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Saturday, October 15, 2011

Better late than never for Coffee Klatch

Yesterday, Denise N. and Chris J. joined Vicki at The Tapestry of Life for the second week of Coffee Klatch Friday, and I'm just catching up now, via Denise's blog. That's the great thing about a blog invitation. You can arrive late. You can even arrive uninvited! And it doesn't matter what you wear.

This is what Vicki says about her idea:

~The Goal ~ 
To have a community of bloggers that are friends, that can come together once a week with ideas and support for one another. We all blog for different reasons. For some, it is to be heard, for some it is to share, and for some it may be acknowledgement. After all, many blogs are just your thoughts, feelings, and experiences ... that you share  ... and here it is easier. 


This Week's Question(s) :
What did you want to be when you grew up?  Are you that now?  What is 1 thing you LOVE about what you do , or who you are?



This week's subject:
Please share a photo or 2 of what your area of the world looks like.



Well, hi, Vicki, I'm Kay. I live in the Canadian province of Alberta, and I agree with you: Coffee does taste better with a friend! People who can come together with ideas and support for one another are my idea of perfect friends.


I'll start with the second part first, if you don't mind.
Our part of the world is flat, and the sky is huge.
Here, a storm is blowing in from the south (that's our little town on the horizon) and we are hurrying home to let the prisoner in. She's afraid of storms.




That's our dog, Lindy, behind the gate. She hates to be outside during a storm.
Lindy is a major part of our world, and we want to do everything we can for her health and wellbeing.





This is across the street from our house. My husband, Dick, is taking Lindy for a walk.













There is lots of land where horses and cattle can graze.





But walk a little further on the flat prairie and you'll find the land drops away in front of you, to form the rock- and grass-covered slopes of what we call coulees. In the coulees grow tumbleweed, wildflowers, cactus, thistle and...wildlife!


But, more about the wildlife another time. I've covered most of it in my blog already, but no one has ever asked me what I wanted to grow up to be, so I want to answer the question.
I wrote my first story when I was six. It was called "The Life of Tommy John Atwater" and I knew I wanted to be a writer.
Am I a writer now? Well, yes, I am. Have I always been a writer? Yes, in my heart I think I have, although most of my working years were spent in the family trade. I was a printer—a journeyman compositor, to be more specific. My father and brother ran presses, but they wouldn't let me near them because I was so clumsy.
I had, at times, managed to earn a living as a writer and editor, but only for small publications, which didn't pay much. So, if I  couldn't write for the dailies because I didn't have a university degree, I could at least work for them as a compositor.
When my health let me down, slowly at first and then with a bang, I had to quit working, but I managed to edit my father's books for him, and I continued writing if and when I could.
Nothing of mine ever got published, mostly because it never got finished. When a dear, good friend introduced me to blogging, however, things changed. I already had 18 chapters of An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel written, so, using those as a base, I began a blog of the same name and am hoping to have a finished or near-finished product with plenty of fans to present to a publisher one day.
What is one thing I love about who I am? That's easy. I have learned, no matter what my experience in life has been, I am able to help others. If I die with an unfinished unfittie book on my hands, it won't matter. I will always know, whether healthy or wealthy or neither of the above, I have been privileged to be able to help others. I truly believe a life lived for self and self only is a wasted life, whereas helping even one other person is what really counts. (That's all I have to say on that subject.)

Posted for Coffee Klatch Friday
now in its second week. CKF is hosted by Vicki who, I am sure, hopes more friends will drop in next week. Click here for more information and to meet Vicki, Chris and Denise.

13 comments:

Joyful said...

It was nice to hear about your world Kay and to learn a bit more about you. It's nice that you too believe in helping others. I can see too that you ARE a writer! :-)

Vicki said...

Hi Kay!
What a nice surprise to find your post on Coffee Klatch Friday! Thanks for sharing your world and your desire to write and help to others. I believe that each person that comes into our life has something to help us along our journey. I am looking forward to getting to know you!
~Vicki~

kaykuala said...

Kay,
You walked us through very well on your inner feelings and aspirations which only blogging can reveal. Blogging can be personal but opening up and sharing can make it most fulfilling. And I look forward to seeing your book in print. And don't forget lots of pictures as what you have generously relayed this far. Your descriptions accompanying the pics are very educational. The personal touch makes it even better than travel books. Have fun!

Hank

Maude Lynn said...

I loved learning a little more about you, and I love pictures of Lindy!

Carola Bartz said...

Kay, I love this post. I've learned a lot more about you (even without the coffee, because it's evening here and I don't have coffee at that time of day). I agree with your thoughts about helping others - with all my heart.

Fran said...

What a lovely post, I really enjoyed hearing more about you Kay and you are a wonderful person xxx
ps - the coffee was cold by the time it got over here :)

Jenn Jilks said...

Lots of interesting photos and great job. Pleasure to meet you. Thanks for visiting. Cheers from Cottage Country!

Mara said...

Well, you certainly helped me see something I might not otherwise have seen during my first visit to Canada.

And if it counts at all: I am looking forward to this book you're writing, so hurry up!!!

One said...

I love you! I normally don't say this but you are so loving. Enjoyed your post tremendously. You are good at what you do. You are good at giving us chuckles too. Glad to have met you in the blogosphere.

jabblog said...

This is lovely, Kay. Your part of the world is so wide open and beautiful. Those big skies are really something to love and admire. Lots of lovely fresh air, too:-)
I hope you finish your book and find a publisher quickly because I know it will inspire others.

ChrisJ said...

I fell in love with Lindy the day I first visited your blog which is quite a few months ago. I have written 5 books. Two of them were self published. The other two by Augsburg. The one that I first wrote is a full length adventure story for children, but until the science fiction Harry Potter-ish stories fade away I'm afraid I will have to publish it myself. That's sad because it's so expensive for very little return.

I love the big northern skies! You keep on writing. You never know what may come up. Give Lindy a big hug and good scratch from me.

Gill - That British Woman said...

that's really interesting, love the different photos,

Gill

Leslie said...

"I will always know, whether healthy or wealthy or neither of the above, I have been privileged to be able to help others. I truly believe a life lived for self and self only is a wasted life, whereas helping even one other person is what really counts."

Amen to that. One of the wonderful things about blogging is that we can help or encourage people we've never even met! Thanks for being a consistent encouragement to me.