First, let’s have a moment of silence for all those lost in the 9/11 attack. It’s been 25 years, and I still have images in my head of the Twin Towers going down. So much heroism and so much death all joined in one dust-and-debris-filled blast. Bless the survivors and their families, and may the dead rest in peace.
This is a day early because, wow, it has been one of those weeks, and I am so glad we are coming to the end of it. From 1-year-old Peni managing to escape out of a six-foot-high fence and go for a walk along the road (she was rescued by a sweet lady who saw us out frantically searching and fetched her back) to being the recipient of 3 college desks, so I had to rearrange the furniture in 2 rooms to make them fit, all the way to a wicked thunderstorm that almost caused damage to the newly planted mums, it was harrowing.
I obtained a properly sized desk for Violet to do kindergarten work on and rearranged furniture again. Then she and I set her workbooks, crayons, pencils, and such in the desk, feeling rightly proud. Peni crashed the desk by climbing on it. We reset it, calmed Violet down, and set Peni for a nap.
She didn’t stay in her bed and climbed up to her sister’s loft bunk. Violet came frantically to get me, telling me Peni was trying to jump out of the loft. We took her down and put her back to sleep.
At that point, we made an emergency trip to Newark to loan our second car to Miah, whose Forester engine blew up and lost a head gasket. This came on the heels of a storm that badly damaged their home’s roof; the roofer had to cover it with a tarp. Luckily, last night’s storm did not tear off the tarp.
I got a toothache that turned out to be sinusitis; Dan went back to college as a senior student, auditing a class.
And mind you, all in the same week. I am so looking forward to next week. Kindergarten comes to our living room, Violet will be in Tavaci choir and ballet, Peni will be at Aunt Fawns a good deal of the time, and I ought to be able to make up the applesauce. We haven’t even had time to go pick apples.
We’ve been picking up black walnuts from all over our yard; lots of them. We aim to get around 500 pounds to take to the Amish walnut mill; they run them through a hulling machine, then bag them up and buy them back. A farm needs all sorts of trickling income to survive, and we are no different. And writers need reviews, fans, and readers to succeed, and the best feeling is reading a review and knowing you made a difference for someone.
Now, despite the craziness, I have been able to make progress on our Beyond the Veil book 4 Christmas book: I will be re-releasing Kitchen Memories soon with a new cover and edits. Rise of the Rebellion has been fully re-edited and rewritten with new scenes and a new cover; after the final releases of the year, I’ll be working quietly on two series to be completed soon. Did I tell you that You Weren’t Meant to be a Snail was going to be released soon? Yes, so watch for the announcements of publication and launch shortly. Next month’s releases and specials herald the start of the Christmas releases and specials that end Dec, 18. And speaking of that, can you believe Christmas is just around the corner? And I haven’t even begun my usual Christmas shopping; I try to get it done before the roads get slippery and icy. I mean, it is simple to get things for the great-grands; it’s the grown kids that take thought. And then there is the wrapping. Figure 17 people times 10 packages or so average…it’s a lot of wrapping. And I do it while the roads are bad, and thank the stars I am not out in that.
Now, as for the specials, here is what is coming your way this week:
Dan’s book, A Further Focus on the Majestic Spectrum of God’s Love, continues as a 99-cent special until noon on Monday the 14th. Best hurry and get your copy for those quiet moments when you want something thoughtful to read.
A Further Focus on The Majestic Spectrum of God’s Love continues the exploration of the Prime Directive of the universe: God is love. Pastor Dan, a technician at heart, splits the frequencies of Scripture into its parts, explaining the meaning and focus of the varying colors of our relationship with the Creator. He offers practical ideas and spends plenty of creative time imagining the wonder that awaits us on the other side of the universe. From Genesis, where it started and went wrong, to the Revelation of how His people are going to come back together, this book explains why Divine love with the compassion, the depth, the unselfishness, seems so out of place here, and how we can reverse our pain and emptiness through his prism and become one in the light of heaven once more.
Starting September 15 and continuing until the 22nd, The Sage, the Swindler and the Sheep will be our 99-cent special.
Colossians is one of those letters that got Paul in trouble. From an old bachelor trying to advise on family relationships to a struggle between truth and hidden mysteries, Paul is fighting for his life while trying to lead his flock 1,300 miles away. As a prisoner of Rome, he walked a narrow line between what he could and could not say in his letters. He loved his people, he loved his God, and he died for both, but not before leaving us a library of letters full of advice, frustration, and encouragement. He forced diverging views to deal with each other; he spearheaded the movement to allow non-Jewish people to join the Christian church as equals; he championed women’s rights as delicately as he could in his time; he fought against subversive philosophies; in this letter specifically, Gnosticism. He urged all his people to stay true to God and sort out the cults rapidly forming around the Man from Galilee and his legacy of salvation and truth. It’s up to us to decide if he was an interfering old grump or a far-seeing prophet. I can’t wait to see what you think of it!
And now back to work prepping for the field trip for the littles tomorrow: we are headed to The Farm at Walnut Creek, a 500-animal petting zoo in Amish country. You ride around on a hayride and feed the beasties, even giraffes! It’s our tradition to start the school year with a field trip. Wish us luck, safety, and a great learning experience.