Meet the Author: T.K. Carter Saturday, Oct. 18 from 10:30 am-11:30 am...

I spent last weekend with Tami, Jacy and Logan.  On Friday night we had Bible study at Tami's home in Centralia. There was a good crowd and I met a lot of people I really liked and admired. I also received good 'food for thought.'

The following morning we had to be up early to make a trip to Columbia. Tami was the guest speaker at the Boone County Historical Society at 10:30.  She was a little bit nervous because she had told several people she was speaking at the Boone County Humane Society!  There would be a huge difference in the audience and location.   As we were driving along to Columbia, I asked Tami if she wanted to talk or be quiet and collect her thoughts.  We ended up doing a little of both.  We laughed a lot when we imagined what would happen if people really did show up at the Humane Society. In fact we half way made a plan...just in case.

It was my first time to visit the Historical Society and I was amazed at how beautiful and interesting the buildings and grounds appeared.  The Society meets the third Saturday of the month and I will attend more often. 

Tami set up her table while I was wandering around checking the place out.  Half way through my 'tour' I remembered Tami and went to help. She did not need me at all. I was there for moral support,  and I was having a wonderful time. Tami was delighted

                                          

  Below is a photo of  the entrance to the Boone County Historical Museum.

                               

We met several patrons of the society and authors. Susan Finlay was a big help with everything going on that day. She made us really feel at home. Susan is also an author and writes a blog, interviewing authors. She is a very talented lady and eager to help others.

 After we left the speaking engagement; which was awesome by the way.  Tami was relaxed, funny, informative and read some from her book "Three Meals to Anarchy" which is the second book in her Yellow Flag Series.  Refreshments were served and questions asked, and friends were made. As a bonus many of Tami's books were sold.

                                     

Joey took us to Red Lobster for lunch. We met up with Jody Paschel and Mikey Baker, who were at a 'dog store'  downtown waiting for Tami!!   They are such a hot mess... we laughed through most of the dinner.  Mikey  had a photo of the pet store to prove they were waiting for Tami to arrive.

After lunch, we went to the Unity Church where Tami was speaking  with a group of writers. The panel gave advice on writing and answered questions any author in the audience might have. I learned several things from the group...and I met one of my favorite authors Liz Schulte who writes the "Guardian Trilogy".

                                             

                                                    
                                                                            

                    
                                                  Fan Struck me and very kind  Liz Schulte


                                                                            

I am always on the lookout for a new author and I found one Saturday.  Robin Tidwell, who writes women's dystopian novels. I bought the first novel, "Reduced" and intend  to buy the other two in the series soon.

                                  

                                           

Wandering around the Unity Church, I found a beautiful place with something for everyone. I sat in a quiet chapel and listened to the silence.  I marveled at the day and how blessed I was to share it with Tami and many wonderful people.

                              
                    

 

If Only Lisa Could Have Been With Me Today...

 

I woke up this morning missing my oldest daughter, Lisa. She was the first person to enter my mind today.  However, Lisa lives in Naples, Florida and there was no way I would see her on this day. As the day progressed, I would realize why I missed Lisa so much. I needed for Lisa to witness what I saw today.  I just did not know it at the time.

Tommy and I needed to make a 'quick trip' to Fulton. We needed some groceries and I needed a few things to finish up painting most of the inside of our home.  That trip turned into a '3 hour journey...vaguely resembling Gillian's Island Tour".  Tommy also needed a hair cut and by the time we arrived home the day was half over and we had lost our desire to work.  That really was a smart idea on our part. Our bodies were sore and tired and needed a day to regroup. After lunch I went to bed and slept three hours. I feel great right now and will be ready to work tomorrow.

However, this story began in the parking lot of a barber shop on the main street in Fulton, Mo. The traffic in Fulton was bumper to bumper.  Tommy darted in front of a pickup truck coming down Bluff Street. Tommy made a hard left and sped into the barber shop's driveway. There we encountered  a lady in a red Chevy trying to make a left turn into the non stop traffic. There was no way she could turn left.  It was pointless.  As we made a quick turn into the driveway; the lady  also took a chance jumping into traffic as we pulled in.  The only problem was she wanted to go left and had to go right. She was literally beating on her steering wheel as she sped out of the driveway in the wrong direction.

Fulton is a nice size town maybe 10 or 15 thousand people, if you count the inmates in prison, the patients in the mental hospital and the college students.  A person can get turned around or lost but not for any length of time.

The lady in the red car, who was going the wrong direction, had long black hair, and appeared to be very short. She could barely see over the steering wheel. A cigarette dangled from her right hand. Patience was not her virtue today.  Once on the road, she raced about 50 yards down the road,  made a sharp right turn into a liquor store parking lot.   Hmmm I am thinking, 'well that explains a lot she needs a drink!'  ' Not so fast Vicky you are wrong...again'  said one of the voices in my head.  The lady wanted to turn around in the parking lot and try to make a crossover to the 'other' right lane.  It was a blessing the parking lot was close to empty because it took the whole parking lot to get her situated to cross the highway. 

She sat there swishing her head back and forth eyeing the oncoming cars. No one would let her in or out. Finally, there was a slow down in traffic. Stomping on the gas she tried to make it to the far right lane however, she couldn't pull it off. A truck was too close to her and he refused to slow down. He never once hit his breaks.  The lady  drove straight across the road and into the Napa parking lot.  I could hear her cussing on my side of the street. I turned off the radio and watched the woman have a fit. She was livid and quite descriptive in her colorful language.  She also spoke sign language fluently, especially with her middle finger. 

After pausing for a minute to regain her bearing's and take a long drag on her cigarette, she decided to cross the alley street and enter Ovid Bell parking lot.   It is a good size lot with most of the cars parked in the middle.  There was a yard sale at the front of the parking lot.  It also has two road entrances.  She checked them both out.  Once again the traffic was steady and no one would let her get in front of them.  She sat there and she sat there and she sat there.  All the time clicking her fingernails on the steering wheel.

Finally there was a pause in traffic;  she took a chance and made it into the right lane going the right direction.  I applauded her from my car.  I wondered where she needed to go to cause such distress.  I did not have to wait long to find out.  She drove up the street, passed four homes and pulled into Taco Bell!!  Really???  Really! I was disappointed, in my mind there was an emergency waiting somewhere and she needed to be at that place. Never once did I think it would be Taco Bell.  She almost got killed for a taco.

That is about the time I thought of Lisa again.  I wish she could have seen this woman drive.  She has me beat all to pieces. In my opinion she won ' worst driver in the year' currently held by me according to Lisa.  I gladly pass my crown and torch to the pissed off lady in the red Chevy...she earned it today.

The 'Something Shiny Syndrome' Strikes Again...

This is my better half and partner in crime giving me his badass look.  I have seen that exact look about a thousand times this week...and it is only Thursday or Friday. We are retired. It really doesn't matter what day it is to us.  It is just one of those days that end in the letter 'y'. 

 "Honey, let's get the inside of the house ready for winter," were spoken on Monday I think.   Ah, it was music to my ears when my stud muffin first uttered those words. I broke out into song, "The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Music". I know every verse by heart.   However, what sounds good to me does not always mesh with the rest of the world.  The man at the left, Tommy, is pretty much 'the rest of my world to me.' His first words were and I quote, "Don't sing!!  We will keep the radio playing. OK?"  Hmmm... I can live with that. Immediately we began to make plans to buy all the essentials we would need to complete our project. As usual,  I sang ever so softly with the radio  all the way to town. Tommy smiled...he knew I would sing no matter what.

After a very expensive trip to Sutherland's, we began to work on our home.  The first day we put new sheet rock around the ceiling of the  wood stove. I am in charge of doing the 'putty' work. Of course it did not meet Tommy's standards.  However, I told him as politely as I could that it was the best I could do since "he left cracks the size of the Grand Canyon!" We both left that remark alone.

 We moved on to another project; since we were both a tad bit testy by now.  Neither of us could decide what we should do next. Enter the 'something shiny syndrome.' I took down the curtains and removed the pictures from our living room walls. He watched Judge Judy!  After Judge Judy ended Tommy was ready to put some wooden strips on the walls.  I took a nap.  That was day one.

Day two we took a load of books, clothes and nick knacks to Good Will.  We ate lunch out and then stopped by Ben's to see how he was doing.  We got home about 1 p.m.  As far as I was concerned our day was pretty much over.  I voted we start fresh tomorrow.  Tommy wanted to work so we worked. I cleaned Jacy's room so I could put all our photos and prints on her bed instead of the couch.  Tommy put up shelves in the laundry room.  That was not on our list. It is nice and we needed them but we have the living room, kitchen and den torn up. Not to mention Jacy's bed so we needed to stay focused and get the mess fixed we had already started. Our motto was stated again, "Have a plan and stick to it".  That lasted less than 24 hours when the 'something shiny syndrome' found us again.

We both woke up tired and did not want to work today.  Neither of us would say this but that is exactly how we felt. We piddled around. Did a little bit of this and not much of that. About this time we heard it begin to rain. Softly at first with only a few taps and splats on our tin roof. Tommy yells, "Get your shoes on and a baseball cap---we are burning our wood pile". " Yes!!!  Let me get my camera" I yell and we are off.  I love to watch fire burn.  It is mesmerising to watch and photograph. We didn't have a huge pile of debris to burn. It was enough for a nice distraction.

                             

 
We watched the flames for about thirty minutes. Tommy picked us a few persimmon's to eat.  The dogs came to join us. It was a nice couple of hours.

I walked around our woods taking a few photos of the trees since they are changing colors and loosing leaves. Most of the trees are muted shades of what should be breath taking Fall colors. They are pretty but not eye popping.  We usually take several drives through the country, down to the river or to the lake searching for the prettiest Fall tree.  We have a lot on our plate this Fall and I am not sure if we will make a short trip or not. All I know for sure is that Melodi and Lacey are coming home for Thanksgiving and the house HAS to be done by then.  And we have a long, long way to go. So far this week we have had two attacks of the 'something shiny syndrome' and I still do not know for sure what day it is! Tomorrow will be better...I hope.

                          

It Is What It Is...

I am not a very happy camper right now!  Someone may have hacked our bank account.  I had no clue until yesterday when I received a new debit card in the mail, and a letter explaining that we are at a 'high probability to have been used by hackers,' evidently because of some place or places we have  shopped. The bank sent us a new debit card and we are going in Tuesday to see what everything looks like. Wouldn't you know Monday is a holiday.

The bright side, if there is a bright side, is that we have a new security plan in place.  It will take a little bit of time to get things straightened out but eventually it will be fine...not as handy but safer and fine.

I am writing this because if it can happen to us...it can happen to anyone.  Stop and rethink your spending habits and who has your permanent online information. I will not pay bills or shop on line again. I loved the convenience but in reality I do not think it was worth the price.  Lesson learned.  Take care you never know who is up to no good.

Lisa's Baptism...

Monday began our second week of being 'unplugged'  three days out of seven.  Since it had rained and stormed for days on end, we wanted to check the Missouri River and some of the creeks to see how high the water was and if any damage had occurred. 

Our first stop was Portland. The current was super strong leaving the water filled with debris. Trees fought for position in the river, racing with a force of nature I did not want to mess with.  The water was up about ten feet.

Next we drove to the Sand Plant and saw a completely different view of the same river. The current was fast but there wasn't any debris sailing through the water at warp speed.  It looked like a different river and a different day.

 

  At Twin Bridges we saw another view of how Mother Nature seldom plays by the same rules.  She is a very hard lady to predict. In the photo below the water is about six feet from the bridge; normally it is about 10 to 15 feet below the bridge. The water flowing in this creek was headed to the Missouri River as fast as it could get there.
 
                         

  
  
Since we had no plan at the moment, we drove on the very back of the back roads.  We drove  through Hell Hole and crossed over to Broken Bridge Road. We have had a 'new' bridge installed for about 25 years but it will forever be known as "Broken Bridge".

                                

Lisa was baptized in this creek years ago. She was about ten years old.  Actually, it was on the opposite side of the bridge I am standing on. A sandbar usually juts out into the Auxvasse Creek. At the moment the sandbar is covered with about six to eight feet of muddy water. 

 Rick Ballard was the minister of Yucatan  Church and a good friend of ours. He was doing the baptizing.  

It was a hot July, Sunday morning. Not a breeze was stirring. The only sounds were the zipping noise of flies and a few mosquito's.  Tommy and I attended the  Callaway County Fair and Dance the night before...our first and last time to attend.   Dorothy Atterberry kept the girls for us until about 3 a.m. We had to be at church by 10. We needed more time...a lot more time.

Since Lisa was getting baptized,  we HAD to go to church that day even though  we were mad at each other because of something that happened the night before at the fair. Who knows what it was anymore?  To make a long story short, it was the morning after the  night before and we were in bad shape.

I remember I wore dark sunglasses because the light was hurting my eyes,  making what was left of my brain sizzle.  Tommy was more than close to throwing up...and we were still mad at each other.  It was not the best circumstances to be attending our daughters baptism.  We plodded on and were very proud of what had happened in Lisa's life.  We both wished we were in better shape.  We had not intended to end up in this mess.  It sort of slipped up on us. 

Lisa was one of the first converts to be baptized.  After her one of our friends, an older lady, was next in line.  At the last minute she got scared of the water and did not want to be dunked.  She grabbed Rick's hand and yelled "Don't hold me under long preacher I can't swim!!"  I got tickled and started to laugh.  I wasn't the only one laughing...but I was the only one who could not stop. The more I laughed, the more my head hurt and the madder Tommy got at me.  He said and I quote, "I can't take you anywhere without something happening!!"  I covered my mouth trying to stifle the laughter and said, "That's right buddy and don't you forget it!"  I thought for a minute Tommy was going to throw me in the creek. I have the feeling it crossed his mind.  Holding Melodi  probably saved me that day. Jesus did the rest a few weeks later on another Saturday night at revival.  Tommy looked at me with his sick eyes and grinned.  I pulled my sunglasses down on my nose and grinned back. "I'm sorry's" were exchanged and we swore we would never, ever do another night like Saturday night again. 

We learned a valuable lesson that day...keep your priority's straight. Never be afraid of asking for forgiveness. It is something we, personally,  cannot  do without.  Another lesson learned the hard way!

I Learn Something New Every Day...

I will forever be a lifetime student. If it were possible, I would take  one class after the other, trying to soak up new knowledge each day. It would have been nice if I had  this gusto when I was in school. I could have cared less then. However, now learning anything new  is an exciting wonderful possibility.

I have more books than I will probably ever read. The subject matter of these books varies from the Bible to the Koran, from history books to memoirs, from fiction to fantasy and every 'how to book'  in between. One of my focus points now is on 'bee keeping'.  I am very interested in this and want to have bee boxes one day. Over the past few years I noticed the bee population in Missouri has taken a nose dive. Without  bees, our agriculture looks dismal. It is on my 'To Learn' list and is near the top. Actually, it is located three spots down the list from "How to Get Obama Impeached."  Tommy is not as excited about the bees as I am. He knows me and he is really hoping this idea will evaporate. It won't.  As for getting Obama impeached, he says he will not visit me in a FEMA camp when they finally round me up!! Hmmm If I go he is going with me...guilty by association!!   Anyway...

Around nine o'clock last night, one of our friends called and wanted to bring us some fall mushrooms called 'Hen in the Woods'.  I laughed and said , "Bring it on" thinking it would be a chicken. Let the learning begin.  Honestly, I didn't know there were edible mushrooms to be found in the Fall.  When I think of hunting mushrooms it is in the Spring.  Usually, they start growing when the  May Apples appear and the Crappie begin to bite. In the fall they pop up from September through November.  After the first hard frost they will be done for the year.

Within a few minutes Joe was here with a huge clump of mushrooms. He brought each of us a fried mushroom from his home to taste.  It was awesome, tasting like a Morel. I bet it weighed ten pounds and was enough for at least four meals.  Joe also had a book entitled "Missouri's Wild Mushrooms" by Maxine Stone. I looked through the book and knew I had to own a copy.  When hunting mushrooms, people have to be very careful. Some of the wild mushrooms are poisonous and resemble  non poisonous mushrooms. I ordered the book this morning and will go mushroom hunting this afternoon. It seems the Hen in the Woods mushrooms grow at the edges of tall red oak trees in the middle of fields. Never would I have looked for mushrooms there. Usually we find them down by the river. I learn something new every day and as far as I am concerned...that is a good thing.  I am about to become an avid fall mushroom hunter:)
                                      

I Received a Nice Surprise in the Mail...

   Sometimes the nicest surprises arrive as forgotten promises.  This fact happened to me earlier this week.  When I picked up our mail on Wednesday there was a package from Florida addressed to me in our mailbox.  Inside was a Coke bottle with the name 'Lisa' written on it. I had bought the bottled Coke just after Lisa got home from the hospital.  It was the first time I had seen 'names' written on the bottles.  I told Lisa I wanted to fill the bottle with sand before I left for home. I am an avid collector of memories.  I have sand and shells from every beach we have visited and at least three glass bottles of ocean water from the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. This bottle of sand would be special because of the name on the bottle and the memories it contained.

   We went to the ocean once while I was there. Usually we are there daily. This time it was different. The closeness of  the ocean did not matter.  Lisa wasn't up to the trip and frankly neither was Lisle or me.  It wasn't a vacation. It was a time for healing and a time for family. 

   The one time we visited the ocean was a few days before  I returned to Missouri. The excursion became  quite the adventure.  It was on a Saturday night and we were ready to get out of the house. Rain had pummeled their home off and on all day. Our original mission was to go to Sonic for milkshakes...after 8 o'clock they are half price.  That idea led to a trip down 5th Avenue where the rich go to play at night.  I have to admit the rich are indeed different...and they do know how to play.  From there we found ourselves traveling  to the beach.  The sun had set and lightning lit up sections of  the skies with vivid colors of red, pink, white and yellow. The oddest cloud caught my attention. It was white, fluffy and  huge. It stood out against the dark sky, appearing misplaced. At times it acted  as the referee between the two major storm fronts. The cloud separated the sparring contenders.  Other clouds rambled through the sky as the storms raged...still separate but strong.  They were far enough away that we could not hear the thunder or feel the rain.  We watched and tried to take photos of the lightning strikes as it tried to kiss the ocean. 

   The humidity hung in the air with a heaviness that was almost tangible.  The waves hit the sand without much urgency. It was still low tide however, the night was young and that would soon  change.  As we walked the beach we saw places marked for turtle hatching's.  Several had already hatched and the yellow tape had mostly been removed.  All three of us are passionate about sea turtles. It has been on my 'Bucket List' for years to watch the baby turtles hatch and make their way to the ocean.  Twice I came close to viewing this birth but missed it by a few days.  I missed it again this year.  However, Lisle got there early one morning and saw where they had hatched. He scooped up sand with footprints of the baby turtles as they had emerged from their nest.  He followed their trail taking one photo after the other of tiny foot prints.  He filled my' Lisa' bottle with this sand, purchased  a hematite turtle to add to the memory and mailed it to me.  It was a perfect gift.  I will treasure this forever. I have it sitting in my sun room. Every day this surprise makes me smile.  Thank you Lisle and Lisa for all the memories. Love you both more than you will ever know. Individually you both  are extraordinary people, together a wonderful team.

                                            

  

We Picked the Wrong Day to Unplug...

  

   Since retirement Tommy and I have had a long standing disagreement concerning two major means of entertainment; the computer for me and the television for him. Both of these means of entertainment are addicting.  I never envisioned I would enjoy a computer as much as I do.  When I was working, I had a computer but seldom used it when I came home. Emailing someone was my preference and about as far as I ventured for several years.  Now I seldom use my email. I instant message if I want to talk to someone or pick up the phone and make the call. 

    THEN I retired in 2009 and discovered Face Book!! A whole new world, for me, was created literally.  I joined a postcard exchange group and met fascinating people from all over the world.  Soon I was hooked. I couldn't wait to get up in the morning and see what I had missed on the other side of the world while I slept.  I don't trade postcards anymore but I still keep in touch with friends from all corners of the world.

    In the midst of the postcard trading I decided I wanted to write a blog and a few short stories.  Tami set up my first blog site for me. Thank God for her. She opened doors I did not know existed.  However, Tami is a lot like her mama and soon I was on her last nerve with questions and goof ups.  She very quietly handed me over to her boyfriend, Joey.  Now there is a saint!!!  He never got mad at me, or raised his voice...he did laugh a lot as I tried to explain what was wrong with my computer...it was usually 'pilot error'.  He tried his best to help me understand my mistakes.  Eventually I learned,  leaving me in a love/hate relationship with my computer.  The idea of giving up my time on the web never entered my mind.  However, it entered Tommy's mind quite often.

   Tommy enjoys watching the television.  I do for a little while but not any length of time.  It has to be something really interesting to hold my attention. We have forty million channels to view and I swear there are days NOTHING is on worth watching except the news and here lately that is becoming debatable...necessary but debatable.  Tommy's favorite daytime show is "Judge Judy".  I can not stand that woman.  She makes me want to snatch that little gavel of hers and do really mean things with it!! 

   This is where  we found ourselves last week. For the umpteenth time, Tommy said, "If you give up your computer...I will give up my t.v."  I always answered "No way",  but last week I thought why not.  Let's see what life would be like before computers and television. Our daughters thought we had gone insane. Our friends thought we would kill each other (that was an interesting view point) and my pastor laughed!

   We finally compromised and decided to unplug on Monday, Wednesday and Friday's. Our first day was yesterday and if I ever needed that damn t.v. it was yesterday!!  We had a great morning; visited town, ate breakfast out and did a little grocery shopping. Talked about our new life style and all the things we could do.  Of course I had paper and pen and created our "Unplugged List". It was a fun day. We had the radio on Country 96 most of the afternoon as we worked on shelving in the laundry room. That idea was premature. I have to clean the laundry room out before we can get to the walls to add shelves.  I have too many cans of paint in the way to work comfortably. That is job is for another Mon. Wed. or Fri.

    As we were trying to figure out the shelving problem, an alert came on the radio about the horrible storms headed our way.  I looked at Tommy and said, "What did that man say?"  He told me and then told me not to worry.  I suggested we turn on the t.v. to the weather channel and actually SEE where the storms were.  Tommy refused saying, "A deal is a deal and we can hear everything we need to know on the radio."  He was right.  However, when the d.j. said something about a "massive wall" heading down our road...I wanted to SEE this wall.  We were pounded by wind, rain, thunder and lightning all night. How the electricity stayed on I will never know. Tami called to let us know "you all picked a great day to go off line!" and laughed. I know she was worried about us... because she laughed and laughed then laughed some more:) 

    All in all it was a good day and I look forward to Friday when we unplug again.  Tommy is watching the weather channel now and I am in my writing room. The coffee is hot and I think I will go pour us a cup.  This is a good day too. I think we may have found a way to have priority time and fun together and apart. 

    Now all I have to do is stay busy during "Judge Judy" and I will call this adventure a success.