also ordered his troops, who were dying by the hundreds of this malady, to be inoculated which stopped its spread.
• At the battle of Monongahela in 1755, George Washington had two horses shot out from under him and four musket balls made holes in his coat but he was never seriously wounded in battle.

 Abraham Lincoln

• Abraham Lincoln was the first president to have a beard.
  
• He patented a system to alter the buoyancy of steamboats in 1849.
• One week before he died, Lincoln had a dream of someone crying in the White House. When searching out the room where the noise came from, he asked who had died. The man in the room replied, “The President.” Abraham looked into the casket and saw his own face.
• He created a national banking system in 1863 which resulted in a standardized currency.
• Mary Todd’s parents did not want her to marry Abe because he was from a poor background.

Finding factual details about our country and its founders is necessary to have the correct view of our country.

What is your opinion of the way history is treated today?

Sources: www.mountvernon.org., www.alincoln-library.com. For further reading check out www.wallbuilders.com. 

Book Review Friday

by Barbara Latta

Becalmed is a southern story with a sailing flavor. Set in Beaufort, North Carolina a single jewelry making thirty-something runs aground when she meets a Northern sailor and his adorable daughter.

The seven-year-old red-haired pixie bonds with Tadie Longworth  and the relationship between the two threatens the handsome sailboat captain who is trying to raise his daughter alone. While Tadie’s heart is in turmoil over the feelings Will Merritt stirs within her, she is trying to avoid the advances of an old flame who thinks she still burns for him.

Normandie Fischer’s experience with sailboats is evident in her descriptions and terminology. Reading this book will bring saltwater and sand to your senses and weave a romance between a woman who thinks she will never have a family and a widower who doesn’t want another one.

This book is available at Barbara's Bookstore.