Lisa R. Howeler's Blog, page 109

Hometown Views: Main Street

Today Erin (Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs) and I are writing about main streets for our Hometown Views. Obviously, our main streets are going to be very different, since I live in a very small town and she lives in a city.

In fact, if Erin wants photos of her city’s Main Street, without too much traffic, she must wake up at 4 a.m., or ask a friend to take photos for her at 4 a.m. If I want a photo of my Main Street without traffic I simply walk down on a Sunday evening or any evening and take them because this town is dead most days of the week, but even more so on a Sunday afternoon or after 5 p.m.

Let me tell you something too, when I started writing this blog post, it spun me down into a rabbit hole of information, from online sources, local resources, and from stories from my mom and dad who remembered where this and that store used to be that isn’t there any longer. This journey even had me questioning my own sanity as I couldn’t remember some of the old stores or rows of buildings that used to be here and no longer are and had to wonder why. I apparently have Swiss cheese for a brain and forgot half of my childhood. It might be better that way, of course.

According to the VisitPA tourist site, Dushore was founded in 1859 and name after Aristide Aubert du Petit-Thouars, who was given the area to farm after traveling from France to Philadelphia and to French Azilum, which I believe I mentioned on this blog before was an area about 40 minutes from me where Marie Antoinette was going to be taken to before she was captured and beheaded. I don’t see how they got Dushore from his name, but let’s just go with that.

The first permanent settler was not the French dude, however. It was General Cornwallace Jackson if Wikipedia has it correct. The French dude (I simply don’t want to type his name out again, which I didn’t even type, I copy and pasted it) has his own Wikipedia page so he must be more important than General Jackson. After reading this on the Wikipedia page, “After having lost both legs and an arm, he continued to command from a bucket filled with wheat until he died,” I think I might want to read up more about this man in the future.

Main Street looked a lot different back in those early days of Dushore of course. Two big differences are the fact that an entire row of buildings on Main Street burned down in 1984 — an event I completely do not remember, but maybe because I was only 6 or 7 at the time — and another row across the street was torn down in the early 90s.

Dushore was our main town to shop in when I was growing up (other than Towanda, 15 minutes away), so I’m sure we must have gone in and out of those buildings, but I don’t remember them at all. Like any of them. For me, my memory starts when the Guthrie Clinic was on the corner, built where the old buildings that burned used to be. It probably starts there because I was in that office so much as a child with bladder infections, strep throat, and possible mono at least once, and when I was older, thyroid and blood sugar (low) issues.

While searching for information about the town online, I found a paper by a student of Penn State from several years ago suggesting the former Pealer’s Drug Store building be remodeled and revamped, to make it a centerpiece of Main Street. That remodeling has since been done and now the building is used for various events, including the county library’s trivia night fundraiser. I don’t know if it is the centerpiece of town, but it is a lovely looking building, which I pass to drive to my house.

The Pealer is the blue building.

Back in the day (as the saying goes), drug stores were a central location in town because they provided more than pharmaceuticals to residents. They were also the place people went to converse about life, purchase the local paper, buy candy, etc.

Speaking of the local paper, the current, and literal, the centerpiece of town is our county’s newspaper, The Sullivan Review.
The Sullivan Review is currently owned by my neighbor, John Shoemaker. It was founded in 1878. It merged with several other newspapers over the years, until it was purchased from the Towanda Printing Company in 1966 by Thomas and Stefana Shoemaker, to keep it from folding with the Towanda Daily Review, which was the paper I started my reporting career in. It is actually The Daily Review in Towanda now, but most people call it the “Towanda Daily Review.”

The newspaper office is the red brick building in the center with the bell tower. It is pictured her on Memorial Day this year.

Local residents rarely called Thomas by his first name. I didn’t even know his first name was Thomas, or Tom, up until a few years ago. He was referred to as “Doc” by the locals because he was also the local veterinarian. We took all of our animals to him when I was growing up, and I have a couple of vivid memories of a couple of those visits, including the time we had to take our dog Sheba to him to have porcupine quills removed from her snout.

Another story involves our cat, Zorro, who we took there when he started to develop kidney issues. My dad warned me that Doc might seem rough when he handles the animals, but that he does care for the animals and isn’t trying to hurt them. I didn’t know what he meant until Doc grabbed my cat’s tail, yanked it up toward the sky in one quick jerk, and plopped a thermometer straight up his rear like he was putting birthday candles in a cake. Zorro yowled for a few moments but within a minute it was over and it was worth it because we discovered he had a fever and he ended up on antibiotics.

When Doc wasn’t taking care of area animals, large (he also visited local farms) and small, Doc was covering events for the paper, which comes out every Wednesday, I might add. It’s actually out on many store shelves by Tuesday night. I ran into Doc during quite a few events when I first started working in newspapers. His wife was by his side most of the time, one or both of them holding a camera. Doc is a blog post all on his own and I think I will write one soon. He was a fascinating man.
His son now runs the paper with his wife, Chris. Their daughter Kate also helps out. Their son, John, is a lawyer in town.

Yes, I have digressed, so moving on to the rest of Main Street.

The Jolly Trolley is another highlight of downtown, located directly in the center of Main Street, on the corner by the only stoplight in Sullivan County. Yes, our town is known for having the only stoplight in the entire county. It is the largest town in the county and the only one where drivers could collide with more than simply a bear, deer, or raccoon.

The Jolly Trolley wasn’t always the Jolly Trolley, of course. Today it is a local restaurant and retail store selling unique gifts.
Many years ago, though, it was the local Ben Franklin, owned by a Mr. Sick. Ben Franklin stores were a chain of five and dime stores. There was also one in Towanda, the town I mentioned before that we traveled to for groceries, shoes and clothing shopping, etc.

Ben Franklin in the 70s maybe?

I don’t remember Mr. Sick much, other than he had blazing white hair and liked to hand me candy when we went in. I think he wore white shirts and a black tie or black suspenders most of the time. I also remember the store with its wooden floors, glass jars full of candy, and aisles full of a variety of crafts and other items.

Mr. Sick is also the main character in one of my dad’s favorite stories about being careful not to gossip or complain about people in a small town. According to Dad, Mr. Sick liked to talk a lot so he was talking to a woman for several moments and when he left the woman turned to the woman next to her and said, (I’m summarizing), “Oh my gosh. I thought he’d never leave. What an annoying man. He never shuts up. I don’t know how people can stand to listen to him all the time.”

The other woman responded, “I have to listen to him. He’s my husband.”

I am not exactly sure when Ben Franklin closed, but probably sometime in the 1990s since Mr. Sick passed away in 1995. The entire storefront has been completely revamped, since then and I think the red building it has become is a nice addition to downtown.

Little Miss, The Boy, and I have visited the restaurant a few times for lunch or breakfast and Little Miss loves to watch the little train along the top of the ceiling go around while we eat. The store also has a large, stuffed black bear standing by the register, which she likes to touch and look at while I pay. She also likes to run down the ramp into the toy section to search for a new toy to add to her collection. This is the same ramp if I remember right, that was there when the old Ben Franklin store was there.

Next to the Jolly Trolley is the NAPA store, which I don’t have any memories of because I am not sure I’ve ever been in it.

The only story I have from that store is one about my sister-in-law going there to purchase something when she was up to visit my brother (I don’t think she was my sister-in-law yet) and someone in the store made a disparaging remark about “flatlanders.” She is from New Jersey originally. Anyone who isn’t “from around here” and is from the southern part of the state or New Jersey is considered “a flatlander.” When you say “flatlander,” you say it much like I described how locals say Scranton when you mention you are going to visit there. Nose wrinkled, faced scrunched and the word dripping with disgust.

My sister-in-law ignored the comments, bought whatever she needed, and went next door to the Jolly Trolley where, after waiting for someone to take her owner, heard someone rudely call from behind the counter, “Did anyone wait on the flatlander yet?”

I haven’t heard of this happening to anyone recently and the person who made the crack in the restaurant could have been joking, or they should have been, considering a lot of the income of the businesses around here, especially the restaurants, relies on “flatlanders” who drive up from Philly and New Jersey to stay in cabins they rent or own in the wooded areas around us.

Beyond the NAPA is the CN Bank, or whatever they are calling it today. The name changed recently and will probably change again. Further down is Dushore Beverage, because every town, no matter how small, needs a liquor store.

Next to the liquor store is a small craft store run by some very nice people, including a woman who has a cat who jumps on her shoulder while she talks to customers. The cat then perches there like it’s a parrot.

Next in line on the street is a private residence and then a local insurance business in a former private residence. Crossing the street, you will find one of the other popular restaurants in town, Mary Beth’s Westside Deli, which is owned and operated by the town mayor. It offers cheesesteaks and other tasty items, as well as an ice cream stand that I have to take Little Miss to every time we visit the tiny playground. I have some humorous stories about visits there but to avoid offending anyone who might misunderstand if they stumble on to this post, I’m going to leave those stories out of this post. wink

Next to Mary Beth’s, going on the other side of Main Street, is one of our local grocery stores (yes, we have two!), Hurley’s Supermarket. I’m not sure what the building was before it was a supermarket, and my mom can’t remember either. I originally thought it was an Acme, but she thinks the Acme was actually in the row of buildings that has since been torn down.
There are two Hurley’s Supermarkets, with the second one being in . . . yes, Towanda.

There is a large municipal parking lot next to Hurley’s, which I believe was filled by the Green Swan Grill and another row of stores many years ago. I have no idea when those buildings were torn down, but one source online said the grill building was torn down in 1990. I do not even remember this building. Seriously, what was I on during my childhood? It’s all a blur to me.

I did find this photo of it on the historical site’s Facebook page.

Across the street and next to the stop light is the M&T bank building which was emptied a couple of weeks ago when the bank moved out. Next to the bank building is the Pealer building, which I mentioned above, then there is a bar, The Iron Horse, which I think used to be the Whistle Stop Café.

Further down is Pam’s Restaurant, a very popular restaurant, not necessarily for the food (although it is good) but for the people who run it and the hometown feel it has for those who visit. It is a local gathering place for locals to eat, chat, gossip, complain, and simply be together. It is also my dad’s go-to place when he comes into town. He meets old friends and makes new ones.

Beyond Pam’s are a couple of old buildings, including an old, abandoned hotel, that somehow have not been torn down or fallen down yet. I would guess that the hotel building has been there since the late 1800s or early 1900s, based on some old photos I found. I will have to research this when I have more time.

Besides this building, there used to be an old train trestle/bridge that ran over the road. I had no idea about that until I looked for old photos of the town online. There is a Facebook page for the county’s historical society, which features historical photos of the area, especially the town I live in.

Our other market in town, the aptly named Dushore Market, completes the businesses on Main Street.

I could have researched a lot more history about downtown, but I wasn’t really sure how much I should add and how boring that might make this post.

I did a search online about Dushore and Wikipedia wants everyone to know that the town is the hometown of NASCAR and ARCA driver L.W. Miller. Honestly, I didn’t know L.W. was an actual driver, (oops, sorry L.W.) but I do know he is married to Dale Earnhardt’s daughter, Kelly, that he is originally from here, and that his family is heavily involved in car/truck racing. His grandparents (maybe his parents too?) ran Miller’s Hardware, another landmark and staple in this town. L.W. worked there as a kid.

His grandmother was a fascinating character and my main memories of her involve a woman who reminded me of Carol Channing, with white, bobbed hair, dark-rimmed glasses, smoking a cigar, and giving me 50 cent pieces when I visited the store with my dad.

If you want to know more about L.W., you can see his own Wikipedia page, or maybe I’ll write a blog post about him one day too wink.

I thought it would be neat to share a few of the old photos I found of Main Street compared with today’s.

I hope you have enjoyed our journey down my little town’s Main Street today. Hop on over to Erin’s blog and learn more about the Main Street in Wyandotte, Michigan.

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Published on August 25, 2021 05:48

Scranton? Why? What’s in Scranton?

Here is something that as a lifelong Northeast PA resident, I never thought I’d hear myself say, “Come on everyone! Let’s go to Scranton!”

People watch the American version of The Office and think they should visit Scranton to see what the city is like but I’ve never heard/seen anyone in my area say the name Scranton without wrinkling their nose in confused disgust.

“Scranton,” they say. “What’s in Scranton?”

To prove this point, when I called my mom to tell her we had changed plans for the day and were going to Scranton instead of the Finger Lakes in N.Y., she said, “What’s in Scranton?” the same way you would say, “Why would you do that? Are you insane?”

She said it like she wanted to add, “Why are you going to Scranton? Are you being held at gunpoint? Don’t lie to me!”

After we went to Scranton, my son told his friend we had gone, and his friend, 16, looked at him and said, “Scranton? Why Scranton?” And he said it with disgust like everyone else. He has learned it at a very young age to question the validity of a visit to Scranton.

This is a photo of my son on the phone with my dad who is asking, “Are you still in Scranton? Why are you in Scranton? What’s in Scranton?”

For anyone from Scranton who is reading this, please know the above paragraphs are written all in good fun because people from Scranton could ask the same of where I live. “Rural Pennsylvania? Why would you go to rural Pennsylvania?” And they would ask it with their noses all wrinkled up too.

While Scranton residents can say they have a beautiful cultural center with amazing events, a gorgeous college campus, and amazing restaurants with delicious food I can say we have beautiful scenery, lovely walking trails, the wildlife outside your door (hopefully not bears), and peaceful nights. So, we both have our good points.

Anyhow, after voluntarily visiting Scranton this weekend it turns out it’s not so bad, but also not a place this small-town girl would love to live in.

There are buildings. Lots of them. Too many of them really. I mean, for all you city-folk out there this is a small city, very small. For me, it was like Clark Kent when he first walked into Metropolis.

Let me back up here a bit and explain why we went to Scranton. You see, we were going to take a day trip to the Finger Lakes, a favorite place for us to visit when we lived 45 minutes north, but then The Boy asked if we could visit Scranton because of the show The Office. I thought he meant he had watched The Office and enjoyed it and wanted to see the city where it was based (even though the show was actually filmed in L.A.). It wasn’t until we had almost finished our visit, after I took him to a mural of Dwight’s head, that my son broke the news to me, “I don’t even really like The Office. I don’t understand most of the jokes or what it’s even about. I just thought it would be cool to see the place where the opening was filmed.”

So, we essentially visited Scranton for no reason.

Still, it was an adventure and got us out of the house and into a different area, so I suppose it was worth it.

We met a couple of interesting people, one a lady who swindled us out of money by lasering in on my 6-year old to try to sell her a bracelet. She knew our Achilles heel — our weakness at buying things for our youngest, even though they are a rip-off.

After we dragged ourselves away from her with a bracelet and a pair of Dollar General sunglasses she claimed would normally cost $29 but she was giving it to us for $10 (sigh) we crossed the street to see what the large stone building was that we’d been looking at during lunch (which took forever but was worth the wait). It turns out the building was the courthouse. A woman in the front yard of the building immediately began telling me her life story. I’ve mentioned before on this blog that this happens to me a lot. I will walk past a person, smile or nod and suddenly, without even saying who they are, they’ll say something like this woman did to me, “Hi, I’m homeless.”

And there I stood while she told me that she’d left a 30-year old marriage, was homeless, came to this space to watch people and because it was peaceful and because a woman at the shelter she was staying at had gone “bat crazy”, and had been feeding the squirrels sugar-coated pecans.

She also told me she believes in Jesus and asked me to pray in agreement with her that she would find an apartment and a job because “wherever two people are gathered in my name God is with them.” She talked about Jesus and faith a lot, without taking much of a breath, and how many will live in torment by not believing in Him.

I never mentioned Christ or my faith before this conversation started so I have no idea what compelled her to talk to me about Him or her faith, but there I stood while she talked about it, wishing I could leave, but feeling guilty that I wanted to leave. She wasn’t like the homeless portrayed in movies. She wasn’t dirty or living under a bridge. She was well dressed, wearing make-up, and spoke fairly clearly, but did ramble quite a bit. Was she really homeless? I don’t know. Why did she choose me to talk to? I don’t know. But I did pray for her, and I hope she ends up with an apartment and in a safe place.

After we left the main part of the city, we drove past The University of Scranton, which is a Catholic and Jesuit university, and took an unintended tour of it while looking for a vintage store that sells vintage records.

The University of Scranton was founded in 1888, according to its website, and is a private university with 3,700 undergraduate students and 1,300 graduate students. The campus was very pretty. The architecture of the buildings, like many in Scranton, reflects a classic style with a bit of Victorian mixed in.

I thought The Boy would enjoy looking at the records at the vintage store, and he did but didn’t end up buying one. The Boy has been very interested in vinyl records and we hope to pick him up some and a record player for his birthday. The store had tons of antiques or vintage items and as I took photographs of them, I felt like Our Little Red House taking photos for one of her antique store trips in Arizona.’

The store was where we found the mural of Dwight, a character from the show, and actually, I made this one of our stops on purpose, thinking The Boy would like it. He did but, again, reminded me he is not a real fan of the show.

The tower in the opening of The Office.

I took a photo of this building because it looked like one of the motels where they find the bad guys in a Rockford Files episode.

On the way back we stopped at a playground about half an hour from us and I enjoyed some quiet time next to the creek.

I also checked out an abandoned house by the playground which reminded me of my old house. The Boy said it was haunted and thought he saw a person looking out one of the windows. Luckily, it was a reflection. We think anyhow. *wink*

Part of our view on the drive home.

We were all glad to head home as the humidity jumped up, making us feel drained and over-heated.

All in all, it was a fun trip. There were a few other sites we wanted to visit but we will save them for our next trip.

Yes, that’s right, we probably will visit Scranton again, even if everyone we know looks at us, wrinkles their nose, and says, “Scranton? What’s in Scranton?”

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Published on August 23, 2021 04:00

Sunday Bookends: An old barn, busy reading, and new music to listen to

Sunday Bookends April 21

Welcome to Sunday Bookends where I share what I’m reading, watching, listening to, writing and doing.

What’s Been Occurring

This past week we mainly recovered from last week, which was fairly busy. We didn’t do much until Saturday when we traveled to Scranton to visit, well, Scranton. I will write about this more in depth later in the week. Suffice it to say, when we told my parents we were traveling to Scranton we received the question most people in PA ask when someone says they’re going to Scranton. “Why? What’s in Scranton?” I’ll expound on that further in my post later this week.

On Friday I went to my parents to look at some books he had in the barn. He wanted to see if I wanted them. They were crawling with spiders and dusty and mainly Reader’s Digest books, so I was not interested. They are now going to the dumb. While in the barn, I had a bit of a panic moment when I felt the floor of the barn bounce up and down, wondering if it would cave underneath me.

The barn is very old, and my dad has been considering having it pulled down. He and The Boy recently cleaned it out to prepare for such an eventuality. For now, there are still a few pieces of antique furniture and, of course, old books, stored there.

When my son saw my panic, he thought it was pretty funny and proceeded to bounce on the boards to make it move more. A few minutes later he told my dad about my panic and my dad proceeded to do the same thing. Those two are very similar in their behaviors and personalities.

What I’m Reading

This week I finished Rose Among Thornes by Terrie Todd, after skipping through much of it because I didn’t enjoy the style of writing, which was mainly telling the entire story like a person relaying what happened instead of showing what happened through description. I did, however, enjoy the story overall and the subject matter about Japanese internment camps in Canada during World War II. Just because I didn’t like the way the story was told, does not mean the book is not good. It was just not a style of writing I enjoy. My mom disagreed and did enjoy it.

I am continuing the Husband Auditions by Angela Ruth Strong, which I will probably finish this week. So far, I am enjoying it.

I will have reviews for both of these books in a couple of weeks.

When I am in the mood for something a little deeper than the above mentioned clean rom-com, I delve into Another Man Moccasins by Craig Johnson.

Later this month, into September, I hope to read Double Minds by Terri Blackstock and for something totally different, Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain.

Little Miss and I are reading The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder before bed.

The Boy is listening to H.P. Lovecraft stories on audio.

What I’m Watching

The husband and I have been watching a British comedy, Upstart Crow and I’ve been re-watching To the Manor Born. We also watched some Rockford Files. I started a couple of movies, but didn’t finish either of them for a variety of reasons.

What I’m Writing

This week I plan to write a post about our trip to Scranton and then join up with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs for a post about our respective Main Streets. I also plan to finish a Randomly Thinking post I have started but never finished.

Last week I shared a book review of Rahab’s Courage by Naomi Craig and also a post about the outhouse races in our small town.

I also made a small amount of progress on my next book, The Next Chapter.

What I’m Listening To

This week I am listening to the new song by Elevation Worship, It Might Get Loud,

and the new album by Danny Gokey.

I’m also enjoying Larkin Poe, a new sister-duo by husband turned me on to.

So, that’s my week in review; how about all of you? What are you doing, reading, writing, or listening to these days? Let me know in he comments.

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Published on August 22, 2021 04:18

Small town fun with outhouse races. Yes. Outhouses. Being Raced.

I could have attended the outhouse races for the first 19 years it was held in the small town my family now lives in, but I never did, and I don’t know why. But, last week, in the 20th year of the races, I finally made it to see outhouses being raced down Main Street.

I know, when most of you read that phrase “outhouse races” you thought of people running to the outhouse, which, for those who may not know, is an outside bathroom. No, they do not race to the bathrooms. They race the bathrooms.
I wasn’t sure I would make it (snort make it) after holding a yard sale all day that day, but I pushed myself and made it downtown to watch the homemade outhouses on wheels raced down Main Street with what the local, weekly, paper reported was about 2,000 other spectators looking on.

Our small town has a population of approximately 600 people, and I believe all 600 people might have been there on Main Street, with exception of a few, including my neighbor who was wiped out from holding her second yard sale this summer. In addition to those people, there were another 1,500 or so (though I think there was less, really) from outside the area, including people who camp at cabins in the county. Our county is a tourist attraction of sorts in the summer, with many traveling from downstate to rent cabins in the beautiful forests that surround the few little towns.

I could have walked downtown but my feet were absolutely throbbing from standing on them all day (after joining my neighbor and trying to hold a yard sale on my own), so my husband drove me and the kids down where we waited for 40-minutes for the races to start.

The outhouse races started in our small town in 2000. According to an article in our local newspaper this week, the event started at the suggestion of a man from town named Spencer Davis who read about a small town in Michigan that raced outhouses set on skis across a frozen lake. Spencer and his wife, Barb, brought the idea up at a local Lions Club meeting. After some discussions, it was decided that the races here in Pennsylvania would be added to the other events of Founder’s Day, held the second Saturday in August every year and that the race wouldn’t be on a frozen lake.

The members of the Lions Club decided the outhouses would be pushed by four people and one person inside it to steer. That setup has remained the same all these years.

The outhouses are often sponsored by local businesses or organizations, hence the logos and paintings on the side.
Before the race started, the teams pushed their outhouses to the top of the course and paraded down Main Street, waving at their fans.

There were six teams this year.

They raced two at a time until they narrowed the final race to the two teams with the best times.

I waited for the local paper to see if they would write about the drama that happened at the finish line of the one heat, but they didn’t, so I’m still not sure what happened. All I know is there were a few shouts of “Oh!” and the announcer said something about one team having seconds deducted from their final time.

The kids and I were at the other end, where the turn around the center circle was, so we missed all the drama. My son’s friend thought the team might have been penalized for their language, which wouldn’t have surprised me since when I tried to record that team, one of the members screamed out an expletive (the big one with the word mother in front of it). Usually, the event is very family-friendly, so that was a bit of a fluke.

Another fluke was the parking meter collection box full of wasps next to us that a person discovered halfway through the races. Thankfully only a couple of wasps came out and then flew back in again. Then there was the poor guy on the one team who pulled a hamstring or something. He limped the rest of the way down the street while we all winced and hoped he didn’t do any major damage.

My legs gave out before the final race, so we actually didn’t see who won, but the town paper reported yesterday that a team called Team Nutz won and also won the 3 on 3 basketball tournament. They participated in all their activities in memory of a former teammate who had won previous races with them, possibly the first-ever outhouse race, if I remember correctly from what a neighbor told me.

This photo was reproduced from our local newspaper, The Sullivan Review.

They have won nine out of the 20 races held throughout the years, according to the paper, including the last four in a row. Honestly, I had no idea when I saw the team that they were the returning champions. Some of the other teams seemed more polished at first (as far as their designs) but Team Nutz brought it home in the end and donated their monetary earnings to the scholarship in their late teammate’s name.

Another photo from the local paper and I put this one here because it shows how often St. Basil’s (the church I mentioned in my Hometown Views post about churches) is in photographs taken downtown. It’s very hard to avoid capturing the church in the background.

Overall, everyone seemed to have a lot of fun, no matter who took home the final prize.

I do regret that I missed out on voting for the painted toilet seat covers, but according to the paper the auction of the toilet seats (clean before they are painted, as far as I know!) brought $1,500 for the county library.

(The toilet seat cover images were downloaded from the library’s Facebook page.)

Next year, I won’t be hosting a yard sale so I will be able to go down and see the keg races as well as the outhouse races.

Next up in our rural area? The county fair in two weeks, which is sure to include some other unique, slightly redneck, activities. And, yes, I’ll be sure to grab some photos there as well.

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Published on August 19, 2021 03:35

Rahab’s Courage, Review, Book Tour with Celebrate Lit

About the Book

Book: Rahab’s Courage

Author: Naomi Craig

Genre: Biblical Fiction

Release date: August 17, 2021

A scarlet cord tethers one ruined woman to the salvation of mankind.

Harboring two fugitives in a city slated for destruction, Rahab has one small chance of escape. In exchange for their safety, she bargains for her own. Their agreement rewards her courage, and she flees Jericho and a life of prostitution for a new life among the people of Israel. Never again will she have to depend on anyone—especially men.

Except Salmah won’t take the hint.

High ranking soldier and leader of the tribe of Judah, Salmah is determined not to repeat his parents’ mistakes. He will keep the Lord’s commandments. Rahab’s growing faith fits right in with phase one of his plans: find a wife who loves the Lord and settle down in the new land.

Rahab finds shelter and meaning in the Lord’s ways until her past comes back to haunt her. As her new faith is put to test, she finds herself alone. Isn’t that what she’d always wanted?

With her courage waning, only the Lord can turn Rahab’s life around again, but will He do it before she loses everyone and everything that really matters to her—to her heart?

Click here to get your copy!My Thoughts

On the surface, Rahab’s Courage is a romance, but deep down it is a reminder that beauty comes from ashes, that redemption comes to those we never think it will come to, and that God can use people society considers “unsavory” to further his kingdom.

It is also a book about how God’s love for us is beyond the love any human can have for us, a realization which comes slow, yet right on time, for the characters of this book.

I’ll admit that this book frustrated me at times. The ever-changing mind of Rahab’s love interest Salmah made me want to step inside the book and shake him. I understand why Salmah was written that way, of course. The author was clearly trying to show the difficulty of an Israelite trying to stick to the rules of his people while also falling in love with a woman who was not an Israelite and had a checkered past, so to speak. Salmah still really drove me crazy, though.

Perhaps Craig intended for the reader want to scream at Salmah a few times and if so, she did a good job of portraying him as someone who waffled worse than a go-cart going full force down a hill with a broken wheel.

Rahab’s Courage was clearly well researched and also well written.

The suggestiveness between the characters so early in the book was a bit surprising for Biblical fiction, but I do understand why it was being done. The main character needed to be portrayed as a certain type of woman from the start. I would have preferred that the book built up to that topic, but that doesn’t take anything away from the story.

The story was very well written, with plenty of description and biblical history woven among the prose.

I would have enjoyed some more side stories beyond the romance but only because it was clear there is such rich history surrounding the characters, not because the romance wasn’t good enough on its own.

This is a book ultimately about restoration and redemption found in God but also between each other.

My rating: 4 out of 5

About the Author

Naomi writes Historical Fiction set in Bible times.
She lives in a small town in the south-eastern mountains of Arizona
She is an avid reader, Pastor’s wife, and homeschool mom.

Sunday Bookends: Yard sales, too many books to read, and my book is out there

Welcome to Sunday Bookends where I share what I’m reading, watching, listening to, writing and doing.

Last week I spread myself way too thin.

I committed to too much and as a result, my mind and body are still trying to recover. Today, as I write this, my feet are throbbing from holding a yard sale with my neighbor yesterday. We got ready for the yard sale throughout the week and held it for one day and made almost no money. I will never do a yard sale again. This is what I said three years ago when I helped my dad sell a lot of my aunt’s belongings after she passed away, but after yesterday — yeah — I’m holding to it.

It’s not that anything bad happened. In fact, I met several interesting people, which I will write more about later this week. The issue was the waiting, standing, straightening and pulling out items for very, very little return (under $50).

So, no more yard sales.

After the yard sale, I kept moving and went downtown to watch the outhouse races, which I’ve mentioned before on this blog. I will be sharing a full post about the races later this week, including the history of it in our smalltown and more photos.

I know I had a couple of readers who wanted to see photos and learn more about it. I’ll even include a video in the post I share about it.

I did miss the other events of the day, including the keg roll race, which involves rolling a keg full of water (I think it is just water) through a haybale maze or course. I’m sorry, I have no photos of that one for you.

As for the book tours I’m doing, I’ll keep doing them, but I’ll spread them out a bit more next time. I have to read books for book tours, you see, and sometimes I don’t have time to just sit and read so I always panic I won’t get the book done in time. So far, though, I’m doing okay. Last week I posted a book tour interview post for Set in Stone, the fourth book in the Rembrandt Stone series and this week I am posting a review of Rahab’s Courage by Naomi Craig. At the end of the month, I have another review post and at the beginning of September I have two in a week.

After that, I won’t be doing anymore until we get into a good groove with homeschooling, which starts September 1.

The last of my son’s curriculum came this week. I still need a science until for Little Miss, but I have some science I can start with her for the first week. We will be doing a lot of reviewing to start with anyhow.

One thing I won’t have to review as much with Little Miss is reading because this summer, even without going over lessons, she has started reading on her own, to the point she can now read my text messages. I have to be careful what I write or what is sent to me now. The other day she had the phone when a friend texted to ask if we were going to the local fireworks display. Because of the yard sale, I forgot about the fireworks, which are about 20 minutes from our house.

“There’s a fireworks display?” Little Miss cried, looking over my shoulder.

Argh. How I longed for the days she couldn’t read yet (sort of).

“Um…yes, but it’s too late to get there. . .”

Ten minutes of crying followed because she wouldn’t get to see her little friends who we see maybe once a year at this point. Her other little friends moved to Texas out of the blue, two weeks ago, so she’s been pretty lonely.

Earlier in the day I caught her laughing while looking at a text message in my phone.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“This message from The Boy. ‘Mom, I can’t find my glasses.’”

(No, she doesn’t really call him The Boy. That’s simply his blog name.)

These are all simple sentences but early in the year last school year, Little Miss wasn’t even sounding out words. Now she’s reading full sentences and the other day, using an app, she sent me a message on my phone, “I love you, Mom.”

It’s weird to be receiving messages from my almost 7-year-old, but these days many children are learning how to read and spell as young as 4, maybe even 3, thanks to technology. Little Miss has been learning how to read and write through asking me how to spell words so she can message her friends on games or my phone. I even caught her commenting on YouTube accounts (she watches a snake education show and a show that follows a goat farm) recently.

Anyhow, I have digressed. In the midst of book tours and the yard sale, I “launched” my book Thursday, whatever that means. I released it and pretended it was a big deal by sharing posts on my Facebook page and Instagram, but honestly, I lost a lot of motivation to promote it. The constant bombardment by authors pushing books and everyone selling something has beat me down a bit. All of that marketing mixed in with politics on social media has my stomach in knots and my nerves frayed. Even when I try to avoid it all, I get hit in the face with it, so I’m trying to stay clear of social media as much as I can.

So, not to push something I’m selling at you here, but I will mention for blog readers who wanted to read the story in full (there were changes made and chapters added for the final book), you can order an ebook or paperbook copy through Amazon, HERE.

In the midst of the all the craziness, Little Miss and I did find some time for relaxation by going swimming at my parents a couple of times. We spent two hours in the pool one day and almost three another day.

It was a nice reprieve from the crazy of the world and part of me didn’t even want to leave the pool. In the pool no one asks me what I think about the situations in the world or talks to me about politics (even when I don’t ask) or wants anything from me other than to race across the pool. Sometimes I wish I was a mermaid and I lived in water and not in an upside down world.

What I’m Reading

This week I am reading two books for blog tours: Rose Among Thornes and The Husband Auditions. I’ll have more information on them in future posts.

Rose Among Thornes by Terrie Todd is currently available on Kindle Unlimited and tells the story of a Japanese-Canadians and the horror that fell on them during World War II when they were moved to internment camps, much like the Japanese-Americans.

This book is more of a telling of a story, than a showing, just to give a heads up. That doesn’t mean it is bad, it is just different than some books I have read. I will have a full review of it up on August 30, which is my scheduled tour date for it.

Here is a description for anyone who would like to check it out ahead of time:

Forgiveness is the deadliest force on earth.

War might be raging overseas, but Rose Onishi is on track to fulfill her lifelong goal of becoming a concert pianist. When forced by her government to leave her beloved home in Vancouver and move to the Canadian prairie to work on the Thornes’ sugar beet farm, her dream fades to match the black dirt staining her callused hands. Though the Thorne family is kind, life is unbearably lonely. In hopes that it might win her the chance to play their piano, Rose agrees to write letters to their soldier son.

When Rusty Thorne joins the Canadian Army, he never imagines becoming a Japanese prisoner of war. Inside the camp, the faith his parents instilled is tested like never before. Though he begs God to help him not hate his brutal captors, Rusty can no longer even hear the Japanese language without revulsion. Only his rare letters from home sustain him—especially the brilliant notes from his mother’s charming helper, which the girl signs simply as “Rose.”

Will Rusty survive the war only to encounter the Japanese on his own doorstep? Can Rose overcome betrayal and open her heart? Or will the truth destroy the fragile bond their letters created?

I am enjoying The Husband Auditions by Angela Ruth Strong.

Here is a description:

How far would you go to find the perfect husband? All the way back to the 1950s?

In a world full of happily-ever-after love, Meri Newberg feels like the last young woman on the planet to be single, at least in her Christian friend group. So when she’s handed a strange present at the latest wedding–a 1950s magazine article of “ways to get a husband”–she decides there’s nothing to lose by trying out its advice. After all, she can’t get any more single, can she?

Her brother’s roommate sees the whole thing as a great opportunity. Not to fall in love–Kai Kamaka has no interest in the effort a serious relationship takes. No, this is a career jump start. He talks Meri into letting him film every silly husband-catching attempt for a new online show. If it goes viral, his career as a cameraman will be made.

When Meri Me debuts, it’s an instant hit. People love watching her lasso men on street corners, drop handkerchiefs for unsuspecting potential beaus, and otherwise embarrass herself in pursuit of true love. But the longer this game goes on, the less sure Kai is that he wants Meri to snag anyone but him. The only problem is that he may not be the kind of husband material she’s looking for . . .

With droll comic timing, unbeatable chemistry, and a zany but relatable cast of characters, Angela Ruth Strong has created a heartfelt look at the reality of modern Christian dating that readers will both resonate with and fall for.

The book comes out August 19.

I am also reading (when I take breaks from the other books) Another Man’s Moccasins, by Craig Johnson. It is the fourth book in the Longmire Mystery series.

What I’m Watching

I am rewatching To the Manor Born because it is a light, sweet comedy and I need that right now.

We didn’t watch much together as a family this week because my husband had to work late every night and I was working on yard sale stuff.

What I’m Listening To

I haven’t had time to listen to much of anything, honestly. At night I listen to the same Our Miss Brooks podcast I’ve been listening to for over a year, maybe two. The podcast is simply episodes of the old radio/television show from the late 40s and early 50s.

I had very little time to read blog posts last week, so I hope to catch up this week and share some of my favorites in next week’s Sunday Bookends.

What I’m Writing

One day last week I got up early to write a little bit on The Next Chapter, the third book in the Spencer Valley Chronicles. It felt good to lose myself in telling a story again, even though I don’t really have a final plan of how this story is going to go or who the main characters are going to be.

I don’t know when, or if, I’ll be sharing this story on the blog. I haven’t decided if I want to continue Fiction Friday or not, but I may start it back up sometime in September if I do choose to continue it.

On Wednesday, I joined with Erin from Still Life, With Cracker Crumbs for Hometown Views, where we shared about the churches in our town/city.

I’ll keep you updated on when our next one is. We haven’t decided a topic just yet.

So, that’s my week in review for this week. How was your week? Let me know in the comments.

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Published on August 15, 2021 11:48

Interview with the authors of Set in Stone, the fourth book in the Rembrandt Stone series, with Just Read Blog Tours (with giveaway)

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Set in Stone by David James Warren, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

ABOUT THE BOOK

The continuing adventures of Rembrandt Stone from the creative minds of James L. Rubart, Susan May Warren, and newcomer David Curtis Warren, writing collectively as David James Warren.

Title: Set in Stone

Series: The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone #4

Author: David James Warren

Publisher: TriStone Media

Release Date: August 10, 2021

Genre: Time Travel Detective Series

Rembrandt Stone is on the case of a serial killer. But when the killer finds him first, he puts the one person Rembrandt loves in his cross hairs. Now, Rembrandt must outwit time to save the people he loves.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | BookBub

BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

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CONNECT WITH REMBRANDT STONE: Website | Instagram

INTERVIEW

I’m so excited to introduce my readers to the Rembrandt Stone series through an interview with the three authors who are writing it, Susan May Warren, James L. Rubart, and David Warren. Together, these three authors writer under the name David James Warren.

This series has kept me enthralled for the last two months as I breezed through the first three books so I could read book four for today’s blog tour. I read the books thinking I had signed up for a review. Instead. I had signed up for an author interview (yes, I do have memory issues. Why do you ask?) but was told I am welcome to offer a review as well, so at the end of this post you will find my review of book four. Spoiler alert, it will be a positive review.

Thank you to the authors for taking time to answer my questions.

What inspired you all to join forces for this series of books?

Early in their friendship, Susie and Jim discovered their mutual love of time travel stories. One day they were on an airplane together coming back from a writing conference and they started brainstorming a book. Nothing came of that story idea, but the desire to write a book together someday was cemented in both their minds. Then, in the summer of 2016 Susie called Jim and said, “I’ve got it! The story is a series about a time traveling detective named Rembrandt Stone who goes into the past in order to solve the cold cases that have haunted him for decades. What do you think?” It took Jim a milli-second to shout, “Yes!” So in February of 2017 Susie and Jim and Susie’s son David gathered at Jim’s home and brainstormed the entire series over a long weekend.

Did you find writing a book series together to be a rich or challenging experience for all of you? Or both?

All of the above. When you bring three creative minds together (with strong personalities as well) there are going to be different approaches and ideas on what the best outcome is going to be for a project. But thankfully we all have great respect and love for each other so it’s been an extremely rewarding experience.

Was there a particular literary character or person who inspired your main character Rembrandt Stone? Or maybe a combination of people?

I’m (Susie May) a rabid fan of Henry Cavill and he has a little known movie called Night Hunter. In this movie, Henry plays an on the edge police detective who is searching for a serial killer. Now—I watched this movie AFTER we conceived Rem and his plot, but as soon as I saw it I knew Henry, in this movie, was Rem. I saw him both as young Rem and old Rem, so it helped tremendously as I wrote his character. Oh, and I also wrote the books for Jim to voice, so he was in my head, too. So, let’s say a morph of Henry Cavill and Jim, who are very much alike anyway.

These books are being released close together in a type of serial style, which this reader, and many readers love. What was behind the decision to release these books this way?

So glad you like the way we’re releasing the books! From the start we saw the stories as if they were a TV series. Episodic. In other words, we knew each book would end on a cliff hanger which meant readers would want the next book FAST. (We’ve tried to let our potential readers know upfront, the Rembrandt Stone books are NOT stand alones.) With the above in mind made sure we were going to be able to release them every other month so the series would conclude quickly.

Now that you’ve combined forces with other authors, do you think you will do it again with other authors?

I think each one of us is very open to the idea if the right project comes alone. The reality is getting input and ideas and perspective from others is always going to make a story stronger. When Susie and Jim write their stand-alone novels, they still get a tremendous amount of input from others, so getting to work directly together with other creatives is only going to enhance a project.

How important are books in our times when things in the world can feel chaotic and unsteady to many?

They’re critical. If only to pull people away from an increasingly divided nation and world. Good stories entertain, inform, heal, offer a chance to escape and show truth in ways non-fiction simply can’t. We hope readers will be taken on a thrill ride by The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone, but also come away with more hope and joy in their lives.

What future projects do each of you have coming up and where can readers learn more about those projects?

Susie -I’m currently writing the third book of an epic Alaska series due out next year with Revell. I’m very excited because I think readers will enjoy meeting the brothers of Sky King Ranch. Readers can always stop by www.SusanMayWarren.com for more updates on what’s going on!

Jim – At the moment I’m focused on narrating books five and six in the Rembrandt Stone series and I’m giving serious consideration to writing a book for fathers on how to have a stellar relationship with their sons. Readers can connect with me and sign up for my newsletter at: https://jameslrubart.com/

David – The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone is very much a first foray into writing for me. It’s been a heck of a ride trying to make these books the best they can be. I’m buckling down for Rembrandt Stone’s finale, and then I’ll see where the wind takes me.

My Thoughts on Set in Stone

In her book The Story Equation, Susan May Warren talks about how in a well-written book the main character must have a dark moment.

Well, Rembrandt Stone has dark moment after dark moment in David James Warren’s time travel series about him and it’s enough to make a grown woman cry. Each of the books provides a heart-pounding, never-ending emotional roller coaster ride for readers, and the latest installment, the fourth book, Set in Stone, is no exception.

Just when the reader thinks Rembrandt is going to get back to where he should be, after fixing some mistakes he’s made in past timelines, the authors send you skittering down the emotional slope again where you sit and wonder if you — er I mean — Rembrandt will ever see the light of a hopeful day again.

I have truly enjoyed these novels so far (there are two more set to be released) and I’m going to be brutally honest, I wasn’t sure if I would or not. When I started these books and signed up for this tour, I simply wanted to try something different by two authors I enjoy and one guy I hadn’t heard of yet. I’m not usually a reader of time traveler stories, despite being a fan of Doctor Who, but this one held my attention through all four books. The novels held my attention so well that I am literally vibrating with anticipation at reading the final two books in the series set for release in the fall and winter.

Thankfully, these books are being released in three-month (or so) increments so book five will come out Oct. 5 and book six a little earlier on November 23 (which also happens to be my husband’s birthday and my brother and his wife’s 25th anniversary).

I don’t know how this series will end, and I don’t want to spoil anything for those who haven’t read it yet, but I want the authors to know that things better work out for my favorite characters or I am going to need a box of chocolates and box of tissues mailed to me personally by each one of them. It will be the only way I will make it through my grief.

It helps to know when you start the series that there are more books to come and there is still a chance it will all work out okay.

What is fun about a time travel series, especially when the book is about a character traveling back and forth in their own timeline, is that there are a plethora of twists the plot can take and paths the character can walk. This series reminds me a lot of those “choose your own ending” books, but instead of the reader being able to choose the endings we want, we are at the mercy of two men and one woman to bring us the ending we so desire.

However, we the readers have to remember that the authors have their own endings in mind, and we, or at least I, trust them to write the ending that is best for Rembrandt, Eve, Burke, Booker, and everyone else we’ve come to love.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

The bottom line: 5 stars out of 5

ABOUT THE AUTHOR James L. Rubart, Susan May Warren, David Curtis Warren

James L. Rubart is 28 years old, but lives trapped inside an older man’s body. He’s the best-selling, Christy Hall of Fame author of ten novels and loves to send readers on mind-bending journeys they’ll remember months after they finish one of his stories. He’s dad to the two most outstanding sons on the planet and lives with his amazing wife on a small lake in eastern Washington. More at http://jameslrubart.com/

CONNECT WITH JAMES: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Susan May Warren is the USA Today bestselling, Christy and RITA award–winning author of more than eighty novels whose compelling plots and unforgettable characters have won acclaim with readers and reviewers alike. The mother of four grown children, and married to her real-life hero for over 30 years, she loves traveling and telling stories about life, adventure, and faith.For exciting updates on her new releases, previous books, and more, visit her website at www.susanmaywarren.com.CONNECT WITH SUSAN: Website | Facebook | Instagram | TwitterDavid Curtis Warren is making his literary debut in these novels, and he’s never been more excited. He looks forward to creating more riveting stories with Susie and Jim, as well as on his own. He’s grateful for his co-writers, family, and faith, buoying him during the pandemic of 2020, and this writing and publishing process.CONNECT WITH DAVID: InstagramTOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a print copy of Set in Stone and a $15 Amazon gift card!

Set in Stone JustRead Blog Giveaway

Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight August 10, 2021 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on August 17, 2021. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

*NOTE: This post contains affiliate links.

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Published on August 12, 2021 04:00

Interview with the authors of Set in Stone, the fourth book in the Rembrandt Stone series with Just Read Blog Tours (with giveaway)