Favorites! The Leibster Award

My blog was tagged by children's author, B&B operator, world traveler, and grandmother, Margriet Ruurs for the not-so famous Leibster Award. The word "Leibster" means "favorite," so thank you, Margriet!

And the rules are:
1. Post 11 random things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions the nominator set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for your nominees.
4. Choose 11 other blogs with fewer than 200 followers to nominate and link them to your post.
5. No tag backs, but please leave a comment on this post if you were nominated so I can learn more about you and see who you nominate.

And here we go for my answers! (If you know me, there will be no surprises here!)
1. Eleven random things
1. I write education materials
2. I'm a librarian
3. I have been a teacher
4. I like to travel
5. I hate winter
6. I like to walk & hike
7. I love reading
8. I love learning
9. I'm terrible at math
10. I grew up about 25 miles from Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little Town on the Prairie.

(photo http://pixabay.com/fr/herbe-gramin%C3%A9es-prairie-540/)

11 Questions from Margriet:
1. What's a favorite book now?
Too many to name, but today I'll say Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver

2. What was a favorite book as a child?
I loved mysteries, and still do. I read Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Hardy Boys, and the Hollisters. But a couple favorite stand-alone titles: Black Beauty and Heidi

3. Who's one of your favorite authors? Living: Anne Tyler Dead: Willa Cather, Madeleine L'Engle

4. What's the most amazing country you have visited? I've found amazing things wherever I've gone, so I would say a place I'd go back to in a heartbeat--Greece.

5. How many places have you lived? 6

6. What's your favorite food? Mexican, specifically enchiladas

7. What advise do you have for new parents? Breathe! Love! Read to your baby and sleep when you can!

8. What's your favorite color? blue

9. Sunrise or sunset? Sunset

10. Sun or snow? SUN!

11. Favorite internet site?
google news brings the world to me

(photo http://pixabay.com/en/simple-sun-cartoon-orange-free-32228/)

3. Eleven questions for my nominees:
1. What is your favorite book?
2. Who is your favorite author?
3. What was your favorite vacation?
4. What is your favorite song/singer/band/musical type?
5. What's the most unusual food you have eaten?
6. What day of the week is your favorite?
7. What is your favorite movie or TV show?
8. Do you prefer dogs, cats, or other (if other, specify)?
9. What is something amazing about you?
10. Do you prefer reading hard copy or online?
11. How often do you use your public library?

4. And now--drumroll--

my nominees! (in no particular order and please forgive me if you have over 200 followers. In some cases, it is hard to tell.)
1. Is it Monday Already?
2.Babs Bites 'n Bones
3. Don't Quit the Day Job
4. plotsandplaygrounds
5. Adventures in Children's Writing
6. Peace Garden Writer
7. Lynette's Favorites
8. Thinking in Pictures
9. Karla Kassebaum
10. Welcome to My Prairie Garden
11. Fuzzy Eyed Faith

The game is on! Hope you enjoy exploring the blogs above.

Welcome, New Year!

(photo creative commons, http://www.flickr.com/photos/h-k-d/5312570481/ by h.koppdelaney)

I was thinking about how to celebrate the new year, remembering my friend's tradition of eating black-eyed peas on January 1. A little research led me to this page of superstitions and traditions compiled by the folks at snopes.com and this post by local chef, restaurateur, and author of cookbooks, Sanaa Abourezk.

Who knew there were so many things to watch out for, so many things to do?! This led to my little rhyme below. Do you follow these traditions or ones not mentioned in these posts? However you celebrate, I hope your new year is a good one!

Ways to Welcome a New Year

On the stroke of midnight,
that gasp between
2012 and 2013,
throw open the doors and shout!
Let one year in and the other out.

When twelve o’clock strikes,
And a new year starts
Enflame the ardor of our hearts
With kisses for those most dear
To ensure a loving year.

Before the old year dashes,
On December thirty-first,
To prevent financial curse
We fill our pantries, pay our bills,
Carry lentils, mend our ills.

On the first day of the year,
For luck the whole year through,
Wear clothing that is new.
Eat certain foods. This is a key--
Fill your plate with black-eyed peas.

As we flip the calendar page
From one year to the next
We hope for good effects
By trying out some superstitions
And carefully keeping our traditions.

Happy New Year!
(c2012, Jane Heitman Healy, all rights reserved)

Enjoy this version of "Auld Lang Syne"

Christmas Stories for a Cause

Tom Roberts was far from home one Christmas season, stranded by a snowstorm. Howling winds and snow closed the roads, so he sat in his car in a truck stop parking lot and waited.

He had just finished giving an acting workshop, and the familiar words from "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Moore ran through his mind. He took out paper and pen and set to work writing his own Christmas story, 'Twas the Night before Christ.

That story poem became the first of Tom's three Christmas picture books. The year after 'Twas the Night before Christ, Tom released Santa's Prayer, a response to people who had commented on his first book.

The next year, The Little Lost Sock was published. This book was inspired by lost and found boxes in the churches and schools where Tom and his wife, Tammy, gave programs. The lost sock served as metaphor for the children whose cause Tom and Tammy have taken up, Children's Home Society of South Dakota.

Tom's books were published because of his family's desire to do a mission project. He and Tammy mentioned his poem 'Twas the Night before Christ in conversation over coffee at church, and the project was born. A professional printer, an illustrator with graphic design experience, and others donated time, talent, and funds to publish the book. Proceeds would benefit Children's Home Society, an organization where Tom had played Santa Claus and desired to help the children--and others like them--who had sat in his lap.

The other two books followed the same pattern, brought into being by generous donors.

Tammy is an integral part of the book-making team, acting as Tom's editor and advisor, as well as overseeing the many aspects of production. They travel and give presentations together, giving their audiences a Christmas gift of story and song, and making their books available for sale to help the Children's Home kids.

Tom's background as actor, storyteller, and script and commercial writer prepared him for his present job as Event Coordinator for Children's Home Society. Tammy's background in marketing is a perfect fit for helping promote the books and conduct fundraising for Children's Home Society.

What began as a poem penned in a snowstorm has become a blizzard of blessings all around!

Good Morning!

(photo "Winter Sunrise in Wicklow 2" by Matt & Kim Rudge, http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-94228511)

I'm not by nature an early morning person, though I have gotten better at it through the years when forced into the situation. A couple of books show a good approach to mornings for those of us non-morning people--or even those who are.

S.D. Nelson's latest book, Greet the Dawn, published this year by the SD Historical Society Press, is already winning awards, and I predict it will earn more in the coming year.

(photo copyright 2012 Jane Healy)

I was fortunate to attend his session at the SD Festival of the Book in Sioux Falls this fall. Primarily an artist, Nelson has illustrated many picture books, and has authored and illustrated others. He uses a variety of techniques to achieve his art's end result, including crinkling Saran wrap into wet acrylic wash to achieve a batik-like look.

He lives in Flagstaff, AZ, and is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, giving him his Lakota world view. He was raised on the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota. A common theme in his work is the connectedness of all things and the human connection with animals as equals.

His art "injects the contemporary world into the ancient world." Illustrations in Greet the Dawn are a visual delight--almost an "I Spy" game of traditional symbols and modern life images. See samples here.

He told us that the traditional spiral symbol is a shape that brings balance. For him, the petroglyph-like handprints symbolize the contact a person has to a place. The circle of life shows "there's room for everybody in the world today."

Hear him tell it himself in this 1 minute interview:

Despite the title, the picture book takes readers through an entire day, showing that if we greet the dawn with a smile, we will be in harmony until we go to sleep at night.

Another favorite "wake up early" book is The Way to Start a Day by Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall. This book won a Caldecott Honor in 1979. In the text, Baylor shows readers that people around the world have special ways of starting the day. As in Nelson's book, most cultures greet the dawn by appreciating the natural world and its rhythms.

Here's a snippet:


Baylor encourages us to make our own morning songs to welcome the sun. And if we think about the miracle of the universe and our place in it, the songs won't be moans about getting out of bed!

Good morning! How do you start your day?

Peace

(photo by Alice Popkorn http://www.flickr.com/photos/alicepopkorn/6032916957/sizes/z/in/photostream/, creative commons license)

Here we are approaching Veteran's Day--Nov. 11, 2012--a day to honor veterans of military service. And since it's a national holiday, many of us get the following day off from work.

President Eisenhower signing the document that created Veterans Day
(Photo by U.S. Government [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/72-901-1_HR7786_Veterans_Day_June_1_1954.jpg)

I read a letter to the editor in my local paper from a representative of the group Veterans for Peace. The writer requested that we change the name back to its original name, Armistice Day. Armistice Day, Nov. 11, 1918, commemorates the signing of the armistice between WWI allies and Germany. The writer said that the focus of Armistice Day was on peace--the signing of a peace agreement, whereas the focus of Veterans Day is on war.

Our country and states have just come through a contentious election. In some cases, relationships were severed due to differences of opinion, so the idea of peace among people appeals to me at all levels.

(Photo by Workshop Cologne: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Handshake_(Workshop_Cologne_%2706).jpeg)


Here are some good books about that topic:
The Big Book for Peace is a compilation of works by such distinguished authors as Lois Lowry, Katherine Paterson, Lloyd Alexander, and others, with illustrations by Maurice Sendak, Jerry Pinkney, Marc Simont, Allen Say, and others.

A new favorite children's author (to me), Todd Parr has dedicated his The Peace Book to the world. It contains simple messages of peace for small--and large--children. Things like "Peace is making new friends," and "Peace is helping your neighbor."

In Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World, Jane Breskin Zalben uses collage and quotations to highlight people who devoted their lives to peace, including Eleanor Roosevelt, Emerson, Gandhi, Elie Wiesel, and Anne Frank.

This November 11, we honor veterans to thank them for their service to our country. Let's also remember Armistice Day and work for peace. It can start simply, as Todd Parr says, by making friends. Let it begin with me.

Here's Gladys Knight singing in Washington, DC, Memorial Day, 2008

Fall in All its Glory

Fall on my street, late September 2012

I'm not the only one who says we'd enjoy fall more if it didn't precede winter! But maybe we appreciate it more because we know it is a fleeting season. It is one season that gets us out looking at nature, at least through our car windows. I love the crunch of dried leaves beneath my feet as I walk around my neighborhood. I love the earthy smell of fallen leaves decomposing.

Fall on my street, late September 2012 (despite the incorrect date on the photo)

We're told that colors in our area, now waning, were especially vivid because of our severe drought. Here's a scientific explanation of how and why colors change.

Other areas of the country may receive more publicity for fall colors, but Spearfish Canyon in South Dakota's Black Hills made the Today's Shows list. Sit back and enjoy this virtual visit:

Here's a list of good children's books about fall. And here's a list of recommended adult fall releases.


What's your favorite thing about fall?

Fall on my street, late September 2012 (despite the incorrect date on the photo)

Good Dog

Indiana (named for adventurer Indiana Jones) was with this family for nearly 11 years, offering friendship, companionship, and mischief. He wasn't much interested in other dogs, cats, squirrels, or rabbits. As one visitor said, "You think you're people." What he liked best was being with his people, and of course, food. We think it's no coincidence that his chin was exactly table height.

He loved to rummage in the trash cans for used tissues, a favorite snack. He loved to eat butter and butter wrappers (to condition his coat, no doubt). And he loved buns. At one holiday meal, we had set a basket of buns on a chair behind us because there wasn't room on the table. Oops! Gone in 60 seconds.

He loved to play tug with old socks, a rope, and other old fabric.

One of the funniest incidents occurred one day when he had really been into everything, exasperating me. When my husband came home, he sat in a chair, and Indiana came over to be petted. "Were you a good dog today, Indiana?" my husband asked. I entered the room, and Indiana swiveled his head and looked at me with an expression that said, "Are you going to tell on me?"

Books about dogs are notorious for sad endings: Old Yeller, Where the Red Fern Grows, Marley and Me, etc. For a long time, I put off reading the Newbery Award winning Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo because, as a dog book, it must be sad. I was so wrong and heartily recommend this story of friendship and belonging.

Indiana was a BIG dog, and a book that fits him is My Big Dog by Susan Stevens Crummel and Janet Stevens.

What dog stories do you like? What dog antics have you enjoyed?

Indiana, Good Dog, November 9, 2001-September 27, 2012