Christmas is coming. God bless you.

I'm taking off time for Christmas with family, and my eyes are taking a brief intermission.

Merry Christmas!

Predators

#Me  Too

You Too?

• ·        When you were a teenager, were you the victim of a sexual predator?
• ·       Or when you were a young child…
• ·       Was he a serial predator?
• ·       Did you tell anyone?
• ·       If you had told adults, would they have believed you?
• ·       If something like this happened to you, how vivid is it in your mind now?
• ·       How do all the stories in the news affect you?
•         So it’s the news of the stars and celebrities. What kind of sexual behavior have you endured  in your work place or in your home?  
•         Why should you not tell? And why should you tell?

I have a story to share with you. It’s a short story published as a Kindle short read on Amazon. You can read it on your computer without buying a Kindle device.

Does it remind you of anything that happened to you or any of your friends? Perhaps you knew a pastor like the one in the story.

Go here and read it. Liza Yates Too

Decorate olive oil for dipping bread for the Christmas table

Something festive for your dinner party.

Select some delicious Italian or French bread.

Fix plates of oil for dipping the bread. Select some tasty herbs. Since this plate needs to look festive, select a white plate and pour extra virgin olive oil into it. Be sure to add something red, such as a small amount of cayenne pepper mixed with a larger amount of paprika.

Flavor it according to your tastes. Experiment, but don't overdo the spices. Suggestions: rosemary, garlic roasted or powder), basil, oregano, thyme, black pepper. Add some sea salt.

Decorate your plate with strips of red bell pepper to make a star, and add some sprigs of parsley.

Christmas is coming...

The Last Time I saw Uncle Albert

When I was a freshman at Millsaps College, my family sent me a message that Uncle Albert was in the Baptist Hospital down the street.

He was dying. Everybody dies sometimes, but it seems sad when death is hastened by some behavior earlier in one's life.

Oral Cancer. Metastasized to his brain.

When he was young, he chewed tobacco several years, but eventually he decided it was bad for his health. "You want to know how I quit? I got a handful of dried beans and chewed them whenever I wanted tobacco."

Although Uncle Albert still looked tall and filled the bed lengthwise, he was shriveled into his rack-of-bones frame. He was never overweight, but he was a big muscular farmer. I said, "Uncle Albert, you used to be a bigger man, didn't you?"

Contemplating the question, he said, "Yes I used to weigh 700, 800, or 900 pounds."

"You used to have some good pears behind your house."

"Go around to the backyard and pick you some of those pears."

We miss him still.

A #Me Too Story.

Story about inappropriate sexual advance on a young girl

Read about the way she was forced to cope. 

Discover what happened forty years later. 

"Forty years is a long time," someone says. 

"Me Too," Liza Yates says.

"This story leaves me wanting to read more," a reader says.

https://www.amazon.com/Liza-Yates-Too-Mary-Cheatham-ebook/dp/B077Q913XF/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1511746957&sr=8-4&keywords=mary+lou+cheatham

REMEMBER NOVEMBER

With Christmas around the corner, I don't want to sound like a Grinch, 

but I do think we should stop a second and remember autumn..

For just this week, we can enjoy being creative with our leftovers, 

If therre aren't leftovers, somebody's going to be sick.\
such as turkey gumbo, fritters laced with stuffing, and turkey salad sandwiches.

This afternoon we took a walk through Calemondia, named after the fruit that grows wild there--calemondin.

Calemondin fruit growing wild in the woods. Can you see the long sharp thorns?

In fact, we took two walks today. The time has come to get serious about weight.

REMEMBER NOVEMBER

Walk through the woods on a Sunday afternoon in the Louisiana fall. 

Look carefully to see the spider web.

Soon all the leaves will turn brown and winter will whirl in. 

Take a minute--reach to the ground and find as many colors as you can,

Claim them in your memories.

Isn't life good?

A Featured Home in the Ransom Canyon Chapel Christmas Tour of Homes 2017

33rd Annual Ransom Canyon Chapel

​Christmas Tour of Homes 2017

​      Thursday December 14th  

       6:30 pm - 9:00 pm

   This Year's Theme: Make a Joyful Noise unto the Lord!

Brandt & Christie Underwood, whose  home has been called "The Louisiana-Texas Line House" are inviting all those who attend the Ransom Canyon Tour of Homes to come by for a visit.

 Brandt and Christie Underwood welcome you into their Spanish style home with elegant arches and classic stucco. This home was an early arrival home in Ransom Canyon, being built on Highland Drive in 1974. The Underwoods' home features true West Texas style rustic décor, family heirlooms, and majestic mounts harvested in  West Texas. Look for Louisiana styling accents and a Fleur de Lis theme, as Christie hails from the Bayou State. Be sure to view the elaborately decorated banister that is a focal point in their home. The Underwoods are excited to open their home to share in the Christmas spirit as it is their favorite time of the year.

Forty Years Is a Long Time

Forty years is a long time. For Liza, it feels like it happened fifteen minutes ago when she encounters the sexual predator. He had the audacity to show up and comfort her family during a day of grief forty years after he...with all his compassion for them, how could he forget what he did to her when she was a young teenager? She suspects he has moved in on so many young girls he can't remember whether she was on his list. She has to know!

Forty years is a  long time, but it has lasted an eternity. What her pastor communicated to her within a couple of minutes was that he was a despicable human being.  She has lived with moment after moment--day after day of waking up to remember the morning of the attempted attack. She learned that she was merely a thing, a girl not worth much.

Liza Yates Too

She's glad she's lived sixty more years and heard the phrase,
ME TOO. Now she can speak up without feeling guilty, even though she was the one who received the offense. Now she can begin to turn around and face the world about this issue. She feels the support of  the outraged.

Liza Yates Too

Christie and Brandt Underwood's house in the Ransom Canyon Parade of Hones

During the Christmas season folks who live in and around Lubbock, Texas, ride around to look at the lights. One of the popular places to go and look at people's houses and yards decorated for the season is Ransom Canyon, a village near Lubbock.

Christie Marie and Brandt Underwood, my daughter and son-in-law, are opening the doors of their home, which will be featured in the thirty-third Ransom Canyon Tour of Homes, December 14, 6::30-9:00 pm.  The proceeds from the tickets will benefit the Ransom Canyon Memorial Chapel and Gardens.

Christie and Brandt have been decorating since Halloween. Here's the picture of them that appeared in the Slatonite. (Slaton is a small town near Ransom Canyon.)

And here's Ron Cox's story that appeared in the Slatonite, November 23, 2017:

Christie and Brandt Underwood have a lot in common. Christie grew up in Ruston, Louisiana, and raised calves as a youngster.She earned a MS and a PhD in dairy science from LSU.

Brandt grew up in Shallowater, was active in 4-H, and cared for a herd of 25 cows. He earned a BS in agronomy at TTU. Both have successful careers in the agriculture business.

Brandt works for the U.S.Department of Agriculture. His territory includes the Panhandle and South Plains. He helps farmers and ranchers with soil and water conservation.

Christie works for Purina Animal Nutrition. She provides dairy farmers with counseling on dairy herd nutrition. She covers all of the U.S. and travels to China.

A good friend of Brandt’s worked at Purina and said, “I have got someone you must meet.” Christie and Brandt hit it off and have been happily together ever since. Both love their work. They said, “Taking care of plants and animals is a very big responsibility.”

When asked about the West Texas influence, they said, “People in West Texas have a strong work ethic and are well grounded in the world and how it works. They tend to have strong core values and a stronger faith.”

Brandt is a Ransom Canyoncity councilman, and Christie is on the POA board. Both are active in the Ransom Canyon Fellowship Churc

#Me Too

#Me Too. "Forty years is a long time. " Liza hears those words on television from a man in a leadership position. He implies that after forty years a woman has had enough time to recover emotionally from unwanted sexual advances when she was a teenager--a child. Forty years after being abused, something incredible happened in Liza's life. Now it's been sixty years. What can she do to help her cope?

Liza Yates Too

The news lately has revealed a number of accounts of young women who  have received unwanted sexual advances from older men, who had the power to do as they pleased. There's no doubt that some men have misused young women (or young men) who were helpless and often innocent. 

This abuse of young women knows no limits. Neither Democrats or Republicans can deny the guilt of this crime.

These stories have clouded out my sunshine. It reminds me of a young woman, whose real name will not be stated. LIZA TOO was the name of her story, but some popular shoes are called Liza Too. It became necessary to add her last name, Yates. Her last name is not really Yates. Her story became Liza Yates Too. 

It makes me sad to tell you that nothing in this story is fiction, even though it appears as fiction. The names are changed to protect the innocent and the guilty. It's merely a short story with no embellishment, and it has fewer than ten pages. Since it is so short, it cannot not be published as a paperback until I write more stories and assemble them in a book. 

A talented producer is already working on recording it. If you prefer not to read a Kindle ebook, you might consider listening to it. It isn't necessary to own a Kindle to read Kindle books. It's possible to read electronic books on a laptop.

Have you heard stories like this one? Perhaps you may feel like saying, "Me too." Speaking the truth can cost a large price. 

Picture from IStock,cscafeine  

Her story begins:

She owned a secret, too embarrassing to tell anybody, and it was popping to come out.

Even now as she recalls that summer, she bites her lip in the fear that if she tells, whoever hears her will have some kind of negative reaction.

Is she trying to have a me-too story because the news is full of women coming out with their stories of sexual abuse? She may face the danger of being told it wasn’t important—many women…and men…have suffered more intense distress, but this was her misery. If she’s lived with it this long, why can’t she just keep it to herself and take it to her grave? She should forget about that perv. After all, he contributed so much to her community.

He’s dead. 

Quick Tips to Make Thanksgiving Dinner More Flavorful

Every time  you sit down to your computer or check your cellphone you read some more tips. We all seem to know just how to prepare that traditional turkey dinner and make it the best ever.

From my house to yours: here are our tips.

1. Invest in disposable gloves to wear when you are handling poultry. 
2. Lift the skin of the turkey and insert slices of orange. Simply slice the orange all the way through and leave the peeling on. This little hint of fruit flavor will diminish the gamy taste. We learned this tip from the chef in the family.
3. A simple way to cook turkey is to wash it, pat it dry with strong paper towels that won't tear, and coat it inside and out  with olive oil, lemon juice, and sea salt. Bake it in a covered pan until it reaches the recommended temperature.
4. Mom, my first mother-in-law, used to say she loved to cook with fresh spices. Every Thanksgiving she went through her cabinet and replaced all the spices required to cook turkey. It's a good time to check the expiration dates. What a wonderful chore for someone who wants to help you cook!
5. John, my husband of two years, taught me something amazing about spices. Grind them. Mix the spices required in a recipe for dressing or anything else requiring a group of spices.  Use a mortar and pestle or any kind of blender you have. The flavor is much more intense. 
6. If you've ever lived in south Louisiana, you already know that a tiny bit of cayenne pepper  kicks up the flavor of most foods, including chocolate cake.

Happy cooking!

Turkey Gumbo

Chances are that you have an extra turkey in the freezer. Perhaps you bought an extra one for Thanksgiving, your boss gave you one for your bonus, or you received a free one for accumulating a mammoth grocery bill.

Preliminary Preparations

1 turkey (small to medium)

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons garlic vinaigrette salad dressing

1 tablespoon liquid smoke

1 tablespoon 

Cook it in your roaster or giant slow cooker with 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 tablespoons Italian salad dressing, 1 tablespoon liquid smoke, and 2 teaspoons Creole seasoning. Cover it with water.

 Cook the turkey until it is tender, let it cool, and remove it from the bones. Extra meat not used in the gumbo can be used for sandwiches.

Strain the broth through a colander and save it for the gumbo.

 Gumbo

4 tablespoons olive oil

4 tablespoons flour

2 quarts turkey broth

A little more olive oil

1 green bell pepper

3 tender stalks celery

1 large mild onion

1 can tomatoes and green chilies

2 cans crabmeat (not imitation)

3 cups chopped dark turkey meat

1 pound frozen cooked shrimp

1 pound pork sausage

1 jigger high quality bourbon

1-2 tablespoons gumbo file

Rice

Make a roux by browning 4 tablespoons olive oil and 4 tablespoons flour.  Stir the mix as you brown it.  Keep browning it until it is very dark; then brown it until it is darker.  It will be lighter when you add liquid.  

Add 2 quarts of turkey broth and continue to simmer the mixture in a big pot.

Chop and sauté the bell pepper, celery, and onion. Add the sautéed vegetables, the can of tomatoes and green chilies, and crab meat, to the pot.  Slice and brown the sausage; add it to the pot. 

Simmer the gumbo on very low heat for about thirty minutes. Add the turkey and shrimp. It may be necessary to add more water.  Cook it until it smells like gumbo. You will know when it is done by the way it smells and tastes.  Add the bourbon and cook 5 more minutes.

Add gumbo filé as desired.  Serve over rice prepared according to the instructions on the package..

ANOTHER THEORY ABOUT WHY UNCLE ALBERT NEVER MARRIED.

Even though Uncle Albert never married, he had a girlfriend that my brother Buddy and I remembered when we were young. We watched him enjoy a special friendship for years.

ANOTHER STORY ABOUT WHY UNCLE ALBERT NEVER MARRIED.

This sign is near Uncle Albert's farm. 

Uncle Albert put two plates on his table, and every time he put something on his plate he put the same thing on the other plate. 

After a week, he decided it would cost too much to have a wife. She would eat too much.

This story circulated throughout south Smith County. My sister-in-law’s sister reminded me of it. Those of us who knew him well understood why this legend was untrue. Albert was generous with his extended family to a fault. 

UNCLE ALBERT HAD A REPUTATION OF BEING A WISE MAN. 

He invested his money carefully.

Many of the business people of Taylorsville spent time on his front porch because he was known for his wisdom and wit.  He would listen carefully to his friends as they told him their problems.  Shaking his head and grinning, he would offer his advice.  If he could see that someone was thinking erroneously, he would not hesitate to speak his mind.  On the other hand if he approved of a person’s ideas, he would say, “You’re the doctor.”

Although he lived his life on his country front porch, he knew what was happening in the world.

He subscribed to The Clarion Ledger, which he received in the mail a day late.  Every afternoon he read his newspapers, which he filed in stacks in an unfurnished room of his house.  Once Uncle Albert, dressed in his best straw hat, clean overalls, and a blue chambray shirt, rode to Jackson on the Trailways bus and went to his nephew John Edwin’s law office to offer counsel to the young lawyer.

My brother Buddy and I knew about his girlfriend. This relationship lasted as long as we could remember.

Every Saturday, Uncle Albert would clean up and change into his best overalls and blue chambray shirt or sometimes khaki shirt. He’d sit reading on his front porch.

Every Saturday afternoon, Mama, Daddy, Buddy, and I would go to town. It was a ritual. The country people went to Taylorsville and spent the afternoon. We had to pass his house to get there.  He and a certain lady sat on his front porch, and her car was parked in his yard. Sometimes we saw the car, and no one was on the porch. We assumed they went to look at his pear tree.

Every Saturday afternoon, an attractive, prosperous, and prominent widow from Taylorsville dressed in her finery and drove down to Albert’s house to discuss his investments. She didn’t need his money—we knew she wasn’t trying to gold dig. She was one of Taylorsville’s wealthiest citizens. When Daddy teased him, Albert grinned and looked away. “We’re just talking about the best way for me to save my money.”

My father, Albert's baby brother, wouldn't let it go. "She sure stays a long time."

These days, it seems wonderful that Uncle Albert enjoyed his life in some secret ways.

~~~

In HOUSE OF SEVEN  a mysterious character named Uncle Albert, has a completely different story. We’ll talk about this man, named in honor of my Uncle Albert, another day. Look for  a post soon called, “The Other Uncle Albert—Why He Never Married.”

Three Delicious Dishes to Prepare Ahead for Thanksgiving

FAMILY FAVORITE HOLIDAY FOOD

It is good to spend time relaxing and visiting during the four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  Here are three easy recipes you can prepare ahead. Your guests will believe you spent hours making them.

Diane’s Five-Cup Salad

1 cup crushed pineapple

1 cup mandarin oranges

1 cup frozen coconut

1 cup miniature marshmallows

1 cup sour cream

Stir the ingredients together and refrigerate overnight.  A few maraschino cherries may be added for color.                                                                                                    

  

Heidi’s Butterfinger® Pie                                  

1 (9”) piecrust

10 fun size (or 2 king size) Butterfingers®

1 small size whipped topping                                                           

Bake the piecrust and allow it to cool. 

Beat the candy bars while they are still inside the wrappers, unwrap them, and chop any large pieces that remain.  Mix the candy with the whipped topping and pour the mixture into the piecrust.

Freeze and keep it frozen until it is served.

Ruth’s Prize-Winning Broccoli Salad

4 cups broccoli (chopped)                                                                             

½ cup raisins

½ cup nuts (small pieces)                                                                                   

½ cup celery (chopped)

½ cup onion (chopped)                                                                                

½ cup real bacon bits

½ cup light mayonnaise                                                  

½ cup sugar

¼ cup vinegar (apple cider or white)

Mix the first 6 ingredients.  Make a sauce out of the mayonnaise, sugar, and vinegar.  Pour the sauce over the salad. Toss and chill. 

In 2000 Ruth won a prize of $50 in the annual Laurel, Mississippi, Main Street Festival Low-Fat Cooking Contest, sponsored by the Heart Care Center for her broccoli salad recipe.
There is one problem with making this salad: if you don't put a lid on it fast and shove it into the refrigerator, it will disappear into your mouth before you have a chance to chill it.

(Source: Flavored with Love cookbook by Mary Cooke writing as Jane Riley)

                                                                                                                           

Cooking for Thanksgiving Weekend: The World's Most Famous Collard Green Recipe

Willie Crawford;s Awesome Collard Greens

During this week before Thanksgiving, let's talk about some of our favorite foods to cook. If you'd like to share a recipe, contact Mary Cooke on Facebook.

You're going to need something different to eat after your turkey dinner.  Collards would be great. Or maybe you'll have collard as part of your Thanksgiving meal.

Too much trouble. No, not really. Besides part of the joy of Thanksgiving weekend is bringing the family and/or friends together and enjoying cooking. Let me share with you a quick cooking tip. After you've purchased your collard greens and washed them thoroughly, cut out the stems.

Next take a three or four of them and roll them up like a cigar. Cut those in little strips, called chiffonades.  Click on this link for a video showing How to Chiffonade. The cook on YouTube is chiffonading smaller greens--basil I suppose, but the principle is the same.

A few years ago, Willie Crawford, famous marketer and author of the world's most famous recipe share his recipe with me for cooking collard greens. Here's Willie's recipe (copied from The Collard Patch Cookbook no longer in print).

                    Awesome Collard Greens

Willie Crawford is sharing the following, which is the world’s most famous written collards recipe.  For years it has been appearing on the Internet search as the most researched recipe for cooking collard greens. Here is his recipe with a comment:

Collard greens are a very nutritious and inexpensive treat. When I was growing up, my grandmother would buy about 50 cents worth of collard seeds and this would grow enough collard greens to feed us for the entire year. That 50 cents worth of seeds would produce hundreds of collard plants in our North Carolina backyard garden.

                Ingredients

2-3 medium smoked ham hocks or 2 pounds smoked pork neck bones

5 pounds of collards or several large bunches (If you can't get them fresh, frozen will do.)

2 teaspoon of salt

My favorite way to cook collard greens is very simple. I take 2 or 3 smoked ham hocks and put them in a large (6 quart) pot of water. Bring the water to a rolling boil and let it boil for about 1½ hours. Add more water as it boils down. The idea is to boil the ham hocks until they begin to fall apart. You should always cook pork very thoroughly and use proper food handling techniques. You want the ham hocks to be falling apart before you add the collard greens.

Take the collard greens and separate the leaves (if fresh). Now rinse each leaf individually under cold running water. After you rinse the collard greens thoroughly, stack several leaves on top of each other. Roll these leaves together. Then slice the leaves into thin strips using a cutting board and large knife. Rolling them together speeds up the process as you are slicing through several leaves at once.

Next, add your collard greens to the pot. Since this is a lot of collards, you will need to add them until the pot is full. Then allow them to wilt as they cook - then add more. Add you salt, cover and cook for thirty minutes on medium heat. Stir every few minutes to distribute the smoked meat taste evenly. Taste to confirm they are the tenderness you prefer. Serve with your favorite meat dish such as chitterlings. Eat the ham hocks or neck bones right along with the collards.

If you used frozen collards, simply pour them - frozen - right from the package to the pot.

If you use smoked neck bones, they usually don't take as long to cook as ham hocks.

People in my neck of the woods usually sprinkle lots of hot sauce on their collards. I like them that way. Give it a try.

Since this is a large pot full, just save the extras in the refrigerator. They should keep for a long time and actually get better as the juices settle in.

Willie Crawford

Willie Crawford

Willie Crawford, president of Willie Crawford, Incorporated, is a veritable rags to riches story.  Growing up on a tobacco farm so poor that he once had to wear his grandmother's shoes to school, he decided at an early age that he would not be trapped by the cycle-of-poverty that permeated his world.

After high school, Willie worked his way through North Carolina State University.  He earned a business degree and an Air Force commission on the same day.  After serving more than 20 years in the Air Force, Willie decided it was time to start living his dream.

In 1996, while still in the Air Force, Willie ventured onto the Internet and started building the business he planned to be his full-time occupation after his military retirement.  With hard work and a good business plan, Willie's big break came when he decided to share some of his favorite recipes with website visitors.  

After being prompted to write a cookbook full of his recipes, Willie wrote Soul Food Recipes Learned On A North Carolina Tobacco Farm.  This book has also been a huge commercial success.

~~~

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving! 
Tomorrow, November 16, THE DREAM BUCKET can be downloaded free in Kindle form at Amazon. Your thoughts in a review on Amazon or GoodReads would be a special blessing.

A Memorial to Lily of the Valley Dishes

Something horrible happened while House of Seven was being written.  

Let me fill in the background. We decided to remodel the kitchen. As a new bride and a senior citizen, I had too much stuff...still have too much after two years have passed.

As a man who has cherished his ancestors' possessions and has lived among priceless antiques, while acquiring a lifetime's worth of worldly good on his own, my husband, who is also a senior citizen, has at least twice as much stuff  as his bride brought into the marriage.

We've given away truckloads of our kitchen dishes and utensils. Family members received some dishes too. In the garage, we still have things we don't need.

When we married two years ago, we agreed not to use paper plates to serve our families as they came together to become one. We needed matching dishes, and we bought them.  I love dishes. We could set a table for an enormous group.

Oh, we were talking about remodeling the kitchen. The electrician paid a visit. He needed to run a wire down the space where we were moving the fan over the stove top. To do so he needed to go up into the attic.

My husband went into the hall, pulled down the stairs to the attic, and led the way. At the top of the stairs a box was in the place where the electrician wanted to step. When the electrician picked up the old cardboard box, the bottom fell out.

About that time, I heard a crash so loud I thought one of the men had fallen from the attic to the floor. Subdued by the force of gravity, the old box hit the floor, dishes flying to  the floor and shattering. I dodged missiles of fine china--Lily of the Valley.

Those dishes belonged to my husband's mother, and he has Lily of the Valley silverware. Maybe I need a new set of Lily of the Valley dishes for Christmas.

WHY UNCLE ALBERT NEVER MARRIED

Daddy said:

This is the truth...

~~~

Dear old Uncle Albert was a kind, sweet, gentle soul. He lived alone in a well-constructed, sparsely furnished farm house. We visited him often. We walked down the hill and around the corner. 

The second oldest son of Nehemiah and Sukie, he was a fine gentleman and a skilled farmer. He always had time to talk to his nieces and nephews. He cheerfully gave dimes to us for our March of Dimes cards, and he bought magazine subscriptions to support school functions. 

~~~

Daddy said: 

When Albert was a young man, he had a pretty girlfriend named Mary. She lived just across the way. He loved her and she didn't have eyes for anybody but him.

"Looks like we need to set the date," he told her, while they were taking a Sunday stroll.

"Why don't you come to my house next Friday night for supper?"

It was a fancy meal. Mary and her mama put on the dog. They laid out their best white tablecloth and fried up two pullets. They cooked mashed potatoes and gravy, peas with okra, biscuits, and they opened some blackberry jam. They took down their big platter from top shelf and stacked the chicken on it.

Albert showed up on time all dressed up in his best britches and his Sunday go-to-meeting white shirt.

"You sit here, Albert. Mary pointed to the foot of the table. Her pa  sat at the head. Mary and her ma and all the other little young ones sat on the sides.

"Let's bow our heads,: Mary's pa said. "Every head was bowed and every eye closed."

 Albert opened his eyes during the prayer and checked his clothes. In the dim kerosene lamp light, it looked like he left his fly open. He hadn't unfolded his napkin yet, but there was a white cloth in his lap, Must have been his shirt. He tried not to make a fracas tucking his shirt back in.  Maybe his shirt had come untucked from the top of his pants instead of his fly.

Everybody talking to him at once made him nervous. He tried to take food on his plate as it was passed. When his hands were finally free, he tucked what he thought was his white shirt inside his pants.

As soon as the meal was over and he stood, the dishes and remaining chicken came crashing onto the floor. Biscuits slapped him in the face, and blackberry jam splashed on his shirt. As he backed away, the tablecloth followed him. Dishes broke, and the little ones cackled.

While he walk toward the front door, the table cloth dragged between his legs.  He jerked the tablecloth out of his britches. Not taking the time to grab his hat, he ran out the door and never went back.

~~~

Stories my parents told me linger within my mind. When I write, the tales inspire scenes appearing on my computer screen. This bit of family history became a pivotal event in House of Seven. a book full of fun. 

Featuring Author Lyn Morgan, who sometimes lives in Shreveport

As a human being and an author,  Lyn Morgan is an inspiration. She's a person to follow and emulate.Thanks to Lyn for this interview. 

How old were you when you decided to be a writer?

 I was 12 when I submitted something I had written for the first time. It was to a children’s magazine. I was 26 before I ever had something I wrote accepted. I suppose you could say I decided to be a writer when I was 12.

What other talents besides writing do you have?

Okay, other talents include singing and playing keyboard instruments.

What other careers have you had?

 I was a bookkeeper for an agricultural fertilizer company. I was a bookkeeper/secretary for a Baptist church. I was a working musician for years. Teaching piano, organ and voice while also serving as an organist, or pianist or choir director. This lasted for 50 years.

Lyn, when did you write your first book?

I started my first book in November of 1994 and finished it in 1995.

What was it about?

This book was a romantic suspense with some paranormal undertones. Set in Hot Springs, Arkansas, FOR THE WEEKEND, had a young widowed mother for its heroine. In a happy-ever-after ending, Cassie, the young widow, finds love again with a handsome hotel owner, Jeb. Originally published by Zumaya Publications in 2001, it has found a new life in print after I got my rights back and is now out as THE BEST HOTELROYALE.

What genres have you written in?

Romantic suspense, true crime, historical romance.

What is your favorite of all the books you have written?

LOVE IS A VERB, which is the historical romance loosely based on my own grandmother’s life.

What is your most successful book and what is it about?

 STONE JUSTICE has been my most successful book. I wrote it with my critique and writing partner, Debi Collier. Stone Justice is a true crime and it is based on the short life of Annie B McQuiston who was also known at Toni Jo
Henry.

Tell us all about collaborating with Debi.

Writing with my friend, Debi, has been challenging and exasperating and fun and inspiring. We have locked horns over things we did not agree on. I have had headaches trying to follow her psychological mind. She has a degree in psychology. I do not and oh my goodness, struggle to keep up with her at times. We’ve gotten lost tons of times while on research trips. It has been a wonderful partnership of over 20 years.

You travel quite a bit. How difficult is it to write in different places, or is it fun to be inspired by a change of scenery?

I find it easier to write away from home these days. While at my children’s houses, I am much more free to spend time writing because I don’t have to cook or clean or shop - unless I want to. I also do often find great inspiration by sights and sounds in other places.

Please tell us about your pen names so we can find your work.

 I write under my own “real” name of Evelyn L. Morgan. I call it my “real” name because I have always been called Lyn and seldom ever Evelyn. I also use Lyn Lawrence as my nom de plume.

What projects are you working on now?

I am working on the second book I ever wrote which is MAGNOLIA HOUSE. It was originally published by Amber Quill Press in 2001. I got the rights to it back when that publisher went out of business in March 2016.

Have you gone to any book signings lately?

I was at a book signing at Mooringsport branch of the Shreve Memorial Library in September along with another author, CN Pinkard. 

NOTE: It's always fun to talk to Lyn and hear what she's been doing. She's in constant motions. This interview is primarily about her books, which are available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle form.

She is also involved in making videos, such as SKOOKUM: THE HUNT FOR BIGFOOT.

Visit her Author Page on Amazon, where she uses the name Lyn  Lawrence.

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Dream big. Believe.

My daughter gave me a beautiful bangle bracelet with two charms. One says DREAM BIG and the other says BELIEVE. By giving me this bracelet, she gave me a way to stay focused on what I believe. "Mama, " she said, "I'm just giving you what you taught me."

She dreams big, thinks big, and believes good will come to her as she spreads good all around. She loves her husband, who has a big love for her, and they have dreams of the fun they'll have every Saturday. She loves her church, she loves her God,  she loves all her family, and she loves her community. She loves her job, and she believes in what she is doing. She loves her big dog and dreams of taking him on a walk every day she can.

Cover by John Cooke

I dream big too. My biggest dream is to give you a book to read you will love. Of all my attempts to do so--of all the books I've published--one reaches the hearts and minds of more of you than all the others put together.

Wearing my bangle bracelet today to church, I think I discovered some of the reasons why this book has touched so many readers. The name of it is The Dream Bucket.  It's the story of two families in the same neighborhood...two families who lost many of their dreams and found it necessary to make new ones.

Maybe we are all like that. Maybe we have dreams on our lists and in our buckets. When some of them fall out of our buckets, thus becoming impossible to attain, we need to realize it's time to look for new dreams and to DREAM BIG.

What's in  your bucket?

Who is a veteran?

Are National Guard members veterans?

ARLINGTON, Va. -- A recently signed law gives official veteran status to National Guard members who served 20 years or more. Previously, Guard members were considered veterans only if they served 180 days or more in a federal status outside of training. 
(Quoted from the above link)

What is a veteran?

This question is complicated. The article in the above link goes into detail.

What is Veterans Day?

Veterans Day originated as “Armistice Day” on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. Unlike Memorial Day, Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans—living or dead—but especially gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peacetime. (Quoted from the above link)

What are some more facts about Veterans Day?

Celebrated annually on November 11th, the anniversary of the end of World War I.

There are 18.5 million veterans in the United States, according to the most recent statistics available.

There are 1.6 million female veterans.

There are 9.2 million veterans over the age of 65. (Quoted from the above link)

Is more information available?

Here is a sample of facts from the United States Census:

The number of living veterans in 2016 who served during two wartime periods:

• 1,150,328 served during both periods of the Gulf War 
• (August 1990 to August 2001 and September 2001 or 
• later).
• 285,649 served during the Gulf War (August 1990 to 
• August 2001) and the Vietnam Era.
• 140,101 served during the Korean War and the Vietnam
•  Era.
• 56,105 served during World War II and the Korean War.(Quoted from the above link.)