Liz Flaherty's Blog, page 42

Life's Illusions by Liz Flaherty

From Canva - mine was fuzzy...

I'm angry this week.

Usually I try to be at least semi-diplomatic on this blog. I do object (over and over, I know) to name-calling, misinformation, and downright lying, but quite honestly I don't think those are things that should be protected by diplomacy. 

I'm starting this column pre-dawn Wednesday as I wait for 2022's snowmageddon to sweep in. This morning I read about two school shootings. One at a college in Virginia where two officers died and one in Minnesota...

Nan’s World—River’s Edge by Nan Reinhardt

I’ve always been a dreamer. From the time I could hold a pencil, I invented people and places that I could escape to. Sometimes, parents worry about a kid who lives in a make-believe world. Fortunately, my mom didn’t—she allowed me that world because she believed with all her heart that I would be a writer one day. When we were kids, my sisters used to tease me unmercifully about not being in reality, claiming that I lived in “Nan’s world—a nice place to visit, but we certainly wouldn’t want to ...

BANNING BOOKS by Liz Flaherty

 “Banning books gives us silence when we need speech. It closes our ears when we need to listen. It makes us blind when we need sight.” ~~ Stephen Chbosky

This happened in 1991. After all these years, I can hardly believe it came to pass, but it did—book-banning really happened at our school. It made me know then that the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. I said then that we had to choose our battles—we still do. I wish I was better at choosing them. I wish I’d fought this one h...

It Was Time by Colleen Donnelly

 

After close to fifteen years with my beloved pug, Mia, suddenly “it was time” for her to go.

I adopted Mia with a little age on her and teased her often that I got her “used.” Always a poker-faced pug, I still believe she found that comment amusing.

I dubbed my pensive dog “The Perfect Pug” early on when she not only grasped that life had rules, but believed it right for everyone to follow them. A bark to go out was to be honored as much as a call to come in. The course her nose took us on walks...

I Don't Talk Funny--You Talk Funny by Liz Flaherty

Let's talk about traveling. Want to? 

It's one of my very favorite things, from the first trip in my memory--Pennsylvania--to the one I just came home from: Nashville, Indiana. 

Honestly? I don't remember much about the trip to Pennsylvania--I was only five, I think. I remember sleeping in a chair that stretched out flat in a motel room, that my cousins had cool tricycles, and that there were sidewalks all over the place on Jones Street in Hollidaysburg that made riding them so much fun. I remembe...

On Gift-giving and Wedding Registries by Cathy Shouse

Weddings are one of my favorite events to attend, and I’ve had the good fortune of going to some spectacular ones. They were extra pretty to observe, with flowers that took my breath away, wonderful food, and venues that come to mind when I think of the most lovely places I’ve been. I like to see the bride’s dress and what vows the couple chooses.

Weddings have actually become more enjoyable for me over the years. There’s something about a couple joining their lives that is thrilling and brave. S...

Needs, Wants, and Precedence

Last night, I dreamed about buying a new car, but the area was flooded and we had to go through water to do everything. Not in boats, just in water. It felt warm and I wasn't especially scared, but...water? I AM scared of water. When I got into my kids' hot tub, I didn't take a deep breath until I was in there and seated, and then I had to worry about getting out. (The half hour in between made it all worthwhile, believe me.)

This was an idiotic dream. To begin with, my car is only two years old ...

Write what you know. Really? by Jan Scarbrough

Write what you know. Really?

So, you want to write a book. Then write what you know, you’re told. Well, what I know isn’t much. Should I limit myself to that? Once a psychic told me I couldn’t dare write about a psychic because I wasn’t one. Guess what? I wrote a story with a psychic medium in it.

My friend Dale, herself a psychic medium, said this about my book: TIMELESS is a beautiful love story that intertwines two different lifetimes, and Jan has done an incredible job of introducing reincarna...

Winter in the North (Miami) Country by Liz Flaherty

I am writing this on Friday morning. It is five above. I'm still settling into the new year, writing 2021 2022 every time, and trying to think profound thoughts. So far, it's not working. Most of my thoughts are centered around the wind chill factor and how long I can put off going into the house because the distance between my desk and the back door grows in exponentially with each degree the mercury drops.

And now I must admit it is early Friday evening and this is as far as I've gotten. This h...

Wednesday at the Window by Liz Flaherty

This is an experiment, so please bear with me. And please keep reading and inviting your friends, and...oops, sorry.

Writing essays is my favorite thing. I love writing books, too, but those take me months, whereas an essay is a couple of hours--or if I'm late, 20 minutes!

So, although the Window will still open on Saturdays, I want to open it on Wednesdays, too. I'd love to have guests every week, not just with look-at-me promotion, but with actual blog posts. As short as a couple of paragraphs o...