SimplyLife

Living pretty much in the middle of nowhere limits your dining choices, but happily we're not too far from Bisbee. My husband surprised me with a romantic birthday dinner at the Cafe Roka last night. He managed to get a window table at on the third floor and we had the space to ourselves. Our attentive attentive server whose name was Bronwen (for a character in How Green Was My Valley) only added to our wonderful evening. When dining in Bisbee you get the chance to get to know your server. The restaurant has an eclectic menu, featuring local produce and meats. Everything is fresh and homemade. The exquisite appetizer of Medjool dates stuffed with bacon and Gorgonzola got the evening started right and we finished with a dessert sampler of Key Lime tart, Nutella cheesecake, and flourless chocolate cake with fresh strawberries. While we leisurely ate our entrees, we had a bird's eye view of the light foot traffic ...

A couple of weeks ago, I took the picture below. I thought it pretty much sums up our life journey. We never know what's around the corner for us.  Circumstances change in seconds some days. Whether the circumstances of life are good or bad, we're fond of blaming them for how we behave and think. Here are a few of the well-used excuses: "I'm a victim of circumstances.""The situation is impossible." "The circumstances are beyond my control." "Under the circumstances"...fill in the blank. Funny how principles, self-control, and  positive thinking can go out the window when we're "under the circumstances."  And lest you think the author is above blaming circumstances, she is not. I've used most of the excuses above, whether spoken or unspoken.  An imprisoned and wrongly accused Jewish Christian  talked a lot about circumstances in a letter to some men and women in the ancient city of Philippi roughl...

As I've written before, Cochise County doesn't have a long history of law and order. From the early days of the Apache wars to wild times in Tombstone, there's a healthy supply of interesting tales.  Cattle rustling was one enterprise that the Indians, Mexicans and Americans seemed to enjoy.  The terrain is well-suited because of the multitude of canyons, arroyos, and undefined borders which benefited rustlers.  Curly Bill's gang (of the OK Corral shoot out fame) headed an active bunch of rustlers whose most famous exploit was killing a group of Mexican smugglers in Skeleton Canyon. After that awful deed, they proceeded to steal 300 head of cattle in Mexico and jubilantly returned to the Tombstone area with their catch. The Mexican vacqueros pursued the bovine bandits back into the U.S. and recovered the cattle and managed to rustle 200 more head on the way back across the Mexican border.  This only escalated the whole affair with Curly Bill who wasn't going t...

We went to dinner with friends over the weekend and started discussing some favorite movies.  We decided one has to step back in time for really good films. An actual plot and good acting are lacking in many films today.  Those two elements beat glitzy special effects any day.  I'm an Alfred Hitchcock fan myself and never tire of watching his collection of suspenseful and downright scary movies. And don't we all love a good scare? My all time favorite is Rear Window starring Jimmy Stewart, the stunning Grace Kelly, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr.  The movie was made in 1954  and is based on a short story by Cornell Woolrich, entitled It Must be Murder .  It was nominated for four Academy Awards and is considered one of Hitchcock's best. The Rotten Tomatoes website says "Hitchcock exerted full potential of suspense in this masterpiece." I consider it his best.  The cinematography alone is worth watching the movie.  He ...

This blog is interrupted for a special announcement. 3-Mice Productions proudly presents its second novel this year-- Darklings by C.D. Davis.  This is C.D. Davis' debut novel with plenty more to come.  You'll be drawn into the little seen world behind the walls of opera houses and grand palazzos where mice and other creatures of the night scamper into danger and thwart all manner of evil plots. With original illustrations for each chapter by C.D., you'll be charmed by this tale of intrigue, danger, and a touch of romance for ages 10 and up. Book Description: Gabriella Caprella, a young mouse with a singing voice like an angel, travels from her home in 1912 New York City to beautiful Venice to claim her inheritance as the new Contessa d’Asiago. With the help of her friend, the bat Mercurio, she fends off murderous relatives, would-be vampire bats, and persistent suitors, while learning to be a contessa worthy of the House d’Asiago and...

It was a beautiful afternoon here today, so I snuck away for a short hike while my husband was mowing.  Ramsey Canyon is beautiful anytime of year, but especially in the summertime.  The gigantic sycamore trees, the sound of running water, and usually hummingbirds, but today the hummers were absent. Instead, I was greeted by clouds of butterflies along the trail.  They didn't seem to be bothered by my presence and continued their wing exercises.  There were several varieties sunning themselves in the dappled sunlight and then fluttering around as if getting the flying thing down just right.  When I was a kid, I used to chase them with a net through the fields and the unlucky ones ended up pinned to a piece of cardboard.  I prefer a camera these days and I was glad I brought it along. So instead of a lot of text this week let me show you some of those delicate and elegant little creatures. As you know, butterflies start out as caterpillars, eati...

This morning we enjoyed a conversation with our dear friend, Wendy. It was on our patio over a cup of coffee with Clancy occasionally pushing his wet nose onto my laptop.  Wendy, however was at her dining room table in the Congo.  That's right, she's in Africa.  A missionary for over 20 years to various people groups in that region, it was the first time we've had a video chat.  It was a reminder of how far communication has come over the years. Back in the early 90s when she served her first term on that exotic continent, letters took weeks to get back and forth. They were treasured, read and reread. We were happy the thin air mail paper had arrived safely to tell us of her adventures in learning new languages, adjusting to a new culture, and a new menu. It was truly special when a cassette arrived and we heard her voice. Our girls produced their own and sent a rambling audio letter of school news, and a concert of vocal and piano selections. T...

Living in the West for the last nine years has given me an appreciation for the strange, weird, dangerous, and beautiful flora and fauna of the high desert.  The first thing I learned upon arrival is that most everything in the desert bites in one way or another. The plants have thorns, seen and unseen. There are arachnids with wicked tails, otherwise known as scorpions, Black Widow spiders, and snakes of every ilk. Then we learned that there were centipedes of unusual size and bugs that resembled aliens from another planet. Coyotes, javelina, and the occasional bobcat were local residents too. The cacti and wildflowers are unique, some even a touch exotic. Cow-tongue, cholla, prickly pear, desert willow, rattlesnake weed, yucca, sage, creosote bush, Apache plume, and fairyduster. All are tough and thrive in our challenging conditions. After scratching our heads and vainly trying identify what we were looking at, we went to the local bookstore for help. The Audubon Fi...

The last two years have been especially challenging for my flower gardens. Between an historic cold snap of zero degrees for two nights in a row and a killer drought of 6 1/2 months last year, my plants took a real hit. There were several plants that outright kicked the bucket after the extreme cold. When last spring rolled around, the poor things were brown and crispy. Vainly I looked for a hint of green, but alas, they were unceremoniously removed and tossed in the dead plant pile out back. Some struggled along and finally managed to leaf out, putting out a few blooms. The roses were mediocre, so I cut them back with impunity in the fall. There's always next year, I maintained.  Spring 2012 rolled around and with high hopes of bushels of flowers, gardening began again in earnest. The roses recovered from their 2011 doldrums and produced nicely all through May. There were however, a few more flower fatalities and some slackers who just hadn't recovered in the courtyard. Repl...

When you bite into that burger, what's on top of it?  Ketchup, mustard, salsa, relish, onions, cheese? All of the above? None?  I love condiments of all kinds, all ethnic persuasions, colors, textures. They add the zing to whatever I'm eating. As a kid, ketchup was my number one favorite. It goes well on most anything. Ask my Aunt Nita who was a real rebel back in the day and put it on her eggs. I was mildly shocked at this as a child, but followed her example and found it to be pretty tasty. Now I prefer salsa and cheese on scrambled eggs, but nothing can replace ketchup on a myriad of foods. So what's a condiment? It comes from the Latin word "condimentum" which means seasoning. I can see my Latin teacher standing to cheer on this one. I should try to decline the noun, but I'm not sure if I'd make it. All good words come from the Latin, which is common knowledge, sort of like "all words come from the Greek" (My Big Fat Greek Wedding).  Diction...

Taffeta, silk, crinoline, pearls, silk flowers, ruffles, bustles, sweetheart, v-neck, cathedral train.... You guessed it, I was in a bridal boutique. One of those great moments moms get with daughters is shopping for a wedding dress. And as every bride will tell you, they know when THE dress is found.  I remember that moment myself, uh..a long time ago now.  Lo and behold the very first dress I tried on was the dress, although several more dresses were brought out just to make sure.  It was a short shopping trip, but the dress was on sale, fit perfectly, and I whisked it out the door that day. The boutique we visited on Saturday was relaxing and sophisticated. Debussy and Handel furnished the background music. The deep-carpeted showroom was full of lush and lovely dresses of every kind. The owner, a Brit immediately set us at ease, listening carefully to Emily's vision of her special day. He and his assistant began to explain the designe...

After living in the severe winter weather of Western New York for a lot of years, we traded the snow in for sun and the high desert of southeast Arizona in 2003. Here sunny days are the norm and clouds nary sprout until it's monsoon season. The official rainy season is from June 15 to September 15. Most natives don't want it to start until July 4 because there's some superstition that the rain will be cut short. Thus the saying - "Rain in June, no monsoon." It's been our experience that it starts whenever it's good and ready with a bit of rain coming in June, but the majority arriving in July and August. The monsoon is a well documented weather pattern peculiar  not only to India and other exotic regions, but the American Southwest. During the winter, wind flow in Arizona comes from the west or northwest. When things begin to heat up, wind patterns begin to change to the south or southeasterly directions gathering moisture from the Pacific and pulling it...

The winner of a copy of The Time Under Heaven is Alana Torraca. Congratulations, Alana! Your book will be on its way this week. 

I thought it was time for another bit of Cochise County history this week. Instead of a person or event, we're looking at a place. It's the main employer and biggest presence in our area, which is Ft. Huachuca. It's pronounced wah-choo-ka , in case you're wondering how to wrap your tongue around it. An obscure Indian word that loosely means "place of thunder."  The whole thing came about in 1877 when Capt. Samuel Whitside and Company B, 6th U.S. Cavalry were tasked with protecting the settlers and controlling the Apaches from finding refuge over the border. Trying to find a good camping place for his men, the Captain settled on a beautiful canyon that was wooded with lots of running water, had excellent places for observation, and plenty of grass for their horses. So Camp Huachuca was established, gaining the title Ft. Huachuca five years later and designated a permanent Army post. There was a lot of action in the late 1800s--Tombstone was in its heyday...

I'll be giving a copy of The Time Under Heaven to the winner of a drawing on July 11.  Just click to follow SimplyLife between July 1 and July 10, and you'll be entered. It's SIMPLY simple. The Time Under Heaven is available at Amazon in paperback or Kindle.  Reviews In "The Time Under Heaven," first-time author Laurinda Wallace has created ordinary, relatable, and approachable characters, weaving a story of struggle and ultimate success from a faith perspective. And just when you think you know where the story is heading, it veers off into unknown territory revealing how unexpected life is. Wallace's storytelling captures the reader's emotions and attention with characters that have heart and soul and settings with vivid realism. "The Time Under Heaven" is a great read that will leave you wanting more.   Francine Biere, Author of Death in the Desert. Editorial Review - The Time Under Heaven – Laurinda Wallace’s debut novel is a...

We've been on vacation for the last two weeks, so hence the silent blog. Grandparenting has been the main focus. Grandpa kept two four-year-old boys entertained with treasure-hunting  (geocaching) using his treasure finder (handheld GPS). Grandma made cupcakes and homemade bread with them. Kneading the bread dough was the most popular activity in the kitchen, other than putting more peanut butter on the bread. We colored, painted, played the memory game (remember those little cards?) and a slew of other things--walks, swimming in the pool, reading books, and watching Tropical Storm Debby flood the street so you could canoe down it. It was a pretty exciting time. Once we were home, the master bedroom was repainted (we hate painting) and both of us are still alive to tell the tale. I think every muscle in my body is complaining at this point, so I'm glad a massage is just around the corner. Sunday night will be the reality check to get back in the swing of ...

In the early evening on Tuesday, David and I were able to observe the transit of Venus. With a pair of binoculars and a piece of paper, we saw a black dot on the face of the sun appear on the paper.  It was low tech, but it worked.  For those unfamiliar with the transit of Venus (which included myself until this past week), it is a rare event which happens every 100+ years. It also occurs in pairs, the last transit was in 2004 and was best viewable from the East Coast. This time Arizona was a prime spot for viewing. The next time the planet Venus crosses the sun is in 2117. You and I won't be around for that one. Astronomers were able to get incredible pictures of the transit in 2004 and this past week for the first time ever. They've had to rely on drawings and grainy photos from the 1800s for the last one. This astronomical event was on the heels of a recent solar eclipse, and a full moon. Previous to the Venus event, we were out armed with sunglasses and ou...

This has been an exciting and scary week. Lots of details, lots of emails, FaceBook posts, and now book sales. Yippee! Since I don't have any deep thoughts on the whole process right now, this will probably be the shortest post ever. (My brain is slightly overloaded.) I want to express deep gratitude to my husband, family, and friends who have encouraged me on the book writing journey. Thanks also go to my readers at SimplyLife who've been encouraging as well.  There's lots more to do and hopefully lots more books on the way.  Thanks to all the readers who are taking a chance on a new author. I hope you enjoy The Time Under Heaven .   Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.

This weekend we remember the men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice for this country by laying down their lives for freedom, for the defense of the United States of America.  Those lofty ideals upon which this country was founded are under massive attack today as they have been in every generation. Religious freedom, individual responsibility, freedom of speech are in mortal danger as we look across the political landscape that promotes government intervention and control over every aspect of our lives. Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address is more relevant today than ever as Americans fight against each other, making ideology more important than doing what is right. I can picture our 16th president, lanky, gaunt, incredibly sad, but still determined as he stepped to a podium to deliver this two minute speech on November 19, 1863.Our country was suffering great loss--beyond imagination and the president carried the burden of death, conflict, an...

It's almost here. It's on the horizon, even closer than that. It's been a dream and now it's a reality. For those of you that know me, you've guessed already.  The "it" is a book. One with my name on it, officially published, and you can download it to your Kindle or buy it in softcover. I've been writing since I was a kid. One of my earliest attempts was publishing a neighborhood paper for East Koy--that little intersection where there are more cows than people. I handcopied about five one-page editions and sold them for a couple of pennies each. I can't remember what news was worth printing at the time, but it was East Koy, so it might have been about the cows that got out or Mrs. McGowan baking a special pie. Then there was high school as editor of the literary magazine for two or three years. There have been lots of stories started and stopped over the years, most have gone in the round file.  The dream dissipated during the real life drama o...