Gotta love books
I was reading before I was in school. My favorite books were the Little Golden Books I would find in the grocery store. my greatest motivation for good behavior on any shopping trip was the promise of a new book. Mama would read my favorite stories over and over until I had memorized every line, then I would 'read' a story to all my dolls and stuffed animals. Eventually I learned to pick out certain words and letters on my own.
I quickly learned to be a storyteller. Listening to my father and his friends sharing hair raising stories of flying huge airplanes in dangerous situations taught me the element of suspense. Listening to my cousins, aunts, and uncles taught me the element of humor and surprise. Listening to my college professors taught me the element of story design.
My favorite books growing up were always horse books. I consumed every book I could find with a horse on the cover. When I had read everything I could find in the local library, I graduated to stories about dogs, then eventually to Westerns. Though I sometimes found the task of reading a taunting chore, by the sixth grade I could absorb a book like Marguerite Henry's King of the Wind in one evening. I didn't graduate to genres outside of animals until after my children were nearly grown. Now I have returned to my first love, horse stories.
The Black Pony is inspired by horses and ponies I have loved over my lifetime. Some of the stories are based on actual events, like a deadly brush with colic, or a breath-taking run around the barrels. Some stories are based on the love of the sport of kings, and the oasis in the desert, Turf Paradise of Phoenix. Some stories are based on legends of the great Superstition Mountains of Arizona. Are the mountains really haunted? Are the Superstitions protected by the spirit of long past native Americans? Is there really a vein of gold like no other in the world hidden deep in the rocks and crevasses of the mountains?
Do animals really communicate with us? Anyone who has ever owned or loved a dog or cat, a horse, goat, pig, or calf, can tell you without hesitation, Yes! Our animals know our moods and can feel our fears; they share our joys and our sorrows. And if we have the heart to really hear, we also know their thoughts. Does that make the listener also a whisperer? Only that one can know.
I quickly learned to be a storyteller. Listening to my father and his friends sharing hair raising stories of flying huge airplanes in dangerous situations taught me the element of suspense. Listening to my cousins, aunts, and uncles taught me the element of humor and surprise. Listening to my college professors taught me the element of story design.
My favorite books growing up were always horse books. I consumed every book I could find with a horse on the cover. When I had read everything I could find in the local library, I graduated to stories about dogs, then eventually to Westerns. Though I sometimes found the task of reading a taunting chore, by the sixth grade I could absorb a book like Marguerite Henry's King of the Wind in one evening. I didn't graduate to genres outside of animals until after my children were nearly grown. Now I have returned to my first love, horse stories.
The Black Pony is inspired by horses and ponies I have loved over my lifetime. Some of the stories are based on actual events, like a deadly brush with colic, or a breath-taking run around the barrels. Some stories are based on the love of the sport of kings, and the oasis in the desert, Turf Paradise of Phoenix. Some stories are based on legends of the great Superstition Mountains of Arizona. Are the mountains really haunted? Are the Superstitions protected by the spirit of long past native Americans? Is there really a vein of gold like no other in the world hidden deep in the rocks and crevasses of the mountains?
Do animals really communicate with us? Anyone who has ever owned or loved a dog or cat, a horse, goat, pig, or calf, can tell you without hesitation, Yes! Our animals know our moods and can feel our fears; they share our joys and our sorrows. And if we have the heart to really hear, we also know their thoughts. Does that make the listener also a whisperer? Only that one can know.
Gotta Love Technology
I was born on an air force base in Tucson, Arizona when there were still only 48 states in the union. Man had not yet ventured into space and barely knew how to fly across the country. Only one person in ten had a phone in their home, and that was most likely a party line. Most people did not have a television set, but we would tune in to a favorite radio show for news or a good story. Times change. I try.
I have lived in or visited most states of the USA and traveled abroad as far as Japan. I raised my children, then obtained a teaching degree. I love education, reading, all of science, and I constantly marvel at the wonder of growth. I believe in children.
I am in the middle of a growth spurt myself, and like when I was a child, I have growing pains. Growth is not an option, you grow or you wilt, and I am not ready to wilt. So, I am writing again and trying to learn something new in technology. I hope that I can, one day, make a difference by my own growth.
I have lived in or visited most states of the USA and traveled abroad as far as Japan. I raised my children, then obtained a teaching degree. I love education, reading, all of science, and I constantly marvel at the wonder of growth. I believe in children.
I am in the middle of a growth spurt myself, and like when I was a child, I have growing pains. Growth is not an option, you grow or you wilt, and I am not ready to wilt. So, I am writing again and trying to learn something new in technology. I hope that I can, one day, make a difference by my own growth.