Candy Marie Bridges's Blog, page 8

They Are Screaming Again!

 

 

A truthful and inspiring memoir written by an ordinary woman who dealt with extraordinary circumstances.

          In my book, Meet Me In The Mountains, A Memoir By Candy Marie Bridges, I share much about my life and feelings over a thirty year period. I hope you will find my writing

Back of Book-Meet Me In The Mountains

inspiring and thought provoking. You can buy your copy here directly from my blog. Click on "Buy Meet Me In The Mountains Here" to get your autographed copy today.

So Why
Are They
Screaming
Again?

 

I was not sure what topic I was going to choose to blog about this morning, until I was interrupted by the sound of something I only hear a few weeks out of the year,  and at this particular time of the morning.  As I listen to the loud squeals, this sparks a story that I must share.

It was very early in the morning when I first heard the high pitched sound seven years ago,   I lived in the mountains in a community called Strawberry Hollow.

Prior to experiencing the silence of the forest and living in Pine, Arizona, I had been a city girl all my life.  The sounds of cars, planes, sirens, people and children walking by weren't even a conscious thought in my mind. You don't really think twice about the everyday city sounds.

But when you move to a very rural secluded area where there are no freeways or cars nearby, let alone many people, silence speaks and the city sounds are replaced by trees swaying in the wind, birds chirping, singing and even the sound of their feathers quickly moving as they flap their wings in flight. A rooster in the distance or a horse whinnying. The thunder and lightening of a storm and water moving in a creek. Frogs croaking and crickets chirping are the mind numbing sounds you will hear among the forest.

At this time of the year for a little over two weeks I heard a sound that scared me.

Every morning just before the sun rises about mid September, there is a sound like no other.

My first September living in the mountains, I experienced this unusual sound and it made me wonder if I should call the police.  As I lay in bed listening to the inconsistent screaming for at least twenty minutes. I prayed, Dear Lord please protect and save the person who is screaming. Please stop the person from hurting them so they can be helped. I did not know where it was coming from and my heart ached thinking that someone was screaming so loud for help. The sound eventually stopped and I was glad. The next morning I heard it again, and again I prayed, Dear Lord, please send someone to help that person who is in pain. And I thought to myself, why doesn't that person get away from their attacker? And maybe I am not as safe as I thought here in the rural mountains.

Then I found out who the culprit was to this awful crime. And coincidentally I wasn't the only one concerned.  The local news reported one morning after I got up that people were calling in to the police about screams up here in the mountains. The police assured us…. us being newbie mountain people not to worry, because it was Elk rutting season.

This time of year, the big thousand pound males scream like girls to attract a mate. They call this bugling. My ears call it screaming like a girl.

This yearly ritual is going on now and I always think of this story and my innocent ignorance when I first heard it.

 

 

Elk Bugling

 

Sophie In The Pot

Sophie in the pot

I can not kiss my granddaughters enough. When I am with them I can not stop looking at them and holding them. I can not get close enough to them and I so enjoy their innocence. They are nothing short of two little miracles. The oldest is two and a half and the other is just ten months old. They are precious and their dependence on their parents and caregivers is humbling. All the basics of survival are given to them freely and yet if they are denied food, clothing, and shelter, their lives would obviously be put in jeopardy. Their parents choose to love, protect and nurture them. I felt this protection last weekend here in our home.

 

Last Saturday, late in the afternoon we had a lightening strike near our property here in the mountains and it was so close that it took out several of our electrical conveniences. The computer modem, air conditioner in addition to it's thermostat, the "brain" to our trusty back up generator and some outlets all were affected by the blinding burst of powerful energy.

 

During the storm we had a group of scrap bookers here on retreat.

As quick as the ear piercing sound of the thunder and the lightening struck, my thoughts went to our guests safety. My eyes darted about counting bodies and asking if everyone was okay. In addition I wondered if the bolt impaled our roof. My nose was on high alert for the smell of smoke as I perused the ceiling of the house. I prepared to see my worst vision of light streaming in from a hole in the roof or worse, a fire.

 

Fortunately, all was well with everyone. Our guests loved the exciting light show and thunder along with the driving rain that cooled the temperature to perfection.

Our "things" are getting replaced and fixed one by one and because of being without for a few days, we are more appreciative of them.

I am so thankful for the gift of life.

When unexpected things happen in life, they can wake and shake us to think about what the most important things are, like life itself. I am thankful to God that we were spared any human harm with the lightening strike. I am taking that protection as a gift as I do my grandbabies. You are a gift also. Precious and loved by God.

I received another gift today from a reader of my book, Meet Me In The Mountains. Dee Marsh wrote me these words, "Your book is right up there with the best seller "The Help", ONLY more inspirational! I loved it!"

This makes my Friday, Saturday, Sunday and on and on!!!! Getting feedback from people has made me feel like the writing journey was worth it.  I have put my life on paper at the prompting of many for the past several years. They say it's a story worth repeating because the value of forgiveness, hope, faith and love.

I hope you will tell others about my book.  I know I will soon enter the marketing side of this adventure as an author and this will be yet, another exciting chapter in my life.

It's a holiday weekend. Enjoy it and Relax. Until next week,

Candy

Holding my book, Meet Me In The Mountains

 

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

Be Careful When You Hang Out The Laundry

It has been five days since I hung out the laundry. We usually wash about a dozen loads of laundry after a retreat here at Breath of Life Retreat House. As I was hanging out some towels to air dry in the hot sun this past weekend, I reached down to unclip a hook that released a shade so I would have access to the line to hang the clothes. As I reached down, I felt a pin prick feeling in my wrist and yelled out a word I won't repeat. Not knowing what it was, I slapped my wrist with my other hand and as I did I felt an extreme burn that traveled all the way up my arm almost to my shoulder. I jumped around like a girl, "oh wait I am one" and I then looked down and saw a tiny hole right where a vein in my wrist is. I realized that I got stung by a mud wasp. I saw a few more lurking around and ran into the house. My husband went out to see where I was standing when I got stung and when he did, I soon heard him yell. And I didn't hear him say a bad word. He too got stung. On his leg. After further investigation, he saw that the mud wasps were making a nest under the railing of the deck. Tons of wasps lost their lives as he battled them with the can of wasp spray.

Analogy:

Sometimes we go about life living it like normal and when we least expect it, we get stung by something that causes us extreme pain. Loss of job, sickness, divorce, death of a loved one, news of a friend or family members destructive behavior. We can choose to accept it and then decide how we are going to handle it or ignore it and allow the pain and infection travel through our bodies. My wrist shows about a 6″ area of hives and rash that this God forsaken bug caused me. I thought I pushed the stinger out when I slapped my wrist, but I am now thinking I may not have and that's why my wrist is so inflamed with a rash. I ignored the main culprit that caused me pain, the stinger. I will gently and surgically get rid of whatever I find in the hole where the wasp stung me. During this past week, I have experienced a variety of symptoms from this critter. Mild heart pain, more tired than usual and itching like crazy. All these things because of an insect that decided he or she wanted to attack me. All I was trying to do was hang out the towels. It wasn't fair, but I chose to take time, care and attention to my owie after feeling these effects. The pain only increased as the days went on, but now after taking time to address the symptoms, I am much better and so are my spirits.

When We ignore our pain, sometimes this can only hurt more. I had to choose to rest more, go get the anti itch cream and pull out the stinger to get relief. Perhaps God allowed that little bugger to cause me misery for this past week to wake me up to the fact that I need to slow down, (as usual) and take care of myself. For me this is difficult, but when my body scares me, I react. I guess the analogy for me with this story is: Accepting the unexpected pains in life, and not ignoring them. It takes action and choice to heal. And God is always with me and you in all our pain and suffering, even a silly pesky annoying mud wasp.

Now that sales have started with my brand new book, Meet Me In The Mountains, I am getting some feedback from readers . Many of my stories remind people that they too have similar characters in their own lives. For instance, my grandmother who we called Nana is written about in the beginning chapters of the book. One woman who read the book told me that her mother sounded just like Nana with her colorful vocabulary and mean streak. She laughed as she read and compared the two. Another person commented to me how the book directed them to reflect on their own past, present and future. She was going to look at her spirituality more seriously. And yet another person shared with me her experience with a very scary medical condition she recently encountered. She could relate to the fear with a blood clot that traveled to her lungs as I shared the story of my husband's encounter with the same thing.

I really appreciate your feedback and comments from the book.

 

The Gift Shop at Breath of Life Retreat House

An Unexpected After Dinner Delight

 

 

Bev and Candy

Little did I know that this past weekend I would have my first book signing here at Breath of Life Retreat House. I truly didn't expect this, but our guests insisted on it and I complied. This meant I didn't have to wash dinner dishes.

Better yet, I sat at a table on the patio and autographed my new book, Meet Me In The Mountains while visiting with the Material Girls. A fun and talented quilting group.  Some of these wonderful ladies encouraged me to write my book. Each time they would come up, I would mention the thought and they followed up with expressing their interest along with hinting how they wanted to know more about why I am where I am and how I got to be here. They are excited to know the secrets I share about myself through the book. Sales have started and today we ship our first batch of books to those who have purchased online.

This week I will try and learn more of the admin of this blog.

Barbara and Candy

Patience is a virtue from what I hear.

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain always cool and unruffled under all circumstances." Thomas Jefferson

I am working on this today as I struggle with the Pay Pal button on my WordPress blog site. Seems that I can't sell my book on a WordPress.com site, but I can on a WordPress.org blog site. This issue took me about  four hours to figure out today. I hope to have this capability of purchasing the book on the blog finished by the end of the day. If not, I will re name the book to, "Watch Me Jump Off A Mountain" instead of "Meet Me In The Mountains."

 

It's Here! It's Real! And it's………………….

pretty unbelievable to hold a 335 page book about my life in my hands.  Just one week from today, Meet Me In The Mountains will be available to ship out to you.
You will be able to order the book online through this blog as of this Wednesday August 10th, 2011. It will also be available on Amazon and other outlets soon.

My book arrived at the Post Office on August 8, 2011

Good Morning Monday!

http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1312813669&f=fiMgd16NEana0FmhGTGM0g&d=30&m=b&r=240p&volume=100&start_res=240p&i=m&options=

So was my book delivered to the Post Office yesterday?

Unfortunately, NO. I went down to the post office not once, not twice, but three separate times. Each time I opened the box, I anticipated seeing the shiny front and back cover laying there just waiting to be picked up by my eager hands.  My book was sent Priority mail by the publisher on Friday and we are only 100 miles away from the place where it shipped, but still no sign of it in the silver metal box. Just a Netflix movie and a piece of junk mail. I actually had my husband and daughter with me to photograph the monumental event, but the only photo taken was me taking out the movie and junk mail.

So….. I will wait for tomorrow, Monday to see if it is there.

Looking for Meet Me In The Mountains

Sarah, my daughter, has a thought why it might not have arrived yesterday. She said, "Mom,  Monday would be a better day to get the book." Curiously, I said why? She continued on reminding me of what the date is tomorrow and when I said it out loud, I knew she was right. It would have been Mike's 53rd birthday! Glass half full moment. I love that.

From the post office we went to pick wild blackberries alongside the road.  Blackberries are  a challenge to pull off the vines as there are so many thorns on the vines. And of course the plants are among rocks and steep ravines. 

So being a person who looks for analogies: 

I saw the hunt for the sweet dark purple treats as a great example for my book not showing up in the mail.  We struggle to get what we want sometimes, and through the process, even though we try as hard as we can to get there, situations or circumstances beyond our control, thorns can stop us or slow us down from getting what when we want. I could see all the berries I wanted to pull off the vines, but getting  them was a challenge.  It required patience and self-control. When we did get a handful and plop them in our mouths, the work was worth it. Oh so sweet!

I hope tomorrow when I open my mail box, it will be filled with blackberries.  A book would be nice too.

Blackberries in Pine