Happy Birthday, Estelle Rice

I had a birthday this  month and celebrated in the best way I can imagine.

My friend, Mary Mike and I hosted a lunch for our dear friend, Estelle Rice. Estelle is celebrating a big one, but we don't talk about numbers.

The group that gathered was just large enough and not too large to carry on some great conversations.

Some of Estelle's oldest writer friends attended, including Paul Donovan and Glenda Barrett. Paul read a cute piece that had us laughing at ourselves. Mary Mike read two poems by Estelle from her book, Quiet Times. 

Age has no bearing on following your passions and continuing with what you enjoy doing as long as you are healthy enough to pursue your goals. Estelle is still writing poems and revising short stories. She still works on her family history, the genealogy of her lines. And  most importantly, Estelle keeps smiling and stays positive even when her life is not as cheery as her voice. 

From left: Paul Donovan, Glenda Barrett, Estelle Rice, Glenda Beall,Carole Thompson, 
Mary Mike Keller, Staci Bell

Glenda Barrett, Painter and Poet,

Before I became serious about writing, I painted in oils and I loved it. I will go back to it one day, the Lord willing, but my friend Glenda Barrett, author of the poetry chapbook, When the Sap Rises, is also a wonderful painter. See her work online here

Every painting has a softness about it that reminds me of Glenda herself, a mild mannered woman with deep roots in Appalachia. When Glenda had to stop working in the medical field due to a muscle disease, she turned to writing and painting and has been successful at both. Her work is listed with Yessy.com and can be bought through that online gallery.

Personally her life has been filled with challenges and stressful events, but she follows the rule to look for the good in everything and counts her blessings every day. She paints pictures with words as well as with brushes and color. Vist Yessy.com and you night find just the painting for your wall or for a gift.

" Can I take it off now?"
Rocky did not like his Christmas sweater last year, perhaps because he is definitely not a Georgia Bulldog.


The rain let up today. I'm grateful it stopped. A good-sized group attended our Christmas Poems and Stories at the Moss Library in Hayesville tonight. Three women writers, Shirley Uphouse, Glenda Barrett and Brenda Kay Ledford read delightful stories. I enjoyed every one of them. Shirley's story was about a Christmas wish from a young girl who wanted a horse of her own, much the way I was when I was a kid. Glenda Barrett wrote a touching story about Mamaw, her wonderful grandmother. But Brenda Kay had us laughing out loud with her hilarious story of the 90 year old woman and the biker. Brenda Kay has a wonderful true mountain dialect that enhances her storytelling and her reading. Our only open mic reader was Richard Argo who read his always interesting and quirky Christmas Letter.

It hasn't seemed much like Christmas at our house this year, but when I drive down to the center of our little town, it reminds me of a Christmas Card. The courthouse square is decorated and all the shops have white lights, and I get that warm feeling inside I associate with the holy days.

I spent some time in the local bookstore today and wished I had the time to select a book, go back to the Dessertery with a cup of coffee and read while the sound of carols filled the shop. But hurry, hurry, I must because I don't yet have my gifts wrapped. I've done no baking, nor made the cornbread dressing I'll take to my sister's for Christmas dinner.

Tonight we are watching a Christmas concert by the Three Tenors. I love their voices, but some tunes they just shouldn't sing. It is comical to hear them belting out "Jingle Bells." That song wasn't meant to be sung by opera singers. Their rendition of Amazing Grace and Silent Night, however, rivals that of heavenly angels' singing.