Some of my favorite places and favorite people I visit often

Today I am sharing some things that I find interesting or think others will like. On my sidebar I have a long list of blogs and websites that I read almost every week. I subscribe to some like Eye on the Edge. One of my favorite bloggers is DJan who, like me, writes on two personal blogs. This lady is 70 plus, which makes no difference except that she has just retired from 25 years of skydiving. She lives in the beautiful north western part of our country where she hikes regularly and lives a good life. I was drawn to her at first because, like me, she has suffered some life tragedies, but has persevered and did not let things stop her from living.

I admit it. I am drawn to women who overcome tough times to live a life of their choosing. DJan lost both of her children. I lost my husband, my parents, and four of my siblings. I know what grief is about, but I also know from talking to mothers who have lost sons and daughters that the loss of a child is extremely hard to overcome. Read the newspaper article about DJan and her record making jump.

DJan is an excellent writer who touches her readers with her honesty and open thoughts on the screen. She writes once a week on Sunday mornings. I look forward to each one.

I discovered a website by a Western NC writer of children's books and stories, Judy Pierce, who uses a white squirrel as her main character. Ozette, the squirrel, lives in Farlandia with friends. Pierces's tales for children are written the way I remember stories when I was small. She has a page on  her website of nothing but photos of the rare white squirrel. Children love her books about Ozette. Judy's website is absolutely beautiful like an old fashioned story book.

A lovely French woman writes a blog Recollections of a Vagabonde, that takes me to many places, teaches me about cities and countries I've not visited with her professional photographs as well as her intelligent language. This blog is a feast for the eyes. She has been a world traveler since she was quite young and now she and her husband travel when they find a good deal, she says. She has lived in Georgia since the 1960s, but goes home to Paris as often as possible.

I discovered Vagabonde when she published one of my poems on her blog and used lovely old paintings and picture post cards in the presentation. What serendipity - she came upon a copy of my poetry book, liked a poem and found it worked well for her blog. You can find her blog listed under Links for blogs and websites on my sidebar.