Motorcycles Are Awesome!
Mood:  happy
Last weekend was one of the best I've had since we moved to Utah. Ted and I loaded up the motorcycle (a red Honda CB1100F) Friday morning and headed south. I've never gone on a trip without taking everything in my bathroom - hair dryer, curling iron, makeup, mousse. This time I didn't even take my hairspray! Just an extra pair of jeans, two t-shirts and a bathing suit. The day was hot, but after the first 40 minutes we got off the interstate and then the fun began.

Our destination was Torrey, Utah. But when you're on the back of a bike, the ride is the goal! The air in the mountains was considerably cooler, and I was glad for the new leather jacket Ted bought me for Mother's Day.

Our hotel was right at the edge of Capital Reef National Park, and the view from our balcony was stunning. There are no words to describe the big red mountains like something out of a western movie. The formations reminded me of castle turrets, and I realized that the medieval architects who designed palaces must have been trying to recreate what God has done there. Big, towering spires with multi-colored layers of rock really do look more like a reef than the mountains that surround our home in Salt Lake City. And the land is movie-like too - the only vegetation are small scraggly scrub bushes dotted here and there across wide sandy plains.

Saturday was a perfect day to be on a motorcycle. We took off around 10:00 to ride up over Boulder Mountain to Escalante. One puffy little white cloud put in a brief appearance in the morning, but he quickly realized his mistake and made a hasty retreat, leaving a sky full of unbroken blue. We rode across a wonderful ridge called Hell's Backbone - huge canyons on either side of the road at the top of the mountain beyond Boulder, Utah.

At the top of Boulder Mountain we found a completely different world. Here are the majestic rocky peaks, deep ancient forests and cool green pastures. Again, we were thankful for our leathers up there. We rode by pastures abundant with a heather-like purple wildflower that made me burst into song, "From purple mountains majesty, across the fruited plain. America, America, God shed His grace on thee!" And we passed a forest of aspen trees. Have you ever seen a whole forest of aspens? They tower way up into the sky with leaves that branch out only at the top, leaving their long, slender silvery white trunks naked. It reminded me something out of Dr. Seuss - I expected to see the Lorax step out from behind one of them! Since there was almost no underbrush, I could look through them and see a long, long way - just like Jill and Eustace in Aslan's country beyond the world's end.

From Escalante we took a windy road through a canyon called Burr Trail, and I kept making Ted stop so I could take pictures. I knew they wouldn't come out - nothing manmade like film and cameras can begin to capture the astounding beauty of God's creation. I do have a few nice ones I'll post on my website, but they don't begin to reflect the majesty we saw or the awe we felt. On the way back we stopped to have an ice cream cone with some of Ted's friends, members of the Utah British Bike Club, we found along the way.

Then we went into Capital Reef National Park and saw rock art! They're petroglyphs carved into the sheer rock cliffs by the Anasazi over a thousand years ago! I did get a picture of them too - again, it just doesn't do justice to the real thing.

Ted and I enjoyed great food, stunning scenery, invigorating rides, and relaxing times in the pool. And we were with each other. What more could we ask?

As I was praying this morning, I asked God to interpret something for me. I needed His wisdom about a particular circumstance. As I quieted myself to hear His voice, I realized that all of His knowledge and wisdom, everything I need to operate in this world, is provided in the Bible. "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." So often, God talks to me by bringing to mind Bible verses. Example: "I will make your path straight before you." And "When you turn to the right or to the left, you will hear my voice behind you saying `This is the way; walk in it.'"

It occurred to me that there are thousands of verses that God could use to talk to me, but I haven't bothered to learn them. I only know a very little bit, so I only have a few words of the language!

It reminded me of the time in Mexico when I tried to talk to a man working on the beach. I spoke one of the few phrases I know, "Habla en ingles?" and he shook his head. Next I tried my mostly-forgotten high school Spanish on him - "Donde esta los banos?" Not brilliant conversation, but I did need to know where the bathrooms were! With many smiles and nods, he pointed to a building down the beach. Then he tried to speak to me, but I was hopelessly lost in the stream of rapid words he fired at me. I smiled and shrugged, shaking my head. He pointed at his chest and said, "Miami." Then he pointed at me. I understood! "Kentucky," I responded, tapping my chest. He got a huge grin on his face and said, "Ah, Kentucky bourbon!" Well, at least we had communicated!

Does God feel that way with me sometimes? He has so many things He wants to share with me, but my understanding of His Word is so limited! There is so much wisdom in the Bible, so many things I need to know, so much life-giving truth. The more I learn, the better I'm able to converse with my Father.

Websites, Stories And Motorcycles
Mood:  chatty
I have had a wonderful two days, creating a website for Voice Of Joy Ministries. What fun! I've got the home page almost done, and the Contacts page almost done, and placeholders for the rest. You can check it out and watch the progress at: www.VoiceOfJoy.org

I also finished my first critique for my new critique partner from ACRW and sent that off today. Jill is a very good writer, and loves sci-fi/fantasy, as I do! Plus, she writes Christian contemporary fiction as well, and also publishes articles. In fact, our writing goals are really similar. I'm thrilled to be able to work with her. Thank you, Lord, for putting us together in this critique group! May we encourage and strengthen one another as we hone our skills to glorify You.

Besides this, I'm getting ready to leave in the morning for a weekend motorcycle trip with Ted. I'm a passenger on this trip to southern Utah, and I'm really looking forward to it. You'd be surprised how much "plotting" I get done on the back of a back! Lord, please keep us safe and let us enjoy the beauty of Your countryside.

My son will return this evening to pick up his dogs. It's been . . . interesting. It's apparent they've grown very attached to me in the past three days. Part of me will hate to see them go. I feel that way for a whole ten minutes - until they start barking again. Sigh.

Dogs And Other Irritants
Mood:  irritated
I returned from my 6-week Kentucky trip late on 7/5, and both my children picked me up at the airport. What a joy to have them both there at once! Jonathan has moved back to Salt Lake City, and lives in an apartment with 3 others his age (you should SEE the mess!) less than 2 miles from me. I'm overjoyed, and so is Christy.

But then they both left on Tuesday to go to Las Vegas and get the rest of his belongings, leaving me with his two little dogs until Thursday night. They're Mini Pins, and though they're just as cute as they can be, they're wild and loud and completely untrained! This is a real labor of love, let me tell you. I just hope my neighbors don't call the police because of the noise!

Though I love my Kentucky home, and of course I love being near family, I'm glad to be home. Even if it is overrun with loud obnoxious little dogs!

Evil Spam
Mood:  loud
No, I don't mean the kind that comes in a can, though I could go on at length about that. I mean e-mail spam, the ones that arrive by the thousands in my inbox with subject lines that leave me blushing and diving for the Delete key. I build filters so I don't see the ones that have specific words, and they change their tactics and misspell the word or use a period instead of a space so that it sneaks by my filter but still communicates the same terrible images in my mind. I always, without fail, delete any e-mail that comes from a source I don't recognize, or one with a subject ine that advertises anything to be enlarged or enjoyed.

I have a question - why do these people want to send e-mail to people like me? Why do they try to bypass the filth filters? There is NO WAY I will ever open their e-mails, much less take advantage of whatever they're advertising, so why bother?

I think they're trying to be purposefully offensive. And that makes me mad! I don't know what I can do about it though, other than delete them unopened and change my e-mail address. I now have THREE different addresses, used for various different sets of contacts. But the minute I sign up for a new internet site and enter an e-mail address, I get a flood of offensive advertisements. So if anyone has any suggestions, I'd appreciate hearing them.

Now I'm off the soapbox. I've spent the past few days planning my departure from Kentucky because Ted and I go back to our Utah home on Monday. Today I spent a WONDERFUL day writing chapter six of my Work-In-Progress, the second volume of Mayla's story. I love how the Lord guides me gently through the plot, giving me just enough insight for a day or two at a time along with the motivation to capture Mayla's actions in my writing. It's starting to shape up, and I think it'll be good when I finish.

Good news - my son Jonathan has moved "home" to Salt Lake City. When I get there on Monday he and Christy will pick me up at the airport. I'm thrilled to have both of my children home again. THANK YOU, LORD!!!!

Tomorrow I have the privelege of enjoying one last family gathering before we leave Kentucky. My sister Susie is hosting a family 4th Of July Picnic. We'll play softball and badmitten, we'll grill hamburgers and hotdogs. I've made enough fruit salad to feed Patton's advance troops. Lord, I am so thankful for these people You've gathered around me. Thank You for each one of them and watch over them when I leave.

Did you know that for the first 150 years of our country's existence, Independence Day was a religious holiday? The purpose for its establishment was to set aside a day to thank God for this country, for our independence and for the ability to worship Him in freedom. I don't know about you, but I plan to do that this Fourth.

Fellowship, And Why I Need It
Mood:  chatty
Today I attended a baby shower with lots of friends I had not seen in almost a year. What fun! We played those silly baby shower games, and ate lots of delicious foods that have more carbs than I care to consider, and caught up on all the news with everyone. They were all happy for my recent writing news, and I was thrilled to hear about everything going on in their lives. As I drove home I realized how much I had missed these people without even knowing it.

I believe God made us to have fellowship. He wants us to have fellowship with Him, of course, but He also built in each of us a need for friendship with other human beings. Friends enrich our lives. They delight us with the variety of their lifestyle and opinions and personalities. And they amaze us when we discover their similarities to us, even though they may live vastly different lives. There is a special brand of love I have just for my friends, a different love than I have for my children or my husband or my sisters or parents - but it is no less a part of what forms the foundation of my happiness in life. I am so thankful for my friends - for those I saw today, and for others I know across this country, and even the world.

Almost Contract! WOO HOO!
Mood:  celebratory
Today I had the best e-mail in the world! It was from the publisher who has been considering my manuscript for two months, and it informed me that he was preparing a contract for review by the executive committee!!! Pending their approval, the contract will be forwarded to me for review. This means I have ALMOST SOLD MY FIRST NOVEL!!! WOO HOO!

Now I have begun to prayerfully consider finding an agent. I have discovered that finding an agent is nearly as difficult (and as important) as finding a publisher. This is the person who will promote my work as though it were her own, who will represent my interests during contract negotiations, who will present my future books to the publishing industry. It's like getting married! I'm trying to find a partner for an important aspect of my life! Please join me in prayer as I search for the right person.

Besides that, I've been working hard on an "audition" packet to send to a daily devotional magazine who hires staff writers. They gave me 3 scriptures to read and pray about, and I am to submit a devotional article for each one. I have written two of them, and they were FUN! It's amazing the things God will show us when we ask for His wisdom!

I've had several off-line comments on my website lately. I think my mother has been sending the address out to her contacts, and I'm grateful. I appreciate all of you checking in, and joining your prayers with mine. Since I pray every day for any person who reads anything I have written, that means I pray for YOU. May God bless you richly.

Boy Dirt, And Other Thoughts
Mood:  happy
I'm still in residence in the Kentucky house, and yesterday Ted rejoined me. He's been here almost twenty-four hours, and already the house is starting to take on that Lived In Look. Not that Ted is unclean in any way -- in fact, for most of our marriage he was much cleaner than me. But now that the kids are out of the house and there's no one else to blame it on, I've become the clutter police. And Ted leaves a trail of clutter in his wake.

Let me show you: There's his tee shirt hanging over the back of his kitchen chair. His computer case is sitting on the floor beside the desk. His note papers are piled on top of my printer. Three pairs of his shoes (three!), some with socks stuffed in them, are sitting in the bedroom floor. His honey jar sits on the counter beside the coffee pot, along with the dirty spoon and coffee cup - literally right on top of the dishwasher. His motorcycle magazine is on the floor beside the toilet. His toothbrush and comb are sitting beside the sink instead of in the drawer where I put them. And there are toothpaste speckles on the faucet.

I call it Boy Dirt. It's not dirt like Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen leaves in his wake, but it's still evidence that Ted has passed this way. And you know what? I've missed him so much these past two weeks, I'm happy to have the Boy Dirt cluttering my house!

Within two hours of arriving home Ted had both cars fixed! (See my earlier post to read about my frustration with the cars.) And so far today he has fixed the gas grill, cleaned out the pile of dead leaves beneath the shrubs, worked on one of the motorcycles, and is now recharging the A/C in the car I drive. He's amazing, he really is.

So what's a little Boy Dirt?

The Illiad Has Been Hollywoodized In TROY
I have seen the movie Troy and really enjoyed it. (Yes, there are some inappropriate parts -- I closed my eyes.) It reminded me of how much I loved Greek mythology, but I certainly didn't remember some of the things in the movie happening in The Iliad. Rather than slog through Homer again, someone recommended Rosemary Sutcliff's Black Ships Before Troy (see my website for a review) and I finished it the other day. As I suspected, Troy was Hollywoodized. Some of the most notable differences between the movie and the "real" myths are:

The siege of Troy went on for over ten years. In that time, Helen grew disgusted with Paris (and can we blame her???), and wanted to go back to her husband and daughter.

Instead of Paris acting like a wimp during single combat with Menelaus, the goddess Aphrodite actually snatched him away from the fight and transported him to safety in the palace. But when Hector came in from the battlefield to find him, he found Paris all clean and refreshed and relaxing instead of rushing back to the battle, so he really was a self-centered jerk after all. MUCH moreso than the movie depicted.

The tension between Achilles and Agamemnon was real enough. And it actually was over a female temple servant. But she wasn't related to the King Priam - she was a slave. After a while Agamemnon apologized to Achilles and offered to give her back, and Achilles didn't want her anymore. After a LONG time when he did take her back (but only to appease Agamemnon and so his honor could be upheld and he could get back to the fighting), he ignored her. She was one of the women who ended up taking care of his dead body.

Ajax (the great big Greek warrior) played a much bigger role than the movie showed. He was as active as Achilles and Odysseus.

Hector did NOT kill Menelaus. In fact, Menelaus actually was one of the survivors, and Helen ended up going back to him very happily when Troy fell. She and Odysseus were friends from way back. It almost sounded like she became more of a captive inside Troy than a refugee.

This is sad. When Troy fell, Hector's wife was taken as a slave of one of the Myrmidons (Achilles' group), and his baby son was thrown off the ramparts and killed. In fact, ALL of Troy was taken or destroyed, and only Helen escaped.

Achilles actually sent Patroclus out in his armor to lead his men! Hector did kill him, and then stripped his armor and took it back to Troy. And Achilles had Patroclus' ashes put in a golden cup and buried it in a shrine, and left orders that when he died the cup should be dug up and his ashes mingled with Patroclus. (Hmmmm. And now we know why he didn't want the slave girl back.)

Paris did kill Achilles, but it was with an arrow shot from atop the battlements during a battle when Achilles was fighting down below. So he wasn't inside the horse at all.

And then the Greeks went and hired their own archer, who shot Paris with a poisoned arrow. And it grazed his hand and he got sick and died of arrow-poisoning. And the woman he had deserted to go kidnap Helen could have saved him, but she was still ticked off at him so she didn't help him. (And it serves him right, if you ask me.)

The movie left out the Amazon women, who came to help Troy. But they all got killed by the Greeks.

The movie left out all the intervention of the gods and goddesses, but there was a lot.

Thought you might be interested in the REAL story! (Uh, so to speak!)

What did you think of the movie? Leave a comment!

All Is Well Once Again
Mood:  a-ok
I have a lot to be thankful for. First, I'm thankful that my stepfather has an extra car! Thanks to him, I am mobile once again. There are still two dead cars in my garage (confused? see my last post!), but Ted comes back on Friday and I'm confident he'll have them both running in no time.

I'm also thankful for writing friends. On Monday I spent four delightful hours with a new friend. I met Ruth Seamands online - we're both members of a Christian writer's organization. Ruth is a wonderful Christian woman, a retired missionary and a writer, and comes from a big family full of writers and pastors. When we realized that our houses are only about 20 miles apart, she invited me over to "talk writing." We had a great time chatting and getting acquainted, and then her sister Rene showed up. Rene played the piano and we all sang along! Then Ruth announced that she was treating us to lunch. We arrived at the dining room of her charming little retirement village, and discovered that she had reserved a private room and invited her daughter Sheila, and her brother- and sister-in-law David and Helen! It was a joy meeting Sheila, and since David Seamands is something of a legend in these parts (and actually his fame spreads much farther than central Kentucky!), I was thrilled to meet him and his wife as well. We had a wonderful time, and they all made me feel like part of the family. I can't tell you how full of joy my heart was as I drove away from spending time with that wonderful lady.

Ruth must have inspired me - I've spent the past two days working on my latest novel, and also found time to come up with a shorter article today.

One other piece of news. Yesterday I was asked to become the moderator of the CWFI Critique Forum, where I've been a member for a few months. I am really excited about this, and am looking forward to building participation in this wonderfully tight-knit group. Life is good!

How about you? Any comments? Click on "Post Your Comment" and leave me a message. I'd love to hear from you.