Beach Time by Christine Johnson

Having grown up half a block from the beach, nothing says “summer” like the beach. As a kid, my brother and sister and I ran down the gravel road barefoot so we could drop our towels on the sand and splash into the water. The last one in was chicken! We didn’t care if the water was cold. It was just plain fun. Here’s a photo of our childhood beach on Lake Michigan.

These days, I’m much more particular about the water temperature, but I still love a beach. I enjoy walking the shore to collect stones or shells or “treasure” washed ashore. I once found an old key and wondered what it unlocked. Unusual stones end up in my growing collection. The ocean provides countless wonders to this freshwater gal, whether calm or stormy.

Beach at Fort Zachary Taylor on Key West

Beach near Cape Hatteras

  

But sometimes I just like to sit in the shade of an umbrella and read a good book. In my Key West-set book with Revell, Love’s Rescue, the shore symbolizes both her dream and all she has lost. Naturally she must go there.

Do you have a favorite beach? Is one on your wish list to visit? What’s your favorite thing to do at a beach?

Christine Johnson

Love’s Rescue (Revell – June 2015)

Love by Design (LIH – May 2015)
http://christineelizabethjohnson.com
http://www.facebook.com/ChristineJohnsonAuthor

Homecoming Blessing

Jean C. Gordon here. No matter what my story, all of my books seem to have coming home or finding home as an underlying
theme. This week we have our own family homecoming theme. My daughter and son-in-law and family are returning home after working for a year in Guam -- she as a midwife at a public health clinic and he for a USDA/Guam Department of Agriculture program to encourage sustainability farming.

The younger generation has already arrived, tired but happy, along
with their lab mix Mr. Buttons. Our daughter and son-in-law are expected tomorrow. A new family member, Zori (pictured to the right) is coming with them. Then, on Thursday, yet another new family member, Appa (with Mr. Buttons on the beach) is coming. Stray dogs are a big problem on Guam, and our family has done their part to help relieve the problem.

So, I'm feeling very blessed that we'll soon all be back together at Tinhorn Farm.

What has you feeling blessed this week?

Gone to Guam

Not me—Jean C. Gordon—but our daughter, son-n-law, and the kids. She accepted a position as a midwife at a federal clinic there in August, leaving us with an empty nest for the first time. We bought our small farm in Upstate New York together about 15 years ago when her younger brother was a high school freshman. It’s been a big change, and to help us adjust, my son-in-law and granddaughter have provided us with lots of photos of their move, settling in, and adventures to let us be with them vicariously.

Here are some of them that have me in awe of God’s creative power—and saving for a trip to Guam myself next year.

 

  

Since they’ve left, I’ve been surprised by the number of people I've talked with who have been to Guam or have a family member who has, usually while serving with the military. Have you been there or, like us now, or have a Guam family connection?

Ask Elnora--About Beaches and Girlfriends??? Lenora Worth

Elnora loves to take long, meandering trips with girlfriends. It's hard to explain to non-girlfriend types (such as men) why women love to travel in packs and explore strange and exotic places (like the shoe department aisle). Men find adventure in hunting out in the woods. Women find adventure in hunting in housewares. Men like to go to ball games and cheer on their favorite teams. Women will go with them and check out what all the other women are wearing. Who won, anyway? (That rule doesn't apply at little league games. Women at these events turn into banshees--screaming and clapping and harrassing innocent umpires. But I digress.) I wasn't always a pack-traveling girl. I grew up the youngest of seven, so I kind of enjoyed my alone time. I had three older sisters and a lot of drama to deal with. I had three older brothers, too. Another kind of drama. I'd watch from the fringes and listen and wonder above the fray about what was out there on that long county line road. I had a yearning to go to faraway places and see different people. I never knew how much fun that could be until I started traveling with other women. Beach trips with church friends, road trips to conferences with writerly friends. The first group laughs and gossips and shops (even at gas stations, of course.) The second group plots and plans and obsesses over the next story line, on planes and in cars and even in trams taking them to planes and cars. Both groups have a dynamite that calls to Elnora's restless traveling soul. Both groups fascinate me and challenge me and make me laugh and sometimes, make me cry. But that got me to thinking--What is it about beach trips and plane rides and women traveling in packs? Why do we have so much fun with our friends? When I think about what I do for a living, I'm always amazed and blessed to realize that because of this fun job I get to travel in my mind to faraway places and I get to travel in reality with some fabulous friends who "get" me. My writer friends understand the parts of me that my "civilian" friends might not get. My "civilian" friends support my efforts and read my books and buy them for their friends, even when they might not get that part of me. It's an amazing process, this making of friends. It takes a lifetime and pours it all into a few precious minutes. Sometimes you meet someone and things just click. That's what friendship is all about. So, my darlings, my worldly friends, my Friday girls who cheer me and chat with me--what is it about beaches and girlfriends and traveling that calls to women the world over? Let's discuss. And then please read below this picture--Elnora has an exciting announcement about something new we are planning, beginning next Friday! Okay, starting next Friday (the third Friday of the month) we will have a new feature here on the Craftie Ladies blog. It will be "Ask Elnora--About Writing." I, along with all the other way-talented Love Inspired Writers here, will answer your questions about writing a book. That's right. Anything you want to know--if we can't answer it, we will take it to one of our hardworking editors and hopefully they will be able to help. Want to know about developing characters, come see us on the Third Friday of the Month and we will discuss characters. Have a question already? Send it to Elnora through my website at www.lenoraworth.com. I will bring it here and we will discuss. But only on the Third Friday of the Month. Anything you'd like to discuss--characters, plot, scene and sequel, revisions and edits, setting and pacing, synopsis writing and sagging middles. We've seen it all, hear it all and cried about all of it! We'lll figure things out together. If you're a reader and not a writer, don't panic. We'd like to hear from you, too. Your encouragement and suggestions will help all of us! So now I have Beaching Girlfriends, Writer Girlfriends and Blogging Girlfriends. Let's add Third Friday Friends Who Must Write to that list. It will be like a long, lovely road trip where we all get to find The End. So ... back to Beaches and Girlfriends? Let's discuss!