I married a man who loves history

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I married a man who loves history.   We’ve been to Mystic Seaport in Connecticut and the Cabrillo National Monument in San Diego.  On a trip from Louisville to Savannah, we followed the battlefields of the Civil War from Chickamauga down the route of Sherman’s March to the Sea.

On a terribly hot summer day, George, his sister and I searched Gettysburg for their ancestors who served in the Pennsylvania 150th regiment.  Diane was chased and nearly devoured by a reaping machine in the Hay Field.

We visited frontier villages in Houston and Fredericksburg, TX;  The National Ranching Heritage Center in Lubbock, TX, one of my favorites;  the Texas Ranger Museum on Waco; the Billy the Kid Museum someplace in Texas;  Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park where we love feeding the burros and I wandered through a herd of buffalo.   Another favorites was the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historic Site in St. Martinville, Louisiana which we stumbled on by accident on a drive to New Orleans.  

And, of course, in D.C., we visited the Memorials; in Virginia, Monticello and Old Williamsburg. 

I can’t remember all the places but I’ve enjoyed every one of them because I was with George and because, fortunately, I love history, too.

What is the favorite place you’ve visited?  Historical on not, please share.

Good morning, Wrinkle Face

Musings,

When I got up Tuesday morning, I had creases from my pillowcase on my cheek.  When he saw this, my husband said to me, “Good morning, Wrinkle Face.”  He’s smart enough to realize immediately his statement might could (as we say in Texas) insult me.  It did.  He will, I’m fairly certain, never call me this again because he is a really nice guy!

However, this isn’t the worst affectionate nickname I’ve ever heard.  George had a friend from college who called his girl friend–fiancee-wife “Dummy Flab”.  Yes, that’s right.  He called her a name that stated she was both stupid and fat.  I don’t know how or if the marriage  survived.

What’s the worst nickname you’ve ever heard, been called or used?   I love to know these things.

Do you like to laugh?

I'm guest blogging!, ,

In November, I’ll present a workshop on Savvy Authors about writing humor because I’ve always wondered how I do that.  I truly believe having a weird mind is the main factor.

Over the weekend, I blogged about the up-coming workshop and humor.  I’d love for you to drop by.

http://www.savvyauthors.com/vb/content.php?2255-What-Mary-and-Sheldon-Teach-Us-about-Writing-Humor-by-Jane-Myers-Perrine#.UE32YJIVmVs.facebook

They call me “Clueless”

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I grew up during a more innocent time and am still a little naive.    Actually, some say I’m clueless.   Examples?

I always thought the song went, “One toe over the line”.   I  liked it  and sang along loudly, enthusiastically,  and incorrectly for years.   About ten years ago I learned the word was “toke” and also learned what that meant.  

 And I thought the Doobie brothers were a bunch of siblings from the Doobie family.

Come on, confess.   There are times you’ve been clueless, right?  Please share.  I’ll feel so much better.

Where do you get your ideas?

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Over and over, I’ve been told, “Write what you know.”   I’ve never agreed.  If authors stuck to writing what they knew, no historicals would be in print because the author  wasn’t alive to witness those events.   Agatha Christie would never had written her mysteries because, as far as we know, she never killed anyone.

 I wrote two historicals that took place in Regency England in 1812 and another that took place in Texas 120 years ago.  Had to do a lot of research to do that.

Then I started writing the Tales from Butternut Creek series and realized I was writing exactly what I knew: a minister in a small town church. The Palm Sunday donkey running away with his rider? I was one of the group that grabbed the animal before he could toss the boy off. A minister’s fear of counseling a member of the congregation? Been there and survived and the woman I counseled did as well. The group of women who run the church? I’ve met them in every church either my husband or I have served and readers tell me they know a Miss Birdie. All the stories, all the embarrassing and funny situations we lived came together in these books and I’ve had such a great time writing them.

Sometimes the memories make me laugh. But members of a congregation suffer, too, and I cried with them. Those hard times made the books, too.

 Of course, I didn’t live through or actually witness everything I wrote. We never lived in a huge Victorian parsonage but I’ve always wanted to—if I didn’t have to do the housework. And I expanded on some of the scenes. In Butternut Creek, the donkey took off down the highway with the kid hanging on his back. In reality, he ran only ten yards although I imagine the boy riding him thought it last far longer.

Have you had an experience you think should be in a book? I’d love for you to share.

What I miss living in Texas

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I grew up in Kansas City, MO.   My father was a huge University of Kansas fan so we drove to Lawrence for every home football and basketball game as well as the Kansas Relays.

What I especially loved–even as a young child–was the glory of the changing leaves during our autumn drives.   Do I remember them as being more beautiful than they were or do I just miss them that much?

What do you think?  Do you enjoy the four season?  Which is your favorite and why?

Salsa and blue Jell-o

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Every year since 1998, Beloit College has published a “Beloit College Mindset List”.  I love it because it reminds me how old I am—well, actually, that isn’t my favorite reason—and how those events and things I believe are part of our culture don’t even appear as a blip in the minds of seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds entering college.

I read this list every year—here’s the link to the latest list  http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/

My favorite list came out a few years ago.  I first heard about it in the September 21, 2009, issue of TIME magazine when Nancy Gibbs wrote this:  The Mindset List is a “dictionary of all the deeply ingrained cultural references that will make to sense to students of the incoming class. This year’s freshmen were typically born in 1991.  That means, the authors explain, they have never used a card catalog to find a book; salsa has always outsold ketchup; women have always outnumbered men in college; there has always been blue Jell-O.”

I remember hours spent going through card catalogs when I was in college.  And, when I was in college, men outnumbered women three-to-one.  Of course, that did little for me, a humanities major, because most of these guys majored in agriculture or engineering, fields pretty much closed to women way back then.

Think of the phrases students today don’t really understand:  both dial and hang up the phone, a broken record.   In the future, it may be these will be explained in books that tells us what “the whole nine yards” means. 

Both my husband and I have Kindles and will not return to reading real books.  He also uses salsa on his scrambled eggs.   And I prefer red Jello although I’ll eat any color of M&Ms.

What changes do you see around you?  What do you remember that today’s kids know nothing about?   I’d love to hear from you.