My Favorite Things 2

 

A few of my favorite things: hummingbirds buzzing around my head, a bald eagle perched in a nearby tree and rainbows everywhere I look. That’s what The Hill looks like as it meanders through the space/time continuum.

Where I live is definitely one of my favorite things. Beyond my little cottage on top of the hill is the city of Seattle, snow-capped mountains (both east and west), volcanoes, beaches, forests, lakes and inlets. Any direction I go takes me to a completely different place. There are so many rich adventures to be found that I will never manage to find all of them.

I have help with one of my favorite organizations. The Mountaineers https://www.mountaineers.org/

The Mountaineers were founded in 1906 by an almost equal number of both men and women. From the website: “The Mountaineers is an outdoor education nonprofit of 11,000 active members offering you ways to get outside and get connected to a community passionate about the outdoors.”

There’s more to living here than hiking, kayaking, and beachcombing. There’s a rich history from the native tribes and an inspiring collection of diverse mythologies.

Where I live, I can go berry picking in the morning, take a ferry for ice cream in the afternoon and be back in time for the ballet in the evening.

Or I can go kayaking in the morning and then hike The Olympic Rainforest before going to a late afternoon at one of the many area museums.

Before my fellows in the Pacific Northwest rise in anger about my not keeping all of this secret, let me say: “Oh, yes. It rains here constantly. It’s gray and you really shouldn’t move here.”

Actually forget that. There are many paradises scattered around the world. Let me know what yours are and why. My next favorite thing is traveling. Where should I go?

~lisa

Many thanks to kiwinana for nominating me for the Liebster Award. You should check out her blog @ http://ramblingsofawriter2016.com/

For those of you who are wondering, the rabbit is Kala. She and her brother, Merlin, have since moved on to a rabbit-centric home where they get far more attention, but somehow they still sneak into the pictures. The Bengals liked them well enough, but I found myself overstretched.

 

 

 

Imaginary Friends

Writers of fiction are those who never outgrow their imaginary friends.

We embrace them, coddle them and try to talk (write) them through their problems.

One of the delightful parts of being a writer is that you are never truly alone. The more you write your characters, the more they become a part of your life.

One of the more difficult parts of writing fiction is that your list of friends grows over the years. They get more demanding of your time and they compete with each other.

So now I’m scheduling playdates.

Today Jeremy will find out what jungle he’s lost in. Tomorrow Kel will finally get off that cliff he’s been clinging to for over a month. Perhaps on Monday, Sparky and I will figure out where we left off and what he’s supposed to do next.

If I’ve been absent for a while it’s because the fictional playdates run over. Sometimes they run over play time for the menagerie, but never for long. Dog, cats, and bunnies make sure they get their time.

Sometimes I see actual living people and do things in the real world as opposed to the ones I create.

One of my favorite groups for learning and doing is the Mountaineers. Totally cool people, doing totally cool stuff. I highly recommend them for anyone who wants some time away from the keyboard. https://www.mountaineers.org/

My imaginary friends find me flat and boring if I don’t constantly embrace experience, research and the learning of new skills. They’re always challenging me to take the next leap.

My “real” friends also want time. Since the “real” friends are totally cool, fascinating people, I make room for them too. Every new person I meet adds to the richness of my life.

I fall in love with all sorts of people all the time. I have found that life can be equally as fun away from the computer screen and the worlds that you control.

As for the imaginary friends, most of them have to wait in line. They are given a notecard, a short bio, perhaps a problem or two and then they go in the card box. Some are screaming to get out onto pages of their own.

Perhaps when Kel is off his cliff and Sparky finds out who “Fire Guy” is, one of them will have their chance.

As to the rest of you who inhabit the “real” world, please feel free to call me friend. I won’t make you take a number or shove you in a box for I know in the “real” world each friend I have can touch my soul and make me fly. And that gives all those voices in the card file a better chance at life.

~lisa