Larada Horner-Miller's Blog, page 27
July 18, 2021
Can You Live Without Your Cell Phone?
Since June 24, 2021, I have been pondering this question because I have had to live without mine off and on. I felt totally isolated and helpless. So, what happened to my precious cell phone?
Lin and I were happy Verizon customers for several years when we first got married, but every time we went to Branson, Colorado, no reception. In fact, Lin used to call Branson “The Black Hole” for cell phone reception. If he went to the front bedroom at Mom’s house on the right side of the bed and held the phone up at a certain angle, he could get minimal reception. Or if he went to the dump down over the hill or drove a couple miles to the New Mexico state line.
To solve that dilemma, we changed to AT&T and spent five or six years with reliable reception in Branson or anywhere we went. In fact, we enjoyed their promotional for traveling abroad — $10 a day with unlimited data and phone service.
But Verizon kept sending us advertisement to come back, and they lured us back. So, a couple weeks before that fateful day, I checked the map online on their website. It appeared that they had improved their reception in southeastern Colorado.
On June 24, after my doctor’s appointment with the current advertisement in hand, we dropped in to a Verizon store.
My first question to the sales agent was, “Is there coverage in southeastern Colorado?”
He pulled up the map and southeastern Colorado was red, depicting it had coverage. He solemnly affirmed we had coverage there, so we took the gigantic leap and changed cell phone carriers.
Map Showing Coverage in Branson, ColoradoHindsight is always 20-20. I should have called a local friend and asked if the coverage had changed, but I didn’t. Caught up in the moment with all the promotionals, I upgraded my iPhone11 to a 12. I also bought a new iPad—that was one of the major reasons we went there was to do that! I had dropped my old iPad on a tile floor in Costa Rica last year and had a definitive crack on the corner.
Lin upgraded his iPhone7 to an XR10 because they offered a great deal. He didn’t see a need to go to a newer phone. Excited, we left with our new equipment.
As we were leaving, the sales agent specifically said if it doesn’t work, you have a two-week window to cancel your service. What he neglected to say was that all “the deals” we got on the new equipment disappeared!
Immediately Verizon started emailing me to send my iPhone11 to them for the upgrade offer, so I did.
The following week I went to Branson, Colorado (within the two weeks), and to my dismay, the reception was worse than it had been five or six years before. So, I spent a week in Branson with no cell phone service. Panic gripped me. What if someone needed to contact me? I had a landline at my house, but oh, my!
After this disconnected week, I returned home on July 6 and called Verizon to start the switch back to AT&T. The Verizon customer service person said I should receive my iPhone11 back from them on Friday. He also said we had to send the new phones back to them by the end of Friday. Very stressful trying to orchestrate this timeline.
Afterwards, we had a delightful call with AT&T on returning to them, and they gave a great discount for coming back.
So, on July 8, Lin and I went to an AT&T store in Albuquerque. The sales agent put SIM cards in our two new phones and my new iPad. My iPad worked but our two phones didn’t because Verizon had locked them.
Then we returned to the scene of the crime, the Verizon store where we had been deceived. The manager said we had 30 days (not the stringent timeline the customer service person told us on July 6) to return the phone because the map on the internet showed marginal coverage. She also told my husband they would lock his XR10 for sixty days, so he plans to send it back.
Believing what we were told, on Friday, July 9, we looked repeatedly all day for my iPhone11, and it never came.
In the meantime, Lin bought an XR10 from Apple who gave him a better exchange for his old phone, so I used his old cell phone with an AT&T SIM card; otherwise, I would have been without a phone this whole time.
Because my iPhone11 didn’t show up when they said it would, on Tuesday, July 13, I called Verizon and waited 30 minutes. I worked with a customer service person who tried to help. The previous person I talked to on July 6 did not create an order number or location code attached to the file. So, this person created both and shared them with me. Also, she created a rush on the order with one day shipping because of the urgency. She said it should arrive on Thursday by FedEx.
Again, being optimistic, my husband and I looked repeatedly all day on Thursday, July 15 for my iPhone11, and it never came.
So, on Friday, July 16, I called Verizon and talked to a third customer service person and was on the phone for 3 hours and 43 minutes waiting to talk to a manager because they all were in a meeting. (What if a major world event had happened?) She looked up the order number and location code given to me from the previous customer service agent and found nothing.
While we were waiting, she said she talked to others who do her job, and they told her Verizon never sends a phone back to a customer but sends it to the vendor. She said she could put in a ticket for “an early unlock” on the iPhone12 I upgraded to because of the marginal coverage if I decided to keep it. At 4:13 pm MST, she said a manager would call me back today to resolve the issue. The manager never called me back.
I have filed a complaint with the BBB and FCC, so hopefully we’ll get some action done.
This has turned into a nightmare, all because this cell phone carrier knows how important a cell phone has become to us, the consumer. Tomorrow I plan to call one more time to talk to a manager, then I will have to send back the iPhone12 or get charged for it, but the insane part is if I keep it, they will lock it for sixty days, so I can’t keep it!
Finally, I will buy a phone from Apple, and we will send Lin’s old iPhone7 to Apple for his upgrade, and we will have learned an expensive lesson! Don’t believe a sales agent or a coverage map!
When I first got a cell phone years ago, I thought a cell phone was a luxury; today it has become a necessity! Whew!
Have you ever had an experience with a cell phone carrier? If so, how did you handle it?
Recent Blog Posts You Might Have Missed:
How I Prepared For My Next BookHow Many Fathers Does it Take?A Country’s Girl American DreamHow Did “The Auctioneer” Affect Flippo’s Career?
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released in August. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post Can You Live Without Your Cell Phone? appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
July 11, 2021
How Did “The Auctioneer” Affect Flippo’s Career?
The recording of “The Auctioneer” became a decisive moment in Marshall Flippo’s square dance calling career. How it unfolded supports his often-repeated motto: “I was at the right place, at the right time.”
LEROY VAN DYKE RELEASED “THE AUCTIONEER”First, Leroy Van Dyke released “The Auctioneer” in 1956.
Van Dyke was inspired to write the song from his own experiences as an auctioneer and those of his second cousin, Ray Sims.
He wrote it while stationed in Korea during the Korean War, and first performed it to troops on the same bill as Marilyn Monroe. After finishing his service, Van Dyke entered the song in a Chicago talent contest. It gained him a record contract with Dot Records. “The Auctioneer” subsequently topped the pop music chart, selling 2.5 million copies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Auctioneer#:~:text=Van%20Dyke%20was%20inspired%20to,his%20second%20cousin%2C%20Ray%20Sims.&text=%22The%20Auctioneer%22%20subsequently%20topped%20the,chart%2C%20selling%202.5%20million%20copies.
Then because of its popularity, Flippo must have heard this hit repeatedly on his favorite country and western radio station, wondering to himself if it would make a good singing call. All the words in the song made this unlikely—lots of words because of the auctioneer’s chant, but its popularity outweighed that difficulty to Flip. Can’t you see him memorizing all the words then experimenting with the choreography.
HOW FLIPPO CHOREOGRAPHED “THE AUCTIONEER”FLIPPO RELEASED THE SINGING CALL, “THE AUCTIONEER”When asked how Flippo choreographed “The Auctioneer,” he chuckled. One person, all eight parts! He did it in the living room at 1918 Marshall in Abilene.
That shocked me, so I asked him, “So you danced all the parts?”
Flippo walked through the whole thing. “It’s a terrible figer [figure], the first one [in] the first Auctioneer. Of course, we didn’t have a lot of Basics they got now, so I had six Basics. It’s not too good of a figer [figure]. Nowadays, you have to walk people through it two or three times before they get it, but back then, people, I don’t know .”
His laughter continued as I commented about the feat of him walking through it, one person doing all eight parts.
People tended to memorize singing calls because there weren’t that many basic calls. Now, if Flippo went into their town and called “The Auctioneer,” and changed the figures, “they flat-ass knew it. They knew it. They memorized that— they did better than you did!”
I asked Flip if it was unusual to take a pop song like Leroy Van Dyke’s “The Auctioneer,” and it became popular then in the square dance world. Was that going on or did he kind of pioneer that?
“No, I don’t know what happened thar. I know I went to Houston after he had recorded it, about six months. I don’t know how come it to hit. Callers bought it big.”
Norman [Merrbach from Blue Star Records] didn’t think it would go. Flippo was surprised, and Norman was surprised, too, that it took off like it did, but the reason for that big sale back then was the dancers were buying records, too, and callers. So, callers were buying, and dancers were buying them. “I’s putting ’em in the garage! Breaking ’em!”
Flippo chuckled. “No, I wouldn’t [break ’em].”
Later, “The Auctioneer” was re-released, and Flippo put different figures (calls) to it, and it never did sell like the first one.
Larada Horner-Miller, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo (2020): 95-96
So, Flippo started calling in 1952 and released his first singing call, “The Auctioneer” in 1958, just two years after Van Dyke’s release, so the song’s mystique still held over. Several serendipitous events made this monumental event happen.
The turning point in his career happened in the Hayloft in Abilene. It was 1957, and Flippo was calling “The Auctioneer.”
One night Flippo was at the Hayloft in Abilene, and he was calling “The Auctioneer” before it was recorded. Two callers from Baytown near Houston had been to Colorado at some square dance and were going through town. They decided to come to Flippo’s dance. One of them had a French name that Flippo couldn’t remember, and the other one was Andy Lyons.
They came up after Flippo called “The Auctioneer” and congratulated him. “That’s pretty damn good.” They encouraged Flip to call Norman Merrbach in Houston, who was the producer of Blue Star records.
They repeated, “Call him.”
Flippo responded, “I’ve never thought anythang about recording it.”
“That’s pretty good. You ought to do it.”
After that, Flip forgot about it. Then he got a phone call from Norman. Norman asked Flippo to send him the words to that song.
So, Flip sent him the words. “Thar’s a lot of words.”
Norman called Flippo up, “I believe I’m going to pass on that ’cause callers want one with not too many words, and they don’t have to learn all the words.”
So, Flippo understood that, and he continued calling for a couple months. Then Norman called him up again and asked him to come to Houston “and do that thang.’”
Flippo answered, “Well, I’ve got to work Monday. I’ve got a dance Saturday night in Abilene, here. How far is it?”
“It’s three hundred and sixty-five miles.”
He stalled a little, “I don’t know.”
Norman persisted, “Well, I’ll tell you how you can do it. After that dance, start driving down here.”
“What you mean—at night?”
“Yeah, drive down here and get here early morning and we’ll do the thang. You can drive back and be ready to go to work Monday.”
Flip’s humor prevailed, “Wait a minute. You must be talking about my brother, and I don’t have a brother.”
Norman encouraged Flip to think about it.
So, Flippo asked Neeca, “You thank we could cut this? Go down?”
“Oooh,” she exclaimed, “I bet Momma and Daddy would go with us, and they can both drive. I can drive. We’ll take turns about sleeping.”
There were three sitting up in the front seat, one in the back seat trying to sleep. They drove down to Houston and got there about nine in the morning, just in time for Flippo’s appointment. “We had breakfast at a Sambo’s, which they don’t have anymore. I remember Fred trying to pay for it. Fred was Neeca’s dad.”
Flippo told his father-in-law, “No, you drove down here. Let me get it.”
Fred answered, “You don’t have any money. I have your billfold right here. You left it up on the table last night at the dance. Bless your heart!”
They went to Norman’s place, Norman and Nadine Merrbach, the owners and producers of Blue Star Records. “He was really a good guy and a good engineer.”
They did the recording in the studio, and “the studio acoustical stuff was egg crates.”
“I can see the studio from my mind right now. We went in and when they played it, I called it at the same time. Well, I remember one time we had trouble. I’d make a mistake and we’d have to start over, and then somebody else would make a mistake. It wasn’t one of those days that everythang went well.”
But now “The Auctioneer” went really well. Flippo hit it the first time, and of course he had been calling it with a band for a long time, so he was lucky to get out of there, and they headed back to Abilene. They got back in time to get a little sleep and go to work the next day.
“Anyway, ‘The Auctioneer’ hit pretty good. Well, I’d say, you know, all of my career I just lucked out, being in the right place at the right time. I don’t know what it was, and ‘The Auctioneer’ hit really good.”
Flippo was pleased with the way it sounded, but he didn’t realize it was anything big. He would think about it from time to time. Then the square dance magazine started praising it. “The only thang I can thank of is a lot of dancers bought records at that time, and learned the singing call that was on the record.”
The records were only sixty-five or seventy cents apiece, and they were 78 records. You could take a pile of them into a dance and they’d just be gone in a minute. People were just hungry for some kind of records to play at home or listen to. And some callers started from listening to tape recorders and to records. “They picked up ideas, started calling, and some of them turned into really good.”
Flippo remembered calling with a band in Houston one time. He turned around and asked them if they knew “The Auctioneer.”
Their response, “Oh, yeah, yeah. We done that. We can play it for you if you want to call it. Ohhhh, that’s Norman’s big one!”
They repeated, “Oh, that’s Norman’s big one, big one.” Flip repeated their response and chuckled.
“Well, I thank I’ll call it next the tip.”
So they did a good job on it, and they said this is “going to make ole Norman.”
Larada Horner-Miller, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo (2020): 93-95
Norman Merrbach congratulated Flippo for his first Gold Record Award for “The Auctioneer”What an amazing story! Little did that band know that this song launched Flippo’s career, skyrocketing him to become a legend in the square dance world. In 1967, Flippo received a Gold Record award for “The Auctioneer” selling 500,000 records, an outrageous number for the day.
Thinking back over Flippo’s story, have you ever had a series of events unfold in your life to create something unthinkable? Let me know. (Scroll down below to make a comment)
Recent Blog Posts You Might Have Missed:
Flippo & the Obstacles He FacedHow I Prepared For My Next BookHow Many Fathers Does it Take?A Country’s Girl American Dream
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released in August. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post How Did “The Auctioneer” Affect Flippo’s Career? appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
July 4, 2021
A Country Girl’s American Dream
“The American dream is not that every man must be level with every other man. The American dream is that every man must be free to become whatever God intends he should become.”
Ronald Reagan
AMERICA’S ORIGINSHappy Independence Day! America offered me the dream. Looking back over my life, I have realized some of my dreams, but not all. I became a published author, so I am one of the fortunate ones. Not everyone sees their dreams come true. But I always wanted children, and that never happened.
First, we need to see where this festival day originated and see how I saw my dream come to fruition.
“On July 2nd, 1776, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later delegates from the 13 colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 to the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence, with festivities ranging from fireworks, parades and concerts to more casual family gatherings and barbecues.”
https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4th
MY DREAM
Me celebrating a few years agoI am a country girl who graduated in a class of four from a small rural school. My parents never asked about me going to college—I was going. Neither of them had college degrees and wanted a better life for me. Also, they demanded I go to Trinidad State Junior College for the first two years, so I became a beautician.
I thoroughly enjoyed that career for fourteen years. At first, it uprooted me from the country life and I moved to Denver, Colorado to face life in a large metro area. After divorcing, I became a middle school English and Spanish teacher, the first person in my family to receive a four-year college degree. Then I persisted and earned a master’s degree. I enjoyed that profession for twenty-seven years—my students, team-teaching and my creative projects, yet my writing called.
I enjoyed my two careers, but my dream came true in retirement when I published my first book. Publishing that first book took thirty years. While teaching, I wrote it and put it away. My busy teaching life left little room for writing. Also, I traveled and danced a lot, so my book took a back seat.
After retirement, I dusted it off and published it and felt like I had finally found myself. Five more books and three cookbooks followed, and each one satisfied a deep need I had to share my voice with the world.
UNREALIZED DREAMMy parents and culture raised me to marry and have 2.7 children, but having children never happened. My students fulfilled that need for many years, and I’ve come to terms with it. I accepted it and moved on.
YOUR DREAMSNever let your dreams die. I was sixty years old before I published my first book. What are your dreams?
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released this summer. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post A Country Girl’s American Dream appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
June 27, 2021
Let’s Celebrate My Birthday Today!
My baby picture taken August 1953Today is my birthday—I turned 68. Hard to believe! Will you help me celebrate?
Here’s a poem I wrote about the day I was born:
“She Was Born Dancing!” On June 26, 1953, my folks left their thirteen-month-old son with Millie, the family babysitter, to go to a square dance in Trinidad, fifty miles away. Mom danced one tip that night— She was nine months pregnant with me. They left the dance early feeling something was about to happen. Early the next morning Mom had labor pains that made her stagger across the floor. It was time! The fifty-mile trip back to Trinidad and the hospital was made in record time. At 10:30 a.m. I was born. Dad went downtown and ran into a fellow dancer from the previous night. Dad announced his good news— a new baby girl! Remembering Mom at the dance the night before, the only comment the stunned friend had to make was, “She was born dancing!”Whenever my mom was alive, she made my birthday a special occasion. When I was a child, it was a party with all my friends and family and a birthday cake she decorated. Just inviting my cousins and family made a sizeable get-together.
I’m the smirky one to the left with long curls!As an adult, she continued to celebrate me on my day, making every year memorable. In 1983, when I turned thirty years old, Aunt Willie decorated a cake with one foot on a banana peel. My nephew carried in a watermelon for a gift (my favorite summer food). Then they gave me a gift of survival tools for being over the hill: my grandmother’s dentures, underwear and other key helping aides.
My Watermelon Birthday Present
Me in my Grandmother’s underwearIn 2012, Lin and I were at the National Square Dance Convention for my birthday, so Mom left me a voicemail wishing me a happy birthday. I kept that voicemail and recorded it on my iPad. After she died in 2013, I’ve started each of my birthdays off with playing it just to hear her voice and her greeting.
In 2017, my brother and his two daughters were in Branson, Colorado, for my birthday. They have their grandmother’s birthday spirit, so they provided the props, and we took these photos to celebrate.
Me with all the props
Me and Lin
Me with my brotherToday I celebrate being 68 years old. My husband, Lin, made it a special day. He wrapped his gift a couple days ago and set it on the coffee table in the living room, enticing me to wonder about it.
Bouquet Lin bought me for my birthdayThis morning a beautiful bouquet of roses and lilies greeted me when I came downstairs. Then he sang “Happy birthday” to me and encouraged me to open my gift immediately. He bought me a CD player to listen to during my Quiet Time. Mine died a couple months ago, and I was going to replace it, but. . .
For breakfast, he fixed blueberry pancakes, and we played a couple games of Cribbage and I won—a gift he hadn’t planned.
Me with my birthday cake todayThen after lunch, he put a “Birthday Girl” headdress on me and came in with lit candles on a carrot cake. He explained the lettering on the cake. He had bought a cake decorating tube and wrote my name in the middle but ran out of room, so the last A was underneath it. Then he successfully wrote “Happy” at the bottom, but he told me the tube malfunctioned so he couldn’t do “Birthday.” What a sweetheart!
Other family members helped me celebrate. This morning I received a text from my sister wishing me a happy birthday. This afternoon, I received a phone call from my niece and two of her children, my nephew and his two daughters, and my brother wishing me a happy birthday.
Yes, today we celebrated in true Horner fashion. Lin, who celebrates so much like Mom, channeled her celebratory nature the whole day.
Don’t stop celebrating birthdays, no matter how old you are—that special day when you were born! Do something outrageously fun and make it a day to remember! Lin and Mom always have!
What do you do to celebrate birthdays in your family or with your friends? (Scroll down below to make a comment.)
Previous Blog Posts You Might Have Missed
Graduation Address To My Two GirlsFlippo & the Obstacles He FacedHow I Prepared For My Next BookHow Many Fathers Does it Take?~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released mid-July. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post Let’s Celebrate My Birthday Today! appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
June 20, 2021
How Many Fathers Does It Take?
Uncle Tanky is third from the left, top row.Happy Father’s Day, a day to celebrate father figures in my life and all they have done for me. The famous African proverb “It takes a village to raise a child” rings true. Being raised in a small country community, I had several influential men in my life besides my dad. As I pondered this idea, I realized the men were quieter influences than the women I identified in my Mother’s Day blog post. They still affirmed who I was and showed by example how to live life.
Millard WarnerMillard was Dad’s best friend from high school. We lived next door to each other until Millard’s death, and he influenced my life with his quiet demeanor and steady presence. We did lots of activities as families and he truly was a second father to me. After his divorce, he ate meals with us regularly. I remember his quiet sense of humor and constant interest in my life, even as a youngster.
Reu WaldroupReu was another friend of Dad’s and a continual influence on me. Another quiet man, I had to listen closely to his soft voice because I never wanted to miss his wonderful tales about his ranching experiences or shenanigans he and Dad got into in school. I saw deep love and acceptance in his eyes for me.
Mr. TeagueMr. Teague taught my eighth grade English class with enthusiasm and a desire to challenge us. His assignments captivated my interest: I wrote a Matt Helm story following that series that was so popular in the late 60s. He had us group-write a play at his kitchen table with his help. I remember our outrageous junior high humor he didn’t curb at all. We performed the play at the monthly PTA meeting and felt successful as playwrights. I’m sure his adventuresome assignments ignited the writer within me, so I’m indebted to him for sure.
He also had a very playful nature. During one of our winter snowstorms, he attached a car hood to the back of his Jeep and used it as a massive sled, pulling us around our little town. We had a ball that day, slipping and sliding over town. After getting more daring, he went out of town towards Trinchera with Billy Mitchell alone on the sled. When we came down the hill by Warner’s stock tank, the sled slid back and forth across the road, and Billy almost crashed into the rock guard covering the culvert. What a memorable day we had with a teacher who loved his students.
My Three UnclesThroughout my life, I had uncles who touched me deeply. Uncle Gay, who lived in Washington state, always had time for me when they visited each summer, even though he had many other nieces and nephews to attend to. He always had time for me.
Uncle Tanky lived near me my whole life, and I had many interactions with him until he died. When I was in high school, he saw an essay I wrote and questioned me about my choice of studies at Trinidad State Junior College. He lovingly called me “Rada” which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Uncle Hughie entertained me my whole life with his fun-loving sense-of-humor. He lost a leg in a mining accident when he was eighteen and lived with a prosthesis, enjoying a normal life, dancing and doing activities like he had two good legs. Because my dad wasn’t a fisher, he taught me how to fish, and I spent many an hour with him beside a lake, waiting for a fish to bite and enjoying his tales.
My GrandfathersGranddad Horner lived across town and was a daily father figure for me. Although he was withdrawn and quiet, he lavished me with affection because I resembled his beloved mother, Mattie Jessie. I worked with him on the family ranch and witnessed his dedication to the land, his cattle, and his family. He loved to get his family together, celebrating each one of his grandchildren.
Granddad Dickerson didn’t live close to us, but Mom made sure we saw them often. Granddad Dickerson was exactly opposite of my other granddad. He loved to wrestle on the floor and tickle us to death. He loved his grandchildren dearly, and I saw that lived out.
Don MingDon, another friend of Dad’s, helped me so much after Mom died. Whenever I needed his advice or help on what to do on our ranch; he stepped up. His affirming nature made me believe my brother and I could manage our family ranch and do a good job.
My Father
Dad & Me Dancing at his 75 birthday party, Branson, CO 1993Finally, my dear dad, a real live cowboy! Dad loved his family, his wife, and his ranch. He was always available for a hug and a kiss. He called me “Shorty,” and I loved that. I relished the hours we spent together on the ranch, either working cattle, preparing our 4-H horses for the county fair, or just riding around enjoying the land.
Because I lived fairly close to my folks for my adult life, I had the pleasure of multiple trips around Colorado, California and the Southwest with Dad and Mom, and he was always up for an adventure.
I inherited his love for dancing, and anytime I’m on the dance floor, I can feel him near, encouraging me to pursue the hobby we both love.
Any time we were together, Dad entertained us with multiple stories about growing up, school life, cowboy life, and just life. I always drew near, hanging on each word, even though I had heard the tale many times before. He told his story with such exuberance; I felt I was there—a true storyteller!
He was always there for me, supporting me emotionally through my divorces, multiple moves, and any crises that came up.
Finally,I know the importance of father figures in a child’s life, especially little girls, for our dads are the first men we fall in love with. I realized I was fortunate to have a dad who also loved me deeply. On this special day, I celebrate my dad and all the father figures who touched me deeply, helping to create the woman I became.
So, how many fathers does it take to raise a child? As you can see, many father figures played an important part in my complete life. Did you have other father figures in your life? If so, who were they and what did they do? (Scroll down a little farther below to make comments!)
Previous Blog Posts You Might Have Missed
Haiku—A Trip Down Memory LaneGraduation Address To My Two GirlsFlippo & the Obstacles He FacedHow I Prepared For My Next Book
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released mid-July. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post How Many Fathers Does It Take? appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
June 13, 2021
How I Prepared for My Next Book
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I had my next book in the back of my mind—a how to book on writing a biography after tackling the gigantic job of Marshall Flippo’s biography. Lin had suggested I keep a journal while interviewing Flippo and writing his book, so I did. I already have over 5,000 words towards that book. In writing that biography about a well-known figure, I learned so much in the writing and a lot after-the-fact. I even had a title picked out, “I Said Yes!”
But life interrupted my plan! 2020’s coronavirus disaster sidetracked me because first, I wrote poetry to process my feelings about what we experienced. Then I shared them in my weekly blog posts for over thirty posts.
After sharing my process in my blog posts, readers emailed me amid the craziness, thanking me for voicing the concerns and feelings in a way they couldn’t. Thus, my new book came to life, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better?, inspired by those blog posts.
At first, I planned to just duplicate the posts with minimal revision and get a book out as soon as possible, while the angst echoed through people’s minds. Someone in my writing group asked after reading the first two chapters, “Are you going to combine these two and revise them before publication?”
A resounding “No” came out of my heart and soul. That would take too long and I thought getting this book out the sooner the better would be a saving grace for its timeliness on the market.
PROFESSIONAL EDITORThen I added my professional editor to the mix. I did some revisions before sending the manuscript to her, realizing holes existed between the posts. After waiting a couple weeks past the date we had planned, she let me know she was doing more than copy editing. She was doing developmental editing, too, which took much more time.
COPY EDITING
Copy editing “is the act of fine-tuning a book’s text, otherwise known as the ‘copy.’ A copy edit will generally address grammatical or punctuation errors, incorrect facts, anomalies, inconsistencies and glaring typos. Overall, the purpose of copy editing is to ensure that the language supports the writer’s intent — while also creating the most readable version of their book.” https://reedsy.com/editing/copy-editing
DEVELOPMENTAL EDITING
As opposed to copy editing, developmental editing “is a thorough and in-depth review of your entire manuscript. It examines all the elements of your writing, from individual words and sentences to overall structure and style. In fiction, this edit will also address any issues related to plot and characterization.”https://reedsy.com/editing/developmental-editing
I so appreciated her willingness to make my book the best it could be, and she had many suggestions to tighten it up and make a renewed version instead of a duplication of my blog posts. My blog posts inspired this book, but because of her suggestions, I have expanded it. So, I’ve spent the last couple weeks first going over and making the first easy initial changes. Then I went back over it in depth to make the voluminous revisions suggested. I will send it off to her in the next couple days for a final read-through to see if I caught all of her alterations, which I normally do.
I deviated on one of her suggestions, though: I had questions at the end of each chapter for personal reflections. My vision of the book is the reader reading the chapter, then reflect and respond. She suggested listing the questions at the end of the book, but that didn’t fit with one of my objectives: I want the reader to reflect and respond. I felt if the questions were at the back, the reader might skip them.
MARKETING AGENTI hired a marketing agent with the Flippo book, finding her a valuable resource. So, I reconnected with her for this book. Again, I appreciated her many directions. Here are a couple of important ones:
Hire someone to write the book descriptions for the back of the book, an elevator speech (a short 30 second description) and then a lengthy oneContact people to be Advanced Readers to read the book before release and then write a blurb to use for promotionsI had fun with this one. Because I classified this book as a spiritual self-help book first and then a memoir, I asked three people in the counseling field I know: a Christian life coach, a trauma-informed psychotherapist, a Catholic priest in recovery who has been my mentor for over thirty years and the Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande. Three of the four have read it and responded with a publishable blurb.COVERI have always done the covers for my other books and cookbooks which I thoroughly enjoy. My desktop design passions have always driven me to do my own. I had one cover for A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memory done by someone else, then I had to correct too much of it, so it ended up being my design anyway.
Recently I have been reading a book, How to Market a Book: Overperform in a Crowded Market, by Reedy’s Richardo Fayet, and in the first quarter of the book, if he said it once, he said it five times, “Hire a professional to create your cover.” So, I’m taking his advice and plan to hire a company, 100covers.com, to do this one.
COVER PICTURE
Three of My Book CoversLin photographed the picture for my first book, This Tumbleweed Landed, and we had a memorable evening taking pictures along the road going out to our ranch. We didn’t plan it, but he got a gorgeous picture of Mesa de Mayo in the background in one picture, so we used that one.
I took the picture for my second book, When Will Papa Get Home?. I used a picture of Dad on his favorite horse, Rusty, for Let Me Tell You a Story. A friend took my picture with Saddlerock, a notable landmark near Branson, Colorado for my next book, A Time to Grow Up: A Daughter’s Grief Memory.
Two More of My Book CoversFor my last book, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, I knew I’d use one of Flippo’s vintage photographs and love the one we ended up with. I had help from a couple of square dance friends on how to lay out the back cover.
After a hearty conversation in the hot tub one night, Lin and I came up with the idea for the picture for my new book—a reflection of me in a mirror in his garden. We decided his garden a suitable location because I identified in the end of the book the surge of gardening during the pandemic throughout the world.
So, for two evenings, we moved the mirror (a Mexican mirror about five feet tall on a stand) around the garden, trying different places, but after the second night we realized our peril: it wasn’t working!
Then, I had a thought: how about me in Lin’s garden looking reflective? Lin loved that idea. The night we planned to do it, Lin watched an old rerun of The Doris Day Show with Denver Pyle as her dad. He instructed me to watch the intro, and he stopped it at a still profile picture of Denver with a reflective expression on his face.
Lin directed me, “Channel Denver Pyle in the garden,” so that’s what I did. I’ll be interested to get your opinion when you see the cover.
In conclusion, so much goes into publishing a book, and I love every facet. I also do the interior design of my book using a program named Vellum. I’m excited about my next book!
Did you have any idea about the process involved? If you have questions, don’t hesitate! (Scroll down below the information for the Comment section.)
Previous Blog Posts You Might Have Missed
Vaccinated: Short, Sweet and to the Point!Haiku—A Trip Down Memory LaneGraduation Address To My Two GirlsFlippo & the Obstacles He Faced
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released mid-June. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM ~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces
The post How I Prepared for My Next Book appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
June 6, 2021
Flippo & Obstacles He Faced
Flippo as a Young CallerTo think the Flippo we knew faced many obstacles as a young caller! Square dancers all over the world know the refined quality of the program Marshall Flippo presented at any dance he called—smooth rhythm, wonderful choreography and a beautiful voice. It wasn’t always that way.
“Marshall Flippo’s calling career could easily have not happened. In fact, Flippo missed his first night of square dance lessons. Initially, he couldn’t connect with the music and find the beat. Being a shy man by nature, his temperament could have stopped him from becoming the well-known caller who’s so well- loved. Just one of these could have been fatal, but Flippo faced all three and over-came the challenge placed before him.”
Larada Horner-Miller, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, (2020): 81.
Flippo and Neeca and their good friends, Hub and Hazel Evans, arrived at their first square dance lesson late, so the guys refused to go in. The women made sure they were on time the next week. Thank God for Neeca and Hazel’s unflagging commitment. Once there, Flippo fell in love with what the whole activity offered: physical contact, friendly people and movement to music.
After their lessons, Betty Casey, their class caller and Flippo’s mentor, encouraged them to go out to a local dance at the YMCA. She assured these fledgling dancers J. C. Wilson, the caller, would be good to them. This time they took a complete square with them, squared up and the first call J. C. called they’d never heard. So, they tried to sit down, but J. C. noticed their evacuation from the floor, so he stopped the dance and separated the dancers.
“Flippo added with a laugh, ‘And God, strangers coming up thar and getting us. I never did see my wife again until the end of the dance, so they split us all up, and we had one hell of a good time, you know.’”
Larada Horner-Miller, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, (2020): 82.
J.C. WilsonWhat they experienced as beginner dancers at the hands of J. C. Wilson and those experienced dances exemplify true square dance hospitality. What happened kept these couples and a great caller wanting to dance.
Flippo and Neeca’s love of square dancing continued to grow, so his becoming a caller seems like a natural progression.
When I asked Flippo why he started calling, he answered,
“I thought, ‘Maybe I can do this in time.’ I loved to sing. I was out of lessons about a year before I ever started. Thar was two square dance clubs, and they were both full. They both had waiting lists for people to get in. The list wasn’t that long, probably ten to twelve couples. So, we put our names in for that one downtown. They could only dance twenty-five squares.”
Larada Horner-Miller, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, (2020): 83.
So, Ed Hall had a chicken coop in Wylie, near Abilene, that he offered to clean up for a small square dance hall. It would dance three squares. Twelve couples signed up, and they danced to records for a while and then had a live two-piece band, but they needed a caller.
“One night someone had a suggestion. Thar’s twelve of us here. Why don’t we all learn to call? And we won’t have to have a record or a band, so we’ll just be our own caller.’
So that’s the way it started. Flippo remembered the first one he called. Singing calls didn’t appeal to him too much at that time, so he learned patter. First one he learned was ‘Dip and Dive.’ So, they all learned some kind of calls. “Some guys were good. I wasn’t one of the good ones.”
Larada Horner-Miller, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, (2020): 83.
After deciding to call, Flippo faced one of his obstacles as a caller: he couldn’t keep the beat. Would this be the obstacle that would block our world-renowned Flippo?
“At one point, Neeca told him, ‘You can’t stay on beat. What’s wrong with you? Can you pat your foot to the music?’
‘Yeah,’ Flippo explained. He had a ‘Turkey in the Straw’ record, and he would go in the front bedroom of their house because they had no furniture in there and he had a little record player.”
Larada Horner-Miller, Just Another Square Dance Caller: Authorized Biography of Marshall Flippo, (2020): 83-84.
Neeca would listen to him practice and stand it as long as she could, then she’d question him about his ability to stay on the beat. She finally suggested to say something every time he pat his foot with the beat, and that seemed to help.
Recently I heard a long-time caller friend of Flip’s say that Flippo said more words in his calling than any other caller because of his problem with keeping the beat.
Flippo persistently worked hard at mastering his craft. He would not let this get him down. Feeling a little confident, he ventured out after a time. First, he made his calling debut in Abilene at the CrossTrail square dance club, one club that they had been on the waiting list. He made a mistake on his first try and had to restart—he saw Neeca duck into the bathroom.
Melton LuttrellFor his next calling adventure, Flippo and a group traveled out-of-town to Cisco, Texas, to dance to the legendary Melton Luttrell. Two couples that came with Flippo told Melton that he had started calling. The hospitable move then was to invite the visiting caller to the stage to call. So Melton invited Flip up to call (this was when he was having trouble staying on the beat). Scared to death, he didn’t share with me how he thought the evening went.
Before they left the dance hall to go home, Flippo had seen the two couples talking to Melton after he called, so Flip asked them what he said.
They said, “Melton told us to tell you, ‘Don’t quit your day job!’”
Instead of discouraging Flippo, he went home and continued his practice, working hard on keeping the beat. The next time they returned to Cisco, Melton again invited him to call a tip, but this time, Melton noticed a marked improvement and told Flippo.
The Wagon Wheel Dance HallFrom those early days, Flippo called locally in Abilene, first at the Hayloft and then helped build the dance hall, The Wagon Wheel. He faced adversities that might have made someone else quit, but that was not Flippo’s nature. Because he never faltered but persisted, his calling career exploded so the obstacles never stopped him, and we’re the luckier for it.
Did you know this about Flippo? I would appreciate any comments! Scroll down below the information for the Comment section.
Previous Blog Posts You Might Have Missed
How Many Mothers Does it Take?Vaccinated: Short, Sweet and to the Point!Haiku—A Trip Down Memory LaneGraduation Address To My Two Girls
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released mid-June. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post Flippo & Obstacles He Faced appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
May 30, 2021
A Graduation Address to My Two Girls!
Across the country, it is high school graduation time which takes me back to my graduation fifty years ago. There were four in my graduating class, and I felt grown-up, scared, and not prepared to face the world before me. Fast forward fifty years, and I have two graduating seniors I love, but I am sad to say I wasn’t able to attend one great niece’s graduation on May 20 in Floydada, Texas, and I will miss the other one’s in Yuba City, California on June 4. I love these family get-togethers filled with storytelling, laughter and love. I have had the pleasure of participating in my two great nieces, Kaylea and AnnDeeClaire’s lives for eighteen years, so I want to share a graduation address with you.
Have the courage to follow
Your heart and intuition.
They somehow already know
What you truly want to
Become. Everything else is
Secondary.
-Steve Jobs
My two lovely graduates of 2021, you just experienced one of the worst tragic years we have ever faced, and here you are. You survived seeing the tumultuous end of one phase of your life and the joyful beginning of another.
Behind you are twelve years of education at the hands of many teachers, principals and educational assistants who helped form you. Both of you actively took part in extracurricular activities that broadened your perspective and enriched your lives. Remember to thank as many of the major people who influenced you as you can.
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Adonyi Gábor
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Now, before you is your world! It might be daunting at this moment, but you have an arsenal of tools to help you get started now and for the rest of your lives. You come from a family who loves you dearly—parents who have stood beside you through thick and thin. You have extended family support from grandparents, aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, and cousins galore! Also, you are supported every day you live by those who have passed away. Never forget your family.
On that note, a couple wise sayings from your great granddad who would have been so proud of you two. I’m sorry he died before you were born, but his advice is timeless:
“Winners never quit and quitters never win.”“Stay in there in and drink a lot of ice water.”I’m so glad you knew, my mom, Grannie Horner and her quick wit and love of jokes. You were about ten years old when she died, but I know you have fond memories of her in California, Branson, and on the ranch. You may not have known a deep spiritual gift she would have passed onto you, so I’m sharing it with you: an acceptance of all ethnicities and beliefs, enjoying the diversity gifted you with a variety of friends. She grew up in Raton, New Mexico when it was a melting pot of immigrants working in the coal mines, and she celebrated the multicultural life she lived. When she was in high school, she worked for a Greek family at the Sweet Shop and often spoke of their dancing and food—adopt an open, loving heart like Grannie’s.
You two have faced loss and difficulties in your short eighteen years but have chosen to not let that hamper your dreams. Often, hard times make you bitter or better, and the choice is yours. I see you have both chosen the positive route and am excited about your choice of study.
You lost your grandmother, Grandma Lela, when you were young, and she cherished her grandbabies. I remember her infectious giggle and twinkle in her clear blue eyes. She had a deep religious faith, so I know she prays for you daily.
Your Poppa loves sharing our family ranch with you any time you come, and he celebrates the uniqueness of each of you.
So, here’s Auntie Mato’s (for AnnDeeClaire) advice to you today from my life experiences:
Spend your lifetime looking for you
. Trust yourself—sometimes I hide from myself and it takes a conscious effort to keep looking, but look you must. The world tells us happiness is finding a partner. First, find yourself and then you will have something profound to share with a life partner. One of my favorite quotes about this topic is from Oscar Wilde, “Be yourself, everyone else is taken.”
Find a spiritual home to grow in
. Lucy Prichard, my first mother-in-law and spiritual mother, told us newlyweds, “Find a church, any church. Hang your hat somewhere.” Find a place where you can flourish spiritually and life will unfold much easier for you. In doing that, you will create a support system and have wise counsel if you need it (I guarantee you will need it).
Be curious.
Don’t be afraid to question the status quo. The curious mind sees possibilities everywhere instead of problems. In being curious, you become a part of the solution instead of the ongoing problem. Wonder and be in awe of what this world offers you.
It’s never too late to embrace your passion
. When I was in high school, Uncle Tanky read an essay I wrote and encouraged me to pursue my writing. Margie Miller, one of my teachers, told me in my late twenties at one of the Branson-Trinchera reunions on Mom’s front porch, “I want a copy of your first book.” Thirty-plus years later, I published my first book at 60 years old and sent her a copy. I loved teaching, but writing feeds my soul. Chase your passion for all you are worth, either now or later. It doesn’t matter, just identify it and go for it.
Spend time in nature—the ranch.
I know both of you have an attachment to the Horner ranch, and I thank you for your interest. It’s one of the best places to connect to God and myself. How can anyone look at Saddlerock silhouetted against a purple sky and not stand in awe? How about a laughter-filled ride around the ranch in the Bronco during the evening to celebrate being alive? A bumpy ride in the Mule and the chance to drive it, even when you were too young to drive? Obviously, I would recommend nature anywhere, but the trick is to be mindful of it—the birds, the trees, the horned toads and a Creator God who gifts us with such treasures.
Ask for help.
I wish I could guarantee you two lovely ladies a life free of pain and stress, but that doesn’t happen, as you already know. When troubles come, remember all the people who love you, pick up the phone, send a text or call, because we are all perched, ready to help.
Failure to cry is a failure to live
. As emoting human beings, we feel and sometimes feel strongly. A wise friend once told me that tears are liquid prayers, so don’ ever be ashamed of your tears.This morning I asked Uncle Lin for his words of wisdom for you two, and this is what he said, “It is ALWAYS in your power to eliminate negative forces from your life, and my hope for you is that as you go through life, you are successful in doing that, as it will enhance your life experience immensely.”
In conclusion, I leave you with one of my favorite sayings which includes one of my passions:
Dance
As though no one is watching you,
Love
As though you have never been hurt before,
Sing
As though no one can hear you,
Live
As though heaven is on earth.
-souza
Congratulations, Kaylea and AnnDeeClaire on a job well done, and I look forward to the futures you created! I will be a witness to your endeavors, one of your cheerleaders for life. World, get ready for these two!
Your cheerleaders are ready!Do you have someone graduating this year? What is your best advice? (Scroll down passed the items below to the Comment section.)
Previous Blog Posts You Might Have Missed
One Year Later! Let’s Celebrate Flippo’s Biography!How Many Mothers Does it Take?Vaccinated: Short, Sweet and to the Point!Haiku—A Trip Down Memory Lane
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released mid-June. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post A Graduation Address to My Two Girls! appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
May 23, 2021
Haiku—A Trip Down Memory Lane
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Quang Nguyen Vinh
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Haiku, an ancient Japanese form of writing poetry in three lines, has become one of my rediscovered loves. Since I took part in Natalie Goldberg’s “The Way of Writing” Workshop in March and April, and she instructed us in haiku writing, I have become enchanted anew. When I taught writing to middle school students, I included haiku as one of their poetry assignments, but I forgot this. As I remember now, I loved teaching haiku. I enforced the rule of syllable count for each line, which helped my students understand syllables. When writing one, they would tap out the syllables on their desks—and finally they understood syllables.
As I remembered my beloved poetry unit, what my students wrote blew me away! They loved the strict format of haiku, forcing them to focus. Also, it didn’t have to rhyme, and that freed them considerately.
This afternoon, I needed to see my students’ haikus again, so I just ran out to my storage shed, open up a box I have kept treasured “Teaching material,” in and rummage through certain assignments I’ve kept for decades. As I moved through the stack of papers, I held my breath. First, I found one folder named “Haikus.” Delicious short poems about middle school life in English and Spanish from my students—I taught Spanish so my students wrote haikus in both languages. I would love to share them with you, but I better not because of privacy issues, but once again I read haikus six-graders wrote in heartfelt three line poems about their lives. Still precious as ever.
Then I found my beloved poetry unit and read through the various poems I shared so any years ago, wanting to ignite the fire of poetry in them, and often I did! Because I guided them carefully with examples and then subjects to write about, many shared their deep hearts’ concerns and loves. I felt privileged to witness their poetry.
When I taught my poetry unit, I read them a large variety of poetry to whet their appetite. The haiku example I read them was one of Sonia Sanchez. I probably picked a Hispanic poet to connect my students to her because the majority were Hispanic.
Today I participated in a three-hour writing workshop with Natalie, entitled “Write Your Pandemic Story—Three Lines at a Time,”—that’s what stirred up my reminiscing about my students and haiku writing. We delved in deeper with her, giving more instructions on writing haiku. She read premiere haikus from the ancient Japanese greats, then also haiku from more modern Japanese poets. After listening to these great poets, we wrote our own, divided up into breakout rooms of five and read some we just wrote. What a rewarding experience. We repeated going to the breakout room a second time after another teaching from Natalie and read again after writing more.
Traditionally haiku is written in three lines: five syllables for the first line, seven syllables for the second and five for the third. Natalie was first introduced to haiku by Allen Ginsberg in 1976 at the Naropa Institute in Boulder, Colorado. He discouraged his students in adhering to the syllable count, because we have words in English that have less importance, like articles of speech (the, an, that).
“The only real measure of a haiku, Allen told us that one hot July afternoon, ‘is upon hearing one, your mind experiences a small sensation of space’ — he paused; I leaned in, breathless — ‘which is nothing less than God.'”
Natalie Goldberg, Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku (2021): 4.
In Allen’s introduction, he identified four famous haiku men poets: Basho, Buson, Issa and Shiki. In her book, Natalie added a woman, Chiyo-ni.
For more information, here’s a website that talks about the four men poets: Basho, Buson, Issa and Shiki: https://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-haiku-poems.html
Here’s one about Chiyo-ni: http://www.earlywomenmasters.net/chiyo/
So, what’s the attraction? For me it’s the brevity, the crispness, the focus. It’s like taking a picture of something valuable in words then ending with an emotion. Also, I realized as I wondered back to my teaching days how much I loved haiku then and that love spurred me on to take this workshop today.
Since my workshop in March and April with Natalie, I’ve tried my hand at writing haiku. Let me know what you think.
March 22 Life so wonderful So deeply charismatic A jingle daily! One foot here on earth Gather deceived loved one near One foot there with you!March 23 I hate politics Republicans, Democrats Families divided! Eight years ago, Mom Left here, entered a new sphere Relief in her eyes. March 24 Mom’s unique fragrance Covered my heart yesterday Thanks for the visit.March 25 Spring snowstorm blankets The piñon trees in white shroud Green, white and blue skies. Can square dance survive? We love to dance and connect Celebrate the beat! March 27 Words hurt; words can heal Like a bomb or like a salve. Today I chose health.Simple, direct! Haiku poetry began in the thirteenth century and has gained momentum recently. I wrote many of these poems during my daily walks—the words, the themes and imagines came. I beat out the rhythm of the syllables with my fingers like my students did so many years ago, ran home and jotted them down before I forgot them.
How about you? Three simple lines to describe something specific in your world! If you craft one, share it with me. I’d love to know I’m still a teacher of haiku! To make a comment and/or share your haiku, scroll down below the following information.
Previous Blog Posts You Might Have Missed
April—Powwow Time in Albuquerque!One Year Later! Let’s Celebrate Flippo’s Biography!How Many Mothers Does it Take?Vaccinated: Short, Sweet and to the Point!
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released mid-June. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post Haiku—A Trip Down Memory Lane appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
May 16, 2021
Vaccinated: Short, Sweet & to the Point
Finally, I got vaccinated on Friday morning for my second Covid-19 shot. I got the Moderna, and I’ve heard more people have reactions to it. My husband received the Pfizer vaccine and had no reaction at all. I wasn’t so lucky. The rest of Friday I felt okay, but my arm hurt where I was vaccinated. Yesterday and today have been a different story. I’ve slept the days away.
Yesterday I had a slight fever, chills, aches like the flu but nothing too bad. I just slept! Today’s the same. The endless sleeping has been strange—lots of images, not dreams and noise in my ears! During my sleep, I felt inundated with images, and when I wake up, I’m tired and exhausted, ready to go back to bed. My brain feels fuzzy.
For this A-type personality I am, this has been hard on me! I’m usually going ninety miles an hour! I have things to do, people to see, life to live!
Jesse, my seventeen-year-old caMy seventeen-year-old cat, Jesse, didn’t like me being inaccessible to him, so he made it upstairs twice yesterday to sleep outside our bedroom door. He doesn’t easily make it upstairs anymore because of his arthritic back legs—you can’t tell me cats don’t love!
This evening has been better—I’m not sound asleep. Today my brain is still fuzzy, and it’s hard to concentrate, but I’ve been able to do this blog so that’s progress. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! The good news is I’m vaccinated! After a couple weeks, I can return to some normalcy—a trip to our family ranch in southeastern Colorado. I haven’t been there since February because of my cataract surgeries.
And soon, I hope to be dancing!
What I learned these two strange days from being vaccinated is that you have to listen to your body! I went to bed; I slept, and that was probably the best medicine for me.
Did you get vaccinated? Did you have a reaction to the vaccine? If so, what? (Scroll down below the information below for the Comments section!)
Previous Blog Posts You Might Have Missed
Did the Coronavirus Change Our World?April—Powwow Time in Albuquerque!One Year Later! Let’s Celebrate Flippo’s Biography!How Many Mothers Does it Take?
~HAVE YOU ORDERED YOUR AUTOGRAPHED COPY OF THE FLIPPO BIOGRAPHY? AVAILABLE NOW! Go to the homepage on my website & pay for it there: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Pre-Order My New Book, Coronavirus Reflections: Bitter or Better? To be released mid-June. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJNjMivaCzk2YcNWHGMoxG4FPsfVEqEQEzYbcYr4tX9cDPVQ/viewform?usp=sf_link
~Here’s Christmas greetings from Flippo & Neeca, featuring his song, “When Its Christmas Time in Texas”: https://youtu.be/mpJCUGffU3A
ALL FOUR E-BOOK FORMATS OF FLIPPO’S BIOGRAPHY AVAILABLE NOW:
Apple Books (US)—https://books.apple.com/us/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164203 Kobo (US)—https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/just-another-square-dance-caller Apple Books (CA)—https://books.apple.com/ca/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (UK)—https://books.apple.com/gb/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id1511642036 Apple Books (AU)—https://books.apple.com/au/book/just-another-square-dance-caller/id151164(US)Amazon Kindle (US)—https://www.amazon.com/Just-Another-Square-Dance-Caller-ebook/dp/B088QS9RH8 Amazon Kindle (UK)—https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B088QS9RH8Amazon Kindle (CA)—https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088QS9RH8 Barnes & Noble Nook (US)—https://www.barnes&noble.com/s/just%20another%20square%20dance%20caller~Stop by my website for all the information you need about me & my books: https://www.laradasbooks.com
~Drop by my Amazon Author’s Page: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B00LLQTXSM
~VISIT MARY ZALMANEK, A FRIEND’S BLOG: Cooking in a One-Butt Kitchen | Eating Well in Small Spaces: https://cookinginaonebuttkitchen.com/
The post Vaccinated: Short, Sweet & to the Point appeared first on Larada Horner-Miller, Author.
