What is a Ground Hog? #WordPressWednesday #Reblogs #Inspiration

Believe it or not, Ground Hog Day is just around the corner. The post I’m sharing contains information about this creature and this unusual day. Now, here’s Carol!

***

One of the oldest and strangest holidays is Ground Hog Day. First observed in the 16th century by German speaking people. In 1887, the Pennsylvania Dutch believed in the weather prediction ability of the ground hog. The ground hog or wood chuck would emerge from hibernation on the same day yearly. If he saw his shadow, he would return to his burrow, and there would be six more weeks of winter.

 

Read the original post.

 

Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my monthly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to:  newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io  You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

 

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

The cover of the book features an older woman sitting in a wicker chair facing a window. The world beyond the window is bright, and several plants are visible on the terrace. Behind the woman’s chair is another plant, with a tall stalk and wide rounded leaves. The woman has short, white hair, glasses, a red sweater, and tan pants. The border of the picture is a taupe color and reads "Why Grandma Doesn't Know Me" above the photo and "Abbie Johnson Taylor" below it.

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

Winter Haiku 2024 #TuesdayTidbit #Poetry #Inspiration

Let me read it to you.

 

deer waiting to cross

busy snowless thoroughfare

one January day

 

late-January day

crows and birds call joyously

sun shines in blue sky

 

snow out the window

covering every surface

a pure world of white

 

four below zero

crow’s urgent calls fill the air

undeterred by cold

 

cold winter night

moon shining bright over snow

luster of midday

***

The above haiku were published in the January 28th issue of The Weekly Avocet, which can be downloaded here. Thank you for reading.

 

Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my monthly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to:  newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io  You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

 

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

The cover of the book features an older woman sitting in a wicker chair facing a window. The world beyond the window is bright, and several plants are visible on the terrace. Behind the woman’s chair is another plant, with a tall stalk and wide rounded leaves. The woman has short, white hair, glasses, a red sweater, and tan pants. The border of the picture is a taupe color and reads "Why Grandma Doesn't Know Me" above the photo and "Abbie Johnson Taylor" below it.

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

Same Name #MondayMusings #OpenBookBlogHop #Inspiration

Welcome to another Open Book Blog Hop. This week’s question is: “Do you use or have you considered using different pen names for different genres of your writing?”

Here’s my short but sweet answer. No!

I’ve always used the same name, Abbie Johnson Taylor, for all my published works. Although I write and publish in various genres, I don’t need to use a different name for separate types of work. It would only confuse my readers. Other authors feel differently.

How about you? Have you published different genres under different names? You can click here to participate on your blog and enjoy other responses. Thank you for reading.

 

Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my monthly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to:  newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io  You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

 

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

The cover of the book features an older woman sitting in a wicker chair facing a window. The world beyond the window is bright, and several plants are visible on the terrace. Behind the woman’s chair is another plant, with a tall stalk and wide rounded leaves. The woman has short, white hair, glasses, a red sweater, and tan pants. The border of the picture is a taupe color and reads "Why Grandma Doesn't Know Me" above the photo and "Abbie Johnson Taylor" below it.

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

Marking Eleven Years of Blogging #FantasticFridayFinds #Reblogs #Inspiration

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself mentioned in Alice’s post. She talks about how I, along with other writers in Behind Our Eyes, inspired her to start her own blog.

Reading comments like this one makes my labor of love as a blogger more rewarding. Please check out this post, then see what other gems you can find on Alice’s blog. I hope she continues for at least another eleven years, if not more.

***

Whenever you read my WORDWALK blog, you are reading a dream-come-true because my wish for my retirement years was to be able to write—to have the time to write creatively as I never seemed to have this time for writing when I was teaching full-time. With this blog post, I begin my twelfth year of blogging weekly on WORDWALK. When I initiated this blog on January 19, 2013, I never dreamed that I would mark my eleventh anniversary of weekly blogging on WordPress. Of course, once again, I must note special thanks to the writers’ group Behind Our Eyes…

 

Read the original post.

 

Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my monthly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to:  newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io  You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

 

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

The cover of the book features an older woman sitting in a wicker chair facing a window. The world beyond the window is bright, and several plants are visible on the terrace. Behind the woman’s chair is another plant, with a tall stalk and wide rounded leaves. The woman has short, white hair, glasses, a red sweater, and tan pants. The border of the picture is a taupe color and reads "Why Grandma Doesn't Know Me" above the photo and "Abbie Johnson Taylor" below it.

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?

What to Know About Heaven: My Review of We Never Die by Matt Fraser #FantasticFridayReads #Nonfiction #Inspiration

What Audible Says

 

From America’s top psychic medium and the author of When Heaven Calls comes a new book that unveils the secrets of the afterlife, the truth about heaven, and inspires “us with his comforting certainty that we never die” (Gloria Estefan).

Psychic medium Matt Fraser, author of When Heaven Calls, is back to unpack the number one question folks ask him: “What happens after death?” Although we might expect a complicated answer, it’s actually pretty simple: We never die!

Drawing from thousands of conversations with Spirit, Matt pulls back the curtain on life’s hidden revelations:

-What happens when we cross over

-The beautiful realities of heaven and eternal life

-The guardian angels who keep us safe on Earth (including our pets who have passed)

-The role of dreams and how souls appear to the living

-Love, romance, and soul mates beyond life

-Ghosts, hauntings, negative souls, energy vampires, and psychic protection

-Destiny, free will, and second chances

-Regrets, amends, and forgiveness from heaven

-Figuring out your gifts and purpose

-Karma, kindness, and living in the divine flow

-How to recognize the signs and messages our loved ones send us from heaven

As Matt explains, “We all have our own ‘phone line’ to communicate with heaven. All we have to do is figure out how to use it.”

Revealed through never-before-told stories, the wisdom in We Never Die “is healing the world by making sure we have a strong emotional and spiritual connection, which is the foundation for a healthy life” (Karamo Brown, star of Queer Eye and author of Karamo).

©2022 Matt Fraser. All rights reserved (P)2022 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

Buy from Audible.

 

My 4-Star Review

 

I was skeptical after reading a review of this book on one of the blogs I follow. But my guardian angel must have wanted me to read it because I found myself searching for it on Audible, one of my first go-to sources for books, since I prefer human narration. When I clicked on the Play Sample button, the first thing I heard was Matt Fraser’s wife Alexa, who was terrified of death and also skeptical. In the prologue, she talks about how, when she and her husband met, he knew about a pouch containing treasured items belonging to her deceased grandmother that she carried in her purse. Since this was their first meeting, how else could he have known? I was sold.

One thing I take issue with is this. Matt Fraser says we have a direct phone line to Heaven. Well, we can communicate with our deceased loved ones via our thoughts. But unless we use a psychic medium, our loved ones have no direct way to communicate with us. So, the analogy of a phone line is inaccurate.

Otherwise, there are a lot of things I liked about this book. Matt Fraser did an excellent job narrating it. His wife read a bit too slowly for my liking. But increasing the speed on my smart speaker solved that problem.

I was fascinated to learn what it’s like for someone to transition to Heaven. In most cases, when it’s time to go, loved ones in Heaven will come to you and escort you there.

Fraser talks about positive and negative energy. If you allow negative thoughts to consume you, you’re exuding negative energy, which isn’t good for you or anyone else including your deceased loved ones in the spirit world who are watching over you. He provides tips for maintaining positive energy, and I’m now trying to live by these.

Another thing I was amazed to learn is that pets can see spirits. As you may have read in last Tuesday’s post, I’ve realized that sometimes when my robotic cat Joy meows, she’s seeing my late husband, who hated it when I talked to myself. Half the time Joy meows for no apparent reason, I’m talking to myself. So, I’m making a conscious effort to cut down on that.

All this may sound crazy. But believe it or not, these ideas comfort me. Since I read this book, I’ve started communicating with deceased loved ones and my guardian angel, and I’ve felt more at peace. If you’re still skeptical, please don’t knock this book until you try it.

 

Abbie wears a blue and white V-neck top with different shades of blue from sky to navy that swirl together with the white. She has short, brown hair and rosy cheeks and smiles at the camera against a black background.Photo Courtesy of Tess Anderson Photography

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to my email list to receive my monthly newsletter and other announcements. This is a one-way announcements list, meaning the only messages you’ll receive will come from me. So, you can rest assured that this list is low-traffic. Send a blank email to:  newsfrommycorner+subscribe@groups.io  You’ll receive a confirmation email. Reply to that with another blank message, and you should be good to go.

 

New! Why Grandma Doesn’t Know Me

Copyright 2021 by Abbie Johnson Taylor.

Independently published with the help of DLD Books.

The cover of the book features an older woman sitting in a wicker chair facing a window. The world beyond the window is bright, and several plants are visible on the terrace. Behind the woman’s chair is another plant, with a tall stalk and wide rounded leaves. The woman has short, white hair, glasses, a red sweater, and tan pants. The border of the picture is a taupe color and reads "Why Grandma Doesn't Know Me" above the photo and "Abbie Johnson Taylor" below it.

Photo Resize and Description

by Two Pentacles Publishing

 

Sixteen-year-old Natalie’s grandmother, suffering from dementia and confined to a wheelchair, lives in a nursing home and rarely recognizes Natalie. But one Halloween night, she tells her a shocking secret that only she and Natalie’s mother know. Natalie is the product of a one-night stand between her mother, who is a college English teacher, and another professor.

After some research, Natalie learns that people with dementia often have vivid memories of past events. Still not wanting to believe what her grandmother has told her, she finds her biological father online. The resemblance between them is undeniable. Not knowing what else to do, she shows his photo and website to her parents.

Natalie realizes she has some growing up to do. Scared and confused, she reaches out to her biological father, and they start corresponding.

Her younger sister, Sarah, senses their parents’ marital difficulties. At Thanksgiving, when she has an opportunity to see Santa Claus, she asks him to bring them together again. Can the jolly old elf grant her request?