Dixie Dawn Miller Goode's Blog, page 2

summer goals

People can debate back and forth forever  on writer’s block and if it is real, or how to cure it. One group of writers insists that if writing is approached like a job, and one writes every day, even if what they produce is garbage, that that “Shitty first draft” is infinitely better than having produced nothing. At least a bad draft can be improved on and polished. But even polished and fossilized shit is still just shit at the core is the counter argument.

I’m not sure it matters when after months of not writing, I have nothing but a lot of Facebook posts, and if I could have pushed through and written three books in that time is no longer relevant. I didn’t.
What might matter is the future. A school year is ending and the greater freedom of summer beckons with possibility. This year my husband is retiring as a music teacher after 29 years, and transferring to a year round, General ed. teacher at a huge penitentiary. So no family summer vacation plans. If I do as I hope to, I will discover if I am capable still of the drive needed to finish a novel. Yes, I’ve done it four times before, but this one is its own beast. Im not sure yet that I can tame it into submission while spending time digging out twenty years of clutter from the unused rooms of my house to accommodate play space for grandkids, and also playing with those grand grandkids. 
I just hope that when August comes, and a new granddaughter along with it, that I have figured out the many aches and pains of my rheumatoid arthritis and found a happy medium where I can be productive as a writer, and involved as a grandmother. 
WISH ME LUCK

Being an Iron Writer

B Street Pier, Crescent City, CA Recently, I have been sick and sad and not writing, but a writer I met at the South Coast Writer's Conference a couple years ago, has started something he calls the Iron Writer's Challenge on facebook.  It seems like it will work for me. The idea is that we are each responsible for setting our own goals in four different areas, and then asking for what we need to help us get to where we want to be.  Its a long path, but we divide where we are going.
 We are supposed to encourage each other in these four areas;
1. Writing,
2. Health,
3. Relationships
 and
4. Finances
 I still most want to finish my Pompeii/Portland blended time tale so that is being broken down into steps, but I also need to find out why I'm aging prematurely and losing the ability to do some pretty basic movements. My family and friends and co-worker area is my strength, so I'm not changing that up, just celebrating. Financially, ugh!!!

So anyway, less facebook time, more talking to Dr.s and more research.  If you are interested in joining us, and can't find the closed group on facebook, let me know. Dixie Dawn Miller Goode

A Goode Man Remembered

 So instead of going to take the great granddaughter to spend Christmas with her Great Grandpa Harvey, we ended up traveling back for a family reunion/funeral/Christmas.  It was one of the most perfectly, joy filled Celebrations of a wonderful life that I have ever attended. To Life, To Harvey Goode, to doing it even half as well as he did.
the five remaining siblings
the following is the obituary my Sister-in-law wrote
originally published in Newcastle Wyoming's Newsletter Journal

Harvey D. Goode, 88, of Newcastle, died Monday December 4, 2017 at Rapid City Regional Hospital.He was born February 8, 1929 in Olney, Texas to Harvey C. and Effie (Powers) Goode Carter.  He grew up in Texas City, Texas on the Gulf of Mexico helping his father shrimp.  After his father’s death the family moved to Hitchcock, Texas where he graduated from high school.  Harvey was co-captain of the football team.  He worked as a shrimper and mechanic during that time.  He served in the Army during the Korean Conflict, stationed in Germany.Harvey D.  “left nothing in Texas” and headed to the oil fields of Wyoming.  He met Mimi Ward, the cutest soda jerk at the Newcastle Drug and the rest is history.  They married in June of 1950.  The couple raised six children and had been married for 66 years at the time of Mimi’s death.Mr. Goode continued working in the patch for many years and drilled in many places.  Harvey and Mimi were fond of telling stories of packing up the babies, tying the crib to the top of the car, and going to the next hole.  They settled in Newcastle with Harvey working at Ward’s Lumber Company, Updike Brothers, and other companies.   He owned and operated The Goode Standard Station on Main St. for several years.  He retired from Western Productions.Harvey and Mimi were active in Jaycees with Harvey serving as state president.  They were members of bridge club and the Weston County Democrats.  Harvey liked to fish and took his children on many trips to various creeks in the Black Hills.  He enjoyed bowling in leagues, but his passion was cards.  He loved most card games especially Texas Hold Em.  He was a regular participant in Tuesday Prayer Meetings and played at the Old Style #10 until the very end.Survivors include two daughters, Laura Goode of Lake Powell, Utah and Wendy Goode (John Rindler) of Laramie, Wyo.; three sons, Harvey H. (Francie) of Newcastle, Matthew (Andrea Tuijl) of Tucson, Ariz. and Gregory (Dixie) of Crescent City, Calif.; five grandchildren, Connor and Colton Rindler of Laramie, Austin and Emerson Goode of Crescent City, and Remi Goode-Tuijl of Tucson.  Also four great-grandchildren.  Harvey is preceded in death by his loving wife Mimi; his parents, and two sisters JoAnn Lee and Mary Grisham.  Also preceding Harvey in death is his daughter April Goode (Vince Gillette) and a grandson Cody Raben.There will be an interment of the cremains at Greenwood Cemetery at 1:00 p.m. on December 21, 2017.  The family requests friends to gather for cake and coffee immediately afterwards at the Weston County Senior Center in the Michaels room.
so close to meeting her great grandpa
I love you, Harvey

A very Goode Man

I bought Amtrak tickets to go spend a Christmas with my Father in Law, and take his great granddaughter to meet him at last, but last night my husband’s oldest brother was with him as he died from a sudden pneumonia only half an hour after we got the call that he had been taken to the hospital. At nearly 89, Harvey has had a really good life and will be missed so much. It’s definitely one of those, sadder for all the people who will miss him, than for him himself times. He announced last year on the day before Thanksgiving at his wife of 65 years funeral, “I’m only going to live one more year.” And he had a DNR on file and was ready as anyone ever can be. Still, I am grateful for every moment I was lucky enough to be part of his family. RIP Harvey Goode, Feb. 8, 1929 - Dec. 4, 2017

The love of Libraries

Recently I saw a meme that read, "A truly great library contains something in it to offend everybody." There is truth is that of course, but I've also seen studies recently that say that while the Millenials are killing off several traditions that older folks thought would always be with us, they are also saving one that many people would have bet was on its way out.  Libraries.  
Libraries deserve to survive.  They are not just book storage areas, but are community centers, media has made a home there in many forms, but most importantly to me, libraries are the place that still welcomes children.
Chetco Library Storytime includes rounding up the rainbow balls We are lucky here to be in close proximity to two county libraries.  One is the Chetco Community Library in Brookings, Oregon and the other is the Del Norte County Library in Crescent City, California.
Del Norte Storytime making Fall wreaths to match the book they just heard


 Stories are read, art is crafted, puzzles are shared, movie showed, characters like Belle pop in to visit, the turtle swims and a big Mummy case stands guard. Beginning computer skills are explored, more stories are read, music is danced to, slime is made, and preschoolers learn to share and listen and dream.





 Many times I have seen High School kids participating in their own art, or doing their homework, while a homeless person gets warm and checks the computer for job postings. Young families give each other advice and share exhausted stories and the noise of the children is welcomed on certain days, while others are reserved for more quiet studies.
 So this month, thinking of what I am thankful for, Libraries topped my list.

Summer Reading Program

 I should have been writing this summer, but the last book I wrote was still my Redwoods book. Instead of writing, I have been traveling From the OR/CA Border Pacific Coast, to visit family in DC and then we had company visit us here and spent a lot of days playing in the Redwoods, exploring the lighthouse and the sea animals.
 Then I had to rip old, ugly carpeting out of my room, and while doing that, thin out the books crowding my bedroom library. The granddaughter thought I should keep all the books and just not put a bed back in. She assured me her dolly said the floor was comfortable to sleep on.
 but her grandpa assured me a bed was necessary so she was out-voted.
 I did keep the first books I ever wrote
 and I took the granddaughter to arts and crafts at our local library to convince both of us that we don't have to OWN every book to be able to enjoy them.

the books I got rid of The Virdi Goode reading picnic

But of course I got new books. Three books by R. R. Virdi, with lots of super supernatural encounters, mystery, mayhem and adventure joined my own novels and picture books for a pleasant afternoon under the maple tree.

Why Writing is Right For Me.

 Sometimes I get overwhelmed and depressed, and trying to find a way to connect with other people seems impossible.  Lately it has been like that again. The whole world seems to be off its axis, tilting more and more away from being centered.  The people in my life who often steady me, suddenly seem to need steadied themselves and I stop feeling like I can draw on their strength, I don't want to add to the burden of their lives.
 That is when I look for ways to replenish my strength from something bigger than me.  I am lucky, because I only have to step outside to find reminders that there are things much bigger and more eternal and more beautiful than the mind of man can comprehend.

 I go to the world looking for beauty, and it is all around me, in the ocean, and redwood tree, yes.  But also in the tiny banana slug, and the feather in the wind, and the child sifting through the sand for a sun kissed agate.


 Then when I have to return to my home, and my family and the news of the day, I can do so with a well of quiet strength inside me.  I can share that beauty and warmth with my family and friends and then quietly sit at the computer, dreaming in words that hopefully bring strength and warmth to a wider world.  Yes, I'm an introvert, and sometimes I can't think quickly enough to get the words right in a conversation, and when I can, that interaction exhausts me, even though I also love it.  I love teaching and being in a crowd, especially a crowd of children, but I get drained there, and for me, the quiet thoughtful times when it is just me and a blank page, are when my battery is being recharged.

 When I look at the books I like to read, there are often underlying themes of violence and danger, but when I choose what I want to give back to the world, I find the beauty and love and celebrate the differences that make us able to be stronger together than any one of us will ever be alone.  The first book I published turns five years old this year, and It still makes me happy that I put the energy into writing it. People who have also learned to love Duffy Barkley tell me that his story has shown them a lot about accepting differences and finding joy together.  That is why I write.

The Redwood Tree

I am happy to announce the release of my third picture book for young children.  This one is non fiction but reads like a story as you share photographs of the beautiful and long lived giants of the Pacific Coast.
It is available on Amazon at the following link
https://www.amazon.com/Redwood-Tree-Dixie-Miller-Goode/dp/1540304345/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481569293&sr=1-2&keywords=the+redwood+tree

Reaching for the Redwoods

Once upon a time I began to live among Giants, ancient, long lived beings of another race entirely.

And then I began to photograph them and bring my friends and family to visit them and to rest in their shadow.
Many times I climbed upon their fallen and mourned a loss or stood astonished to discover a new life bursting forth from a fallen corpse.
My children and grandchildren became so accustomed to their size that only giants appeared nirmL in their eyes.  I still seek out their companionship when I grow weary and need peace. For awhile now I have not been writing much, but I'm back at it and sensing the completion of a picture book about redwoods happening in time for Christmas gifts.  

Winning

Thank you to the 660 people who signed up for an opportunity to win an autographed copy of my most recent novel in The Tales of Uhrlin, Duffy Barkley: the Third Charm. The Goodreads Giveaway ended on 4/16/16 with three winners.

Mary from Maryland
Chelene from Ohio
Benoit from Quebec

It is gratifying to see so many people express an interest in one of my books, and while I wish I could give that many away, of course I can't. Still, I hope that some of you who did not win are intrigued enough to buy a copy, and if, like me, cash is too tight, I hope sometime in the future you remember my hero and his ability to have adventures and make friends in spite of what others would consider his handicapping condition. After having a chance to live without it for awhile, of course, Duffy now knows he isn't strong in spite of having cp, but he is strong and who he is, because of having cp. like Duffy, I have learned to embrace all the things that make me who I am, even those I fought against for years.

Again, thanks for your time and attention.

Joy and beauty to all of you.