Tara Pollard's Blog, page 2
December 6, 2012
Christmas at Disneyland
My daughter and I took a four day trip to a completely decked out Christmas Disneyland. Our absolute favorite part was the Candlelight Procession where, after all the lights were dimmed, the fully robed choir paraded down Main Street with lit candles. The procession ended at the Train Station where some of them formed a tree with their bodies. A full orchestra accompanied the choir as they sang Christmas hymns and Kurt Russell, who has a wonderful narrative voice, recited the story of the birth of Christ from Scripture. It was such a beautiful Christmas experience under the cold night stars.
December 1, 2012
Book Giveaway
819 was the official total for all who entered the giveaway for Season's Christmas Quest: The Dog's Story and the winners have been drawn by Goodreads. Thank you to everyone who entered. Your signed copies will arrive shortly. ♥
November 28, 2012
Season's Christmas Quest Questionaire
I am trying to create a list of questions for a book club that will be discussing their interpretations of any underlying meanings/messages in Season's Christmas Quest: The Dog's Story. Believe it or not, it is not that easy. For example, after discussing it with the group leader, I find that one of the hardest questions caused me a lot of soul searching as I wrote the story.
In the book, Season has been told that faith can move mountains. The Bible says it's true, so the question is: How do we muster enough faith to move a mountain? What if we have pulled up all the faith we have from within and we command that mountain to move and nothing happens? Do we blame ourselves for our seeming lack of faith? Not at all. As Season finds out, sometimes our approach is all wrong, not our faith. Sometimes all we need is that one person whispering in our ear to recall the things we have forgotten, and there is where the answer lies.
In the book, Season has been told that faith can move mountains. The Bible says it's true, so the question is: How do we muster enough faith to move a mountain? What if we have pulled up all the faith we have from within and we command that mountain to move and nothing happens? Do we blame ourselves for our seeming lack of faith? Not at all. As Season finds out, sometimes our approach is all wrong, not our faith. Sometimes all we need is that one person whispering in our ear to recall the things we have forgotten, and there is where the answer lies.
November 10, 2012
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is coming...so excited. Every year I cook a big completely home-made Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, cornbread/bread stuffing, candied yams, mashed potatoes...all the fixings. I bake cookies and roll out my own pie dough for pumpkin pie and cinnamon pinwheels. Sometimes, I will bake my own bread, but most of the time I just get lazy and buy rolls to warm in the oven. I make my own gravy from the drippings, but will open a can of jellied cranberry sauce (because their's is best). We drink apple cider. Family and close friends join in the feast, but most often we are joined by strangers. My daughter sends out an open invitation to any co-workers who are alone for the holiday to come by at their leisure to eat and mingle. It is a grand time for all and very tiring for me, but well worth it.
October 20, 2012
My dog Bella
I have never been a professional dog trainer, but I have had my fair share of training dogs over the years. It is a fun and rewarding experience to say the least. Dogs can do miraculous things if given half a chance. We, as humans, have a tendency to see them as human too…only in dog form. Sometimes we give them too much credit, and at other times, not near enough. At times, we completely misunderstand them because we don’t realize that they do not see cause and effect the same way we do.
Take for example an incident that occurred with our dog Bella. One day, she decided to stare stare out of the kitchen window and watch the world go by. She was wearing a pretty pink collar with a sparkly name tag. Her name was engraved on that tag in pretty French script. The window is narrow, but covers the length of the front wall ceiling to floor, and in front of that window was a wooden cart on wheels with three shelves. The top shelf is solid wood, but the lower two are made of slats with no more than a quarter inch between each one. A wooden bread basket sits on the top shelf and some pots on the lower ones. Bella laid her puppy head on the lower shelf and watched the birds hop around in the yard while I stood at the kitchen sink washing various kitchen things.
My back was to her, so I did not see what happened next, but all of a sudden a loud crash took place behind me. I turned to see the cart overturned with pots, bread box and everything else flying across the kitchen. I also caught a glimpse of Bella streaking out of the kitchen as fast as she could go.
Apparently, her name tag twisted under one of the slats on the cart and became caught. At some point, she tried to lift her head, but was stuck by her collar connected to the name tag. She evidently pulled and pulled, and when she couldn't lift her head, she panicked and yanked hard, causing the entire cart to turn over as everything crashed to the floor. At that point, the tag's wire broke and she was free. I found her shivering and shaking next to the bed in the master bedroom, which is the room farthest away from the kitchen.
As to cause and effect: She blames the water. She doesn't fault the cart that fell on her, but she seems to think the water running in the kitchen sink caused the whole fiasco. How do I know this? Because every time I run the water in the kitchen for any length of time, she takes off running and hides next to that bed. But, she has no problem at all laying her head back down on that lower shelf to watch out that window. Needless to say, she no longer wears the pretty name tag.
Take for example an incident that occurred with our dog Bella. One day, she decided to stare stare out of the kitchen window and watch the world go by. She was wearing a pretty pink collar with a sparkly name tag. Her name was engraved on that tag in pretty French script. The window is narrow, but covers the length of the front wall ceiling to floor, and in front of that window was a wooden cart on wheels with three shelves. The top shelf is solid wood, but the lower two are made of slats with no more than a quarter inch between each one. A wooden bread basket sits on the top shelf and some pots on the lower ones. Bella laid her puppy head on the lower shelf and watched the birds hop around in the yard while I stood at the kitchen sink washing various kitchen things.
My back was to her, so I did not see what happened next, but all of a sudden a loud crash took place behind me. I turned to see the cart overturned with pots, bread box and everything else flying across the kitchen. I also caught a glimpse of Bella streaking out of the kitchen as fast as she could go.
Apparently, her name tag twisted under one of the slats on the cart and became caught. At some point, she tried to lift her head, but was stuck by her collar connected to the name tag. She evidently pulled and pulled, and when she couldn't lift her head, she panicked and yanked hard, causing the entire cart to turn over as everything crashed to the floor. At that point, the tag's wire broke and she was free. I found her shivering and shaking next to the bed in the master bedroom, which is the room farthest away from the kitchen.
As to cause and effect: She blames the water. She doesn't fault the cart that fell on her, but she seems to think the water running in the kitchen sink caused the whole fiasco. How do I know this? Because every time I run the water in the kitchen for any length of time, she takes off running and hides next to that bed. But, she has no problem at all laying her head back down on that lower shelf to watch out that window. Needless to say, she no longer wears the pretty name tag.
