October Writing

I have not gotten as much on line in October as I did in September.  A few of the items posted in September were written earlier but arrived online in September so were shared in that September post about my writing which can be found HERE.   But I have been busy in October.  I joined a new online writing group called The Inner Circle at the Family History Writing Studio.  I had taken their Writing a Scene last September and am glad to be working with Lynn again.  The Family History Writing Studio can be found HERE.   In that group I am polishing my Elizabeth Rairigh piece that I posted last spring from my library writing group and plan on writing word pictures of other Rairigh women in my ancestry.  It can be found HERE.  I am still attending my local library's writing group which met a week ago.  And my most exciting news is that an article of mine was in the Ohio Genealogy News which came out two weeks ago.  It is online but can be viewed only by Ohio Genealogy Society members at the OGS site.  I am sure it is available at many libraries though if anyone wants to check their next trip to their local library.  My piece starts  on page 27.  I find the OGN publication especially exciting because the article will be in PERSI.  Another thing that just went "live"  is my third WWI nurse for the Miami Indiana project.  It can be found HERE.   The WWI nurse project is great fun but very time consuming.  These women have a lot of spit to them but are very hard to find information on.  I fear without the efforts of the Miami Indiana Museum Committee for the Armistice Day 2018 programing these women would have been lost to time and forgotten.   I am very excited about being a part of them being remembered.  Because of the time I am spending on the nurses the time I spent on my library writing group topic was minimal.  I will share it here anyway because it was a fun topic.

Writing group October 2017

Topic: A Beloved Pet

 Through out my lifetime I have had many pets, but during this phase of my life I am enjoying the freedom of being able to take off for the weekend or a week long vacation.  It is nice not to have responsibilities that prevent me from going where ever I desire to go. Even though I do not have a pet of my own I enjoy the pets that my children have when I visit their homes.  I also have had several pets in my past that I remember fondly.   My first pet as a small child was a turtle named Toddles.  Through out my growing up years our family had a few dogs and several cats.  Twice in my life I was the proud owner of a horse.  One of my horse owning experiences provided me with a foul which was a special treat.  I even had a donkey once.  I have enjoyed aquariums.  Some were fresh water and some were salt water tanks.  While all these pets were special, my most recently pet was especially beloved.  She was a cockatiel.   I named her Simone de Beauvoir.  She did not talk but was quick to alert me if my phone had a message on it when I emerged from the shower.  She would tweet if my coffee was warmed up in the microwave and I had forgotten about it.  She would greet me when I came home after work.  She loved to ride in my car.  I could put her cage in the back seat of my car if I was going to my daughters for the weekend or visiting another friend who lived a days drive away.  Most motels would allow me to bring her on vacation with me.  We interacted a great deal until I was given a second cockatiel named Oscar.  Immediately I lengthened Oscar’s name to Oscar Wilde.  Simone and Oscar each had their own cage.  The cages were not far from each other and Oscar Wilde would squeak at Simone and she would look the other way.  She tolerated him but was not friendly.  I found that two cages to clean was higher maintenance than I really wanted.  I had Simone for about ten years and Oscar for about three.  When I put my condo on the market to move to Ohio the realtor suggested I needed to do something about the two large cages and feathers that were over powering the living space.  I didn’t think it was fair to the birds that I was leaving them alone (with plenty of food and water) so often on the weekend to visit Ohio.  I felt they needed more attention that I was able to give them with the turn my life was taking.  Plus I could tell that my fiancé was not a bird lover.  Although he did not tell me I had to get rid of the birds,  I  was aware that he did not warm up to them.  So my realtor helped me find an experienced bird woman to take them.  This person was wanting to start a bird breeding business and had a few birds already.  Simone and Oscar would be good additions for her.  Sometimes I miss Simone.  But one good reason not to have pets is that I am allergic to animal dander.  I also find that having a husband is time consuming enough for this phase of my life.  We do talk about,  in the future,  should we become home bound,  that we would be interested in obtaining a dog at that time, if we feel we are able to take care of one.   But at this time we remain pet free.