Happy Thanksgiving to All - A Time to Take Inventory

So, have you ever awakened on a winter morning and known immediately that you have no electrical power? Even if your warm, cocoon of blankets is still intact, you simply KNOW
by the dead stillness of the house that nothing is happening in this familiar space.

I love the happy little hummings of a house that is alive and breathing. A house has a whole retinue of hums, clicks, creaks, ticks, that let you know that all is well. At this season of thanks giving, I am very thankful for those sounds.

I am very thankful for a warm, comfortable, cozy place. Those hums and clicks mean that
temperatures are just right. They mean that hot water will flow from pipes. They mean that food is being safely kept and the stove will to prepare a meal. Thank you, Lord, for those hums and clicks.

Those sounds mean that the telephone will work. And the computer will work. I can have instant contact with those I love. And, thank you, Lord, for all those blessings! We are so thankful for children who have turned out to be good people and made good choices.
They chose well when they married. Now we have six great kids instead of three - and
wonderful grandchildren, too!

The phone and computer bring messages from other relatives and from so many good -
NO I mean GREAT friends. Thank you, Lord, for the blessing of friends. With all its problems, Anderson may not seem like a place anyone would want to live. That is if you looked at it from the outside. But, I thank you, Lord, for this town that is my home and a place where I am daily nourished with the love, the caring, the fun, the nonsense, even the work that is a part of having a good family and great friends.

I am even thankful for some small thumps and and scritching sounds. They mean that Frank, the cat, is nearby. And. Lord knows, I am thankful for that cat. He certainly keeps me company, loves to curl up on my lap or in my arms. He is a low-maintenance kind of guy.
He doesn't eat much or poop much. Thank you, Lord, for Frank the cat.

Oh, and then there is the sound of the garage door opener. That means that the Impala is either coming or going, coming or going, coming or going, coming or going. I am most thankful for that pretty white car. Even though it comes and goes all day long. It means that Don is busy bringing in what is needed, running errands, helping someone, or delivering me places I need to go. Thank you, Lord, for that pretty white car.

And, Most of all, thank you, Lord, for the driver of that car. Nothing, nowhere, nohow, no time,
would be possible without his love and caring.

Oh, and thanks for the Casino. It keeps that driver busy when I want to stay here quiet at home and listen to all the comforting little sounds that a happy home makes.

What's Even Better than Nieces and Nephews?

When nieces, Liz and Andrea, visited last Saturday, they were accompanied by Andrea's two younger children Ayla and Aaron. And I must say they are very sweet and very likable kids!

I guess the only thing better than nieces and nephews might be great nieces and nephews.

Besides being very pretty, Ayla is every inch a young lady. And Aaron was very interested in everything at our house. Both kids immediately made friends with Frank the cat and enjoyed looking at all the miniatures. Aaron asked, "Do you know that you named your cat a human's name?" I tried to explain about his eyes being blue when he was a baby, so we named him after "Old Blue Eyes," Frank Sinatra. I'm sure none of that explanation meant a thing to Aaron, since

Frank is really ancient history, but he accepted the explanation with good grace.

What Aaron was really interested in was greeting great-uncle Don and seeing all the treasures in his room. As you can see from the picture, Aaron went home with a Hoosier Park hat and an

autographed baseball.

Well, we hope we can all get together sometime soon. We really need to have a Green/Baker/

Smith/Holloman informal jam session. Like Brenda says - and make a joyful noise!

Contest Winners

I have had a long vacation from blogging. No excuses. I have just been doing a lot of other interesting things. I have been feeling a writing itch lately. Perhaps with colder weather, I will really get the urge to sit at the computer and put some thoughts into writing.

But, today I am going to record the thoughts of some other writers.......better writers....very good writers.

As you all know I have been promoting the Friends of the Library writing contest. We had the contest to bring about increased interest and sales of biographies. And I am so happy to report that the contest really stirred up interest in our biography sections.....and did increase sales substantially. We also had a very nice article in the Anderson Herald Bulletin - full page- and in color. The publicity resulted in many new custtomers!

The other even happier outcome was that my two nieces TIED FOR FIRST PLACE in the

"over 15" group of contestants. And a lovely young lady - a 5th or 6th grader I think - won the "under 15" prize. Several facebook friends have expressed the desire to read these celebrity conversations. So I am posting them here on my blog, so that all of you can read them.

Conversation Between Condoleezza Rice and J.K. Rowling

by Liz Green

CR: Hello, I'm Condi.

JK: Nice to meet you. I'm Jo. How did we end up on these shelves together?

CR: Well, I am a former National Security Adviser to President George W. Bush. You?

JK: I wrote the Harry Potter novels.

CR: Oh, those were so good! They are so good at showing relationships among different people and different worlds. That is something I have always found interesting.

JK: And don't YOU have to know a lot about international relations and people to work in the American government?

CR: Indeed. I studied political science specializing in international relations. Especially Russia.

JK: That is so interesting! I used to teach English as a second language. My parents wanted me to be a bilingual secretary.

CR: Mine wanted me to be a concert pianist. It wasn't the right job for me. It sounds to me like you chose your own career, too.

JK: I did. I loved writing, language, and creativity.

CR: I love languages too. I speak Russian.

JK: I lived in France and Portugal.

CR: The world is becoming smaller all the time.

JK: It is. And we need to learn to live together in this complex world.

A Conversation Between Salman Rushdie and Gilda Radner

by Andrea Kuieck

A biography of Gilda Radner is sitting next to a biography of Salman Rushdie. They are in a library somewhere in Indiana. For our purposes here today, they can converse.

Hi, Salman Rushdie!

I am not actually Salman Rushdie. I am his biography. As you could not possibly he Gilda Radner, sadly, may she rest in peace.

Um, Okay. Bummer. Hi Salman Rushdie's biography! I don't think anyone is going to read you, but I'll keep you company if you want, so you aren't too lonely.

Why, thank you. But why don't you think anyone will read me?

Well, I think it's the big words, Salman Rushdie. Your books are great and everything.... I mean like, REALLY great! But if your biography has that many big words in it, then I don't think anyone is going to read you. And that is a shame. I mean.... you're like GREAT. You're so interesting, and intellectual, and that whole thing where there was a hit out on you for writing THE SATANIC VERSES just makes you so DANGEROUS and COOL. And then you were hip enough to be in the Bridget Jones movie.....that was so funny.....I mean it's not YOU, it's THESE GUYS.

Well, thank you for the compliments. At least I think so. But what do you mean by THESE GUYS?

Well, Salman Rushdie, it's like this. You know how in your latest novel you use the word QUOTIDIAN like a million times?

Yes, I suppose I did use it more than twice.

I don't know if people around here even know that's a word.

Well, I don't believe it appears in this biography. No. Not even once.

And did you reallly truly use the word TREPSICHORIAN in your last novel? Because no one on this planet has ever said that word, Salman Rushdie. I think if you say that word in Indiana they write you a ticket.

I see. Yes, I suppose it might not be the best demographic for me.

They won't read me either.

Of course they will! your are a National Treasure, Gilda Radner.

Oh, go on.

You were everything we admire, Gilda. You were talented, funny....hysterically funny.

Oh, stop it. Not really. Go on.

You were also very brave and you will be forever, sadly missed.

Thank you, Salman Rushdie.

Even if you are slightly quotidian.

Yeah, I know. I looked it up.

No, you didn't.

No, I didn't. But I trust you.

So there you have it.

SHOCKED

written by Claire Mountcastle

Age 11

One perfect sunny afternoon I was sitting in the library doing my algebra, when all of a sudden I heard two women talking. I looked around the room but nobody was there except me and the librarian. I turned around to a shelf behind me and the voices were coming from the books. Anne Frank and Laura Ingalls Wilder were talking to each other?

I jumped out of my chair listening to the conversation. "The difficulties in my life are running and escaping from the Nazis and Hitler," Anne said.

"The difficulties in my life are doing everything by hand, making every item we eat from scratch, and even trying to tell time. It is hard because we have to guess our way through life." Laura said.

"I get your point," Anne said with interest.

I went to the librarian asking why Anne Frank and Laura Ingalls Wilder were next to each other on the shelf. She told me her intern must have put one book on the wrong shelf. I went back to the shelf and listened some more.

"Laura!" Anne said with excitement. " We have something in common."

"What?" Laura asked.

"The thing we have in common is that we both had difficult lives." said Anne.

"Did you go to school, Anne?" Laura asked.

"Yes, for a while, but when we were cornered by the Nazis, we left to go live in a secret annex."

"You did?" Laura said curiously.

"Yes, I did! For two whole years we lived there."

"WOW!" Laura said. "It must have been boring." she said to Anne.

"I had to sit still and be quiet for hours until the office closed." Anne whispered.

"Did you go to school, Laura?" Anne asked.

"Yes, I got a degree as a teacher when I was sixteen."

Suddenly the voices stopped. I was curious about how it stopped so quickly. The intern had put Anne Frank back on her correct shelf.

I saw my mom pull up in the parking lot. I grabbed my backpack and ran out to the car, still shocked.