Writers are important but so are readers. Readers and writers need each other. Writers provide their audiences with news, valuable information as well as entertainment.
I have so many hobbies I enjoy that it’s hard to choose.
I enjoy reading, writing, playing cards, quilting and puzzles. So which one do I choose as my favorite.
I spend more time reading than any of the others. So, I will say reading is my favorite pastime. When the weather is nice, not too hot or cold, I will be sitting on my porch with a good book and a cool glass of lemonade. When winter comes I will be sitting on my sofa all bundled up with a good book. Television programming is rather lousy these days. So thank goodness for authors and great books.
Some of my favorite authors include:
John Grishman
Mary Higgins Clark Never pass one of those up
Tami Hoag Just finished her latest one
Johanna Lindsey
Jude Deveraux
Nora Roberts
Sandra Brown
Linda Castillo
That’s just a short list. I keep adding other authors I like to the list.
Thank goodness for the library and it’s book sales. I can get as many books as I can fit into a bag for a small fee. They keep my shelves full so I always have a book handy.
I belong to a local book club in my area. We each buy one book and in two weeks we pass the book on to the next member. This is a very old book club. It was started before cars and libraries existed. The members of the first book club actually took out loans to buy a book. We have come a long ways from that first book club.
I picked reading as my favorite pastime but I enjoy all my hobbies. I am so glad to have hobbies so that I am never complaining about being bored.
Just about my whole life, I have felt out of place. I have never liked parties or groups of people I don’t know well.
I think over the last twenty years I have been feeling that more. It probably has to do with my hearing disability which has gotten worse over the years. It’s hard to be in a noisy group when you can only hear parts of the conversation. At most gatherings I am the one standing or sitting alone. I don’t care much for idle conversation. Now if there’s card games or board games to entertain me that makes a difference. Otherwise, I am usually the first out the door heading home.
I usually feel out of place in groups of people who are dressed well. I really have no fashion sense. This is everywhere I go with others. Weddings, funerals, dinners, whatever, I always feel like I have the wrong clothes on. I compare myself to how others are dressed and I generally feel inadequate.
I feel that I am getting better at social situations. Or maybe I am just finding more excuses not to be involved in those situations where I feel so out of place.
How quickly our world has become accustomed to using computers in our daily lives. They have changed communication, shopping, reading, games and so much else since computers early days.
Without my computer, it would be much harder to get information. I am constantly telling people, “just let me look it up on the computer”. A computer has become what a set of encyclopedia used to be a generation or so ago. We can even use our voices to ask questions and get an answers.
Using the computer has changed my shopping habits. I do a lot of my shopping online now. Now most brick and mortar stores also have an online store. At the moment I am waiting for my latest order from Amazon. I also buy pet food online. It’s delivered right to my porch without me having to go to the store then drag it home. Without the use of a computer, I would be spending more time shopping. I don’t do all my shopping online. It’s hard to find clothes that fit without going into a store. Groceries can now be ordered online and delivered. I prefer doing my own grocery shopping and picking out what I want myself.
I would be using a typewriter or even a pencil and paper if I didn’t have a computer to do my writing. I would be spending a lot of time sitting in a library doing research. Letters and cards would still have to be handwritten and mailed through the unreliable post office. Now with a computer, I can send an email and get a reply within minutes.
Using my computer, I communicate with people all over the world. Social media helps to keep us in touch with near and faraway friends and family. I get a lot of news and information from those social media sites.
With the use of my computer games, music and movies all entertain me. Not that I do much of those but they are a nice diversion at times. Computers can do so many things in our lives today.
So what would my world look like without a computer? Honestly, my world would look a lot like the simple life I grew up with. Reading would require trips to the library. Writing would be done on typewriters. Information would come from books and other sources. Letters would be handwritten and sent through snail mail. I would be getting together with friends and family more often. I would be using a house type of telephone instead of a smart phone. And I would still be lugging home big bags of pet food and cat litter from the store.
All my life I have been coming up with new skills I would like to learn. It’s a long list because I never have enough time to pursue learning new skills.
Woman During The Depression Time Quilting Dorothea Lange
List of skills I am interested in learning:
Writing
Pottery
Candle Making
Soap Making
Weaving
Quilting
Learning new languages
Organization
I am not the most organized person although I try to be. So top of the list of skills I would like to learn is how to be more organized. That could give me more time for writing and learning some of those new skills. Learning to clean my house in an organized manner would help. It would give me more time for all those other hobbies I would enjoy learning.
The Horseshoe Curve located near Altoona, Pennsylvania was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1967. The Horseshoe Curve draws thousands of visitors daily to view the engineering achievement of John Edgar Thomson. It’s history as well as it’s breath taking scenery, makes it a popular tourist attraction. It is especially beautiful in the fall. That’s when the mountains are showing off their trees with leaves of colorful red and gold.
In the mid 19th century, railroads were beginning to provide easy fast transportation. The railroads were becoming valuable to business and industry as a way to move people and products. Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Railroad were looking for a way to ship those products and supplies west. However, the Allegheny Mountains stood tall and was impassable for trains.
On February 15, 1854, the Horseshoe Curve opened for travel. It solved the problem of the Allegheny Mountains. It allowed passage from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh in both directions. This allowed passengers and goods faster transportation. From 1854, the Horseshoe Curve was a bustling, busy place. Freight and passengers could now travel quickly to the west or the east coast.
In fact, the HorseShoe Curve became a major, important railway system for supplying troops in World War II. it carried supplies, heavy equipment and troops to the east coast. From there, the supplies and troops were sent to Europe on ships. The Horseshoe Curve gained Hitler’s attention and he planned to sabotage several vital areas in the United States. Destroying this major transportation hub would help to cripple the flow of troops and supplies to Europe. The Horseshoe Curve was just one of Hitler’s targets.
Hitler gave orders to recruit young men who spoke English and were possibly familiar with areas of the United States. These young men were sent to a training camp near Berlin on an estate named Quentz Lake. They were taught various sabotage tactics, shooting, fighting, explosives and throwing hand grenades.
On Saturday, June 13. 1942 a submarine coasted underwater and landed just a hundred miles from New York. George John Dasch and three other men left the submarine on a beach with instructions on specific targets to sabotage. Horseshoe Curve was on the list of targets. The plan was to make it to New York where the Hell Gate Bridge was also a target. The list of targets also included the New York Water Supply and Newark Penn Station.
George John Dasch
Unfortunately, for Dasch they landed near a United States Coast Guard station. Although they were not apprehended at that time, the coast guard was suspicious and started a search of the beach. They quickly came across tracks that led them to where the Nazis had buried their supplies in the sand. Those supplies included explosives and other sabotage related materials. They promptly notified the FBI and other authorities.
Dasch and his three other saboteurs, Ernest Peter Burger, Heinrich Heinch and Richard Quirin all made it to New York. Dasch was having cold feet and so was Burger. There equipment had been found and was of no use to them now. Just two days after landing in the United States, Dasch made a phone call to the New York FBI. He then went to Washington, DC where he was arrested and questioned. Dasch agreed to work with the FBI and supplied them with information about the others he had come ashore with. He also supplied information about another group of Nazis who had landed in Florida. On June 20th, the other seven saboteurs were arrested through the information he provided.
Trail of the eight men accused of sabotage CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), quality = 98
Military Trial
On July 2, 1942, President Roosevelt ordered a military tribunal. The court was to try all eight men who had planned sabotage against the United States. Attorney General Francis Biddle and Judge Advocate General Cramer presided over the trial. They were assisted by seven military officers.
August 3, 1942 all eight men were found guilty. Six were sentenced to death. Dasch and Berger were given life sentences due to their assistance with the FBI. The military insisted on using these six men as examples. They wanted to ensure that Hitler and his Germans would not be eager to try sabotage against the United States again.
August 8,1942 Six of the Nazi plotters were put to death in the electric chair. All were buried at Potters Field, Blue Plains, D.C. In 1948 George John Dasch and Ernest Peter Burger were released from prison and returned to Germany.
Thus the death of these six men ended Hitler’s plans of invading and blowing up critical manufacturing, transportation and water systems in the United States.
First and most important, I should be paying a lot more attention to my relationship with God. I am working on that but it’s so hard. It would be easier if I had a good church I belonged to. I am not criticizing any church, but I am not comfortable in many new churches. I tried one with a friend but I didn’t find peace there. The music was like going to a concert. I prefer the old hymns, pianos and organ music. And many churches are going that way with the modern Christian music. I simply don’t find peace or Christ in that music. I am glad that so many are going to these newer churches but it’s not for me.
The second area I need to be paying more attention to is my health. This includes eating better and exercising more. I love sweets and don’t care much for vegetables. I do eat a healthy amount of fruit. Being a single person, it’s hard to cook proper meals for just one person. I should also be spending more time either going to the gym or walking. Alternatively, I could follow a good exercise program at home.
Another area that needs attention in my life would be my family and friends. Lately I seem to be spending the majority of my time sitting at my computer. But writing is also a part of my life. To become a decent writer requires writing every day. It takes dedication to research and work on my writing projects.
If only I were a more organized person. I would have the ability to manage to pay more attention to my faith, health and writing.
Daily writing prompt
What details of your life could you pay more attention to?
Tomorrow morning my first priority will be to get up and use the bathroom. Same priority as every other morning. Sarcasm! Really isn’t that everyone’s first priority every day?
I have no plans or priorities for the day. It will be another ordinary day. I can do whatever I want the rest of the day. I will let it up to God how the rest of my day goes.
I will probably do the usual boring things I usually do. Cleaning my house, reading, writing and researching for my next writing project. My life is boring but I am alive and enjoying the boredom. I don’t need or want drama or excitement in my life.
Hard work does not make me feel fulfilled. It makes me feel tired and grumpy. It makes me hurt and that doesn’t feel good at all.
But the rewards that come with working hard make me feel happy and satisfied. The last fifteen years I have spent working long hours, but not working real hard. I enjoy the house that I was able to buy. I enjoyed the vacations I was able to afford. I enjoyed the projects and improvements to my house that I had money for.
So I guess that hard work made me feel happy. Now I am ready to enjoy sleeping late and working on crafts and hobbies. I will continue to work hard at writing. Writing does make me feel fulfilled.
Daily writing prompt
In what ways does hard work make you feel fulfilled?
Since I turned sixteen and got a drivers license, a car and a job, I have valued my independence. I started working as a waitress when I was sixteen while still in high school. I made a lot of new friends where I was working. We shared a lot of fun, even when we weren’t working. Great times.
A car very similar to my first car 1959 Ford Fairlane
At twenty I got married. Big, big mistake. I thought you got married, stayed at home and raised kids the same way my mother had done. I was so wrong. Times had changed and it took two incomes. So the stay at home mother wasn’t possible. Both my husband and I were miserable. He was a heavy drinker which caused a lot of problems. We both had gotten married for the wrong reasons. Eventually we went our separate ways.
Michael Dolan emilydickinson@gmail. A 1961 chevy Impala Like one I learned to drive
Now I learned what real independence was and how much I valued my independence. I was able to stand on my own two feet. I managed to go to work, find babysitters and rented an apartment on my own. It was tough but I proved to myself I was capable of doing it.
Since I moved on my own, I have raised the three children. Gone back to school and bought a house on my own. I now live almost alone. I try not to depend on other people anymore than I have to. But there’s occasionally times I have to depend on some one else to do repairs, moving or lifting.
Thus I think independence is the trait I value most about myself. I love being independent and worry about losing my independence. I know the time will come when I am older and will have to ask others for help. I am dreading the day when I can’t drive or take care of myself any longer.
Annie and Josie Bassett were the daughters of Herbert and Elizabeth Basset. Herbert was an educated man who had been a teacher and then later served in the Union Army. During the gold rush years, his brother Samuel headed west. Herbert decided to move his family west because of his health. The family ended up settling in Brown’s Hole, Colorado. Brown’s Hole also had close borders to Utah and Wyoming. His wife, Elizabeth, renamed it “Brown’s Park” because of its natural beauty. The family settled down there and built a small cabin, started ranching, and their family grew to four children.
The Basset Family
Herbert tended to be quieter and calmer than his beautiful, wild wife. The Bassett family was very social and welcomed everyone into their home. Strangers, church-going neighbors, travelers, and many times even outlaws hiding from the law. Butch Cassidy was one of those famous outlaws. He was romantically involved with both Anne and Josie Bassett at different times. Members of the Butch Cassidy gang, the Wild Bunch, were welcome visitors.
Elizabeth Bassett, Anne, and Josie’s, mother was a beautiful woman. She could ride rope, shoot, and rustle cattle as well as the men who were devoted to the family. These men would do anything Elizabeth or her daughters asked them to do. Even if it meant breaking the law. Her two daughters took after her. After Elizabeth’s death when she was only 37, the sisters took over running the ranch. By this time, there was a feud starting between the small ranches and the big cattle barons. This feud was particularly between the Bassets and the Two Bars Ranch.
Butch Cassidy and The Wild Bunch
Anne Basset
Anne was involved with several of the outlaws that hung out at the ranch. But then she did become engaged to Matt Rash. Before they were married, though, the owner of the Two Bar Ranch brought in a hired gun. Tom Horn was hired to hunt down cattle rustlers, and Matt Rash was shot and died. After this, things escalated between the two families. Anne would drive many of the Two Bar Ranch cattle over a cliff in revenge. At one point, she stood trial for cattle rustling but was acquitted. Both Anne and her sister were admired and respected. The cowhands they worked with had a great respect for these two women. They admired them for their ability to run a ranch and work right along with the cowboys. Queen Anne, as she was often referred to was well-liked. On the other side the cattle rancher was so disliked that Queen Anne was given a parade in honor of her acquittal.
Josie Bassett’s cabin in Cub Creek
Josie Basset
While Anne was the more daredevil of the two girls, Josie was more domesticated. However, she could hold her own on the ranch, riding, roping, shooting, and rustling cattle. Josie was married five times. She divorced four of those husbands, and the fifth was rumored that he died of poisoning. Josie was charged with his murder but was acquitted. The fifth husband actually died from alcoholism. In her later years, she was asked if she poisoned her fifth husband. Her answer was a smile, and she just said that some husbands are harder to get rid of. Josie also stood trial for cattle rustling, but she also was acquitted. In her later years, close to forty years old she built a cabin in Cub Creek. During the years Prohibition Laws were in effect, Josie made her own whiskey, wine and brandy. Here at her cabin she lived off the land for the next fifty years. Josie died in May 1964. She had lived long enough to see automobiles, electricity, television and phones and two world wars.
Anne and Josie Bassett were an interesting pair of sisters. They grew up running wild and were friends with known outlaws. They were women who were before their time, women who took control of their own destinies. They were liked and respected for their independent natures. They did what women weren’t supposed to do. They became women legends of the old west.
