Tag Archives: Granny Hooks A Crook

Patience! Road Construction A Blessing or a Curse?

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SOMETHING ABOUT NOTHING by Julie Seedorf- Published the week of July 13 in the Albert Lea Tribune and The Courier Sentinel

roadblocklifeI dread driving in winter on icy roads. I look forward to summer and the ease of hopping in my car and visiting whatever community my heart tells me to visit. It doesn’t take hours longer to get somewhere because I don’t have to drive slower because of the ice.

Tuesday I rode to a meeting in the Twin Cities with an acquaintance. Our time was tight because of work schedules. We knew how far we had to go and we knew how long it should take us.

It is amazing how much we anticipate summer roads but forget about road construction to fix roads, so our travel — when construction is completed — results in better roads. The freeway was somewhat empty that day.  We were within a mile of our freeway exit before we hit the back up traffic from road construction. It was almost at a standstill. We checked the time; we were still early.

Remember, I said this person was an acquaintance I had only met once and shared only a few words with. Before I got in the car I wondered what we would talk about. We had writing in common, but this person has fame under his belt. I figured the ride was only about 45 minutes so we should be able to find enough nothing to talk about for 45 minutes. I hadn’t counted on a traffic jam.

As we edged to the exit we had pretty much covered the weather, the traffic and the little unimportant details of our lives. We concluded I was the chatty one and he was the silent one. I have a tendency to rattle on when I am nervous. We reached the exit. It was closed. Now here is where the glitch came in. We knew only one way to get to where we were headed and that way was closed.

Since the acquaintance was driving, he said to me, “Do you know where we are going?” No one that knows me well would ever ask me that question, but of course this was an acquaintance who would not know that I never know where I am.

I pulled out my phone with the handy GPS and we got directions. I had to fumble through my Facebook to find the exact address on the invitation. We knew where we were going but we didn’t know the exact address. We knew how to get there taking the closed exit, and we knew we would recognize the building when we saw it. However, now we were in uncharted territory, trusting the GPS on my phone to get us there through unfamiliar streets and neighborhoods.

Mr. GPS told us to take the next exit. We followed the instructions on my GPS and wondered as we traveled our newly-charted course whether we should trust my phone. Finally we saw the building, but couldn’t figure out where the parking lot was. After a few wrong turns and missteps we parked in the parking lot of the building where we were supposed to be. Yes, we were 15 minutes late for the meeting, but at least we were there.

We entered a library. We rushed into the building and didn’t know where to go. We had to ask for directions. Our conversation while entering the building centered on the fact we didn’t have time to read much anymore. We asked for directions to the room for the meeting, and we missed reading the sign right in front of our faces giving us directions to the meeting. Lack of reading time could be why I am lost so much, I can’t even read directions.

I must admit — the GPS and being direction-challenged broke the ice in the art of conversation between acquaintances.

I remember another time in my life where I was paired to work with someone in a volunteer position and I was feeling shy about it — I know it is hard to believe that about me. It might be a secret but the loudest people are occasionally the shyest, and loudness is a cover for insecurity. What I found out was I would have missed a good friend if I had let my insecurities keep me from volunteering to work with this person.

The meeting was over and I no longer wondered what kind of conversation I would have with this acquaintance on the way home, because this acquaintance, somewhere in the traffic jam, had become a friend. I am not sure without the traffic we would have had the time to talk about the somethings in our lives rather than the nothings.

The next time I am in a traffic jam I will be patient. Instead of being anxious about my destination I will engage in conversation with my car mate and not be anxious about the delay. If I am by myself I will take the time to listen to music or be alone with my thoughts. I might learn something about myself.

One other little tidbit I have learned this summer: I am always lost when driving. My GPS on my phone always gets me to my destination one way or another. I never know where I am or what it is leading me to when this happens. Somewhere along the way there is always a fun surprise. I may be lost, but what I find, occasionally takes my breath away.

“Anytime I feel lost, I pull out a map and stare. I stare until I have reminded myself that life is a giant adventure, so much to do, to see.” — Angelina Jolie

Granny Forks A Fugitive Is Here!

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Granny_Forks_A_FugitivefandbAfter months of writing and editing Granny Forks A Fugitive is now out in paperback and on Kindle. This book was a labor of love. When I wrote the first paragraph I had an idea where I was going with the book. Then I got stuck. I knew what I wanted to portray. I wanted my reader’s to know why Granny turned into this crusty old lady that didn’t show her emotions. As an author of the book and the character, I wasn’t quite sure either.

The more I wrote about Granny this time the more I felt her pain of the past and the more I enjoyed her humor because that was what she used to get past her past and people that had betrayed her. It may seem odd that I fell in love with a character in my book.

We all have people that we love in our lives that have betrayed us. It cuts through everything that we believed and makes us mistrust our instincts. If someone we love can hurt us so deeply then we won’t trust anyone. Breaking the trust cuts deep to our soul. Some people recover and learn to trust again and others live their lives away from love and people because their heart was broken by someone they love.

The mystery in Granny Forks A Fugitive is tied to Granny’s past. I hope you read between the lines and feel what isn’t being said,and enjoy all that Fuchsia has to offer. Let the silliness take you away from the real world for a short time.

I had originally planned to stop the Fuchsia Series after the fourth book but I have such a close heart connection with all the characters now, I feel the series needs to continue and we need to explore that connection and let the community of Fuchsia entice new residents to the unique community.

I hope to not take as long as I did to get the next Fuchsia book out. Right now I am starting another series, yes, another quirky series that will take place in the community of Brilliant, Minnesota. Isn’t that brilliant, taking a community that is mentioned in Fuchsia and creating another book? We will see. Enjoy Granny and shout it out to the world that Granny is on another adventure. I appreciate my readers and the support you give me by spreading the word.

Granny always says in her book, “It’s on a need to know basis and you don’t need to know.” Well

 

Do You Have A Junk Drawer or Two?

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jiunkEvery household has a junk drawer — don’t they? My house holds furniture that has many drawers. I would have to say that most of those drawers probably hold a little junk. My husband would say they hold a lot of junk.

Because I had to conveniently rearrange some of my furniture this week I decided perhaps I could do without a small stand by my bed that is comprised of three drawers. I converted part of an old vanity to a nightstand, but it wasn’t quite what I wanted in my bedroom/office.

I have a hodgepodge of furniture moved from other houses, inherited from family and kept by me during remodeling because it was too good to throw away. The bedside table is in the last category.

I took out the first drawer and began muddling through all the tiny pieces of this n’ that residing in the drawer. I had my “to keep” pile, my “to toss” pile and my “giveaway” pile. In the keep pile were items I didn’t know I had, and of course, they were valuable, and I certainly would use them now that I found them.

The toss pile remained empty as I sorted items, deciding that some items were too good to throw and someone could use them. They landed in the giveaway pile.

Did I need all the different types of glue that were in one drawer? You never know when you need super glue or just sticky-it-up-for-a-little-while glue. Did I need my old glasses from eighth grade? I didn’t know I still had them, but I now like the frames. Perhaps I should keep them and take them along when I get new glasses so I can match frames — they are back in style.

I finally found the snowman hanger I had been looking for at Christmas. I should put it with the Christmas decorations. How many nightlights do I need? The grandkids don’t need them anymore.

I would toss something in the giveaway pile only to pick it back up. Those pieces seemed to stick to my fingers and I didn’t even need all the glue that had been in the bottom drawer for the items to stick. I had sticky fingers caused by a sticky mind. Memories stuck in my mind kept items stuck to my fingers.

Finally I picked everything up and neatly organized it back in the drawers, put the old vanity-nightstand back in my bedroom/office and decorated it with a green piece of cloth that gave my room a more finished look. I could not part with any of it.

I have more junk drawers I must tackle, but if it is like the nightstand drawers, I won’t get rid of anything. I have too much sentimentality in me along with the you-might-need-that-someday emotion.

On another note — I did tackle all the old cleaning supplies under my basement steps. The plan was to take them to the recycling and waste day. I thought most of the cans were empty and old and out dated. What I found was they were full and in date, and because we didn’t take the time to look for them, we bought more. We probably won’t need cleaning supplies for years. The key is to organize them and put them in a place where we know where they are.

I live a scatterbrained life. I toss things in drawers instead of having a place for everything and putting everything in its place. I waste time looking for things I can’t find but know I have. I always vow to do better, but I get busy and stressed and because I multi-task, I toss things where it is convenient. It drives my other half crazy, but he does the same thing on a smaller scale in that what he tosses isn’t needed for another year or so.

Will I ever change? I don’t know. I want to, but to accomplish that I have to be able to let go of the junk in the drawer. It is hard work. Not only physical but at times emotional.

It is the same with the junk in our lives that isn’t material junk. How often do we hold on to hurts, anger, resentment, sadness and hatred that get in the way of living our lives, and affect the quality of our life and our relationships? We think we let go and then we pull it back to save it for another day.

Will the tug of war ever end? Only we can decide.

Junk is the ideal product — the ultimate merchandise. No sales talk necessary. The client will crawl through a sewer and beg to buy. — William S. Burroughs