Blogging and Life Update

The poem from yesterday, called “Night Wind” came to me so quickly and so clearly, I could not resist writing it down and posting it in a hurry, even though I had to be out the door.

That happens to me, even though I realize I need to slow down, or I think I need to retire from blogging. I always have more inspiration, just when I think I have run out of things to say! I have a writer’s voice like a river running strong.

Yet I always work hard and push forward, sometimes too much. To be honest 2021 has been a tough year. Several family members have died from cancer, and a close friend to my wife also passed away from cancer.

My wife still gets treatments for her own cancer, and that makes bad news even more difficult to deal with. I go on my own appointments for chronic pain, and I often think of the Beatles’ song, “Yesterday”. At least the first few lines.

My wife and I also had separate car accidents! We were both injured separately, but I’m ok now even though my car was totaled. My wife has improved.

It’s not the right time to retire from blogging. However whatever schedule I once had for posting, has gone out the window. I need to adjust my blogging balance and I’m thinking about possible strategies. I’ll keep you posted.

Thank you so much for reading!

Peace.

Writing and Image Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed

Blogging Encouragement

How can we blog effectively in this social media driven world we live in? Do we need a bunch of new apps on our phone? Not really!

Be who you are, and continue to create the wonderful poetry, fiction, quotes, photographs, and art you do every day so beautifully!

And here are a few tips that I’ve learned:  

Be there.

One of the most important things we can do to improve the health of our blogs is to visit other bloggers. If all you are doing is posting, that will not work out very well. Think of blogging as a community and we need to visit one another.

I had a college professor once that said 90% of life is just showing up. It’s that way with the blogging community as well.

Practice your craft.

Whatever you do in an excellent way…..give it your best! Write your best possible article or reach for that camera or drawing pencils and paints. Work on your projects and then don’t hold back!

You not only have a gift to share – you are the gift!

Be positive.

Yes, we all get down (even me!) but don’t live there. Offer hope and encouragement in your posts. Tell the world about the beauty and power of love.

This also includes leaving some comments to encourage others.

And enjoy yourselves!

Thank you so much for reading!

Peace.

Writing and Image Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed

Blogging and Comments

Well I leave comments sometimes because your posts are so beautiful! I hope you enjoy posting as much as I do reading them.

Each day or each post, you encourage and uplift, or provoke us to think about topics in an amazing way! Your writing, your photography, your artwork are incredible.

Hey Nico, what about travel posts on Portugal? Absolutely! It’s my favorite place I’ve never been to. Not yet anyway. Book reviews? Yes!! Send them my way.

And I try to be positive because we all need more positivity and good thoughts in our lives. Have you ever read some encouraging comments and they made your day? I try to do that.

I have been encouraged many times over the years, and I seek to pay it forward. Giving what I have received.

Ain’t that so cool?

Thank you so much for reading!

Happy Autumn!

Writing and Image Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed

Autumn Photography

Many of you know about my other hobby, which is photography. I have a new camara! I’m still learning my new digital Canon, but I’m so looking forward to this autumn and trying it out!

This is my favorite time of year, and hopefully we will all be able to be safely outdoors as more people get vaccinated. Wahoo!

In the meantime, I have thousands of photos here on my site, so if you see fall colors they are temporarily from previous years.

I’m currently making room on my site for new material. My goal is to share more photography here and have fewer words. I’m not really a six-word story type of person, but future posts may be similar.

Please do not use or copy my photos without permission.

Thank you so much for reading!

Peace.

Writing and Image © Copyright 2021, rivers renewed

The Most Amazing Person on the Planet

After all these years I’m still here blogging! Thank you everyone for reading and for your wonderful comments! I’m truly grateful.

If you’re new here, all are welcome regardless of your background, race, country of origin, your identity, your preferences or your faith. If you have no faith, I hope you will feel welcome here too! We all have a lot in common.

For those of you that are new here, I have just a few notes to share. My wife and I are older. Notice I did not say old! Just older.

As much as I love writing and blogging, the love of my life, the one I call “My Love” is the most amazing person on the planet and she is the one I want to be with. Due to the pandemic we like to go to the park together. And we pick up food and go outside to eat.

And because of our age we unfortunately need to go to the doctor sometimes. For example, I recently took her for her chemo treatment. And I get treatments for chronic pain.

So, I said all this because I do not blog from my phone anymore. I needed to “unhook” that part of technology. And I might be busy at the doctor’s or being in love or both. So please be patient with me in responding to your messages, seeing your posts, and visiting your site you asked me to check out for the first time.

Thank you again for being here!

Peace.

Writing and Image Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed

Reader’s Guide

I offer a wide variety of work here, and I want you to enjoy what I write. So, I thought it would be useful to have a short guide to my blog and recent goings on. I love writing and I’m so glad you’re here!

Time Traveler/Emma

Emma started out as a shape-shifting time traveler but has been changing recently. She has wings now. She is definitely supernatural, but she is not an angel or evil. I’m currently formulating some more of the supernatural for her! At times, these standalone pieces of minifiction are a little dark or edgy and that’s ok. Her heart is healing but will she find love? And is that what she is really looking for?

A Trans Woman/Ally and Friends

Ally is trans and is developing some friendships while dealing with being mistreated and rejected. She’s also attempting to discover more of who she truly is. We watch her new friendships develop. Some of my readers don’t like these stories, but I can’t write for just one group of people. I write about what I think is important. In the future the titles will be called Ally and Friends. These are stories about fictitious yet real people and real problems, with a touch of romance.

Poetry

Yes, there is still poetry! I love writing about nature, healing, restoration of our spirits also called renewal. Thus, the title of my blog. And most of my work over the past several years has been poetry.

Additional Fiction

On this site there is a ton, and I mean a ton, of fiction material. There is Historical Fiction about Native Americans, Romance Fiction, and even some Science Fiction. I need to start deleting it to make some room!

Some of my personal favorites are about Native Americans. And I still love their names I invented including, Thunder Speaking, Cricket in the Meadow, Two Wolves, Skye, Bluebird and many others. Cricket in the Meadow was a Medicine Woman or Holy Woman.

You can find these and more by using the menu bar on the top right of my homepage.

Thank you so much for being here and reading!

Peace.

Writing and Image Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed

Earth Renewal

When the earth is renewed, our spirits are lifted

and the core of our being, the beginning

and the ending of who we are

learns to believe again.

In my poetry and in most of the fiction I write, I focus on new life, an awakening of who we are. And often nature brings healing. I have to admit that when I first started The Survivors series, I didn’t think it would fit into the concept of “renewal” but it does.

The Earth is renewing itself. Nature is providing the stories and the characters with a sense of balance. And the characters are learning to live again. Wounds are beginning to heal.

However, I cannot write fiction here the way I genuinely need to and would like to. Many bloggers have extensive ties to social media and have a limited amount of time for reading a piece of fiction.

With fiction, readership tends to go down, sometimes way down and it always has. Readers look for a beautiful poem, or an inspirational quote they can carry through their day. I get that completely.

I limit the details in each fiction segment to make it short. For instance, when Brie and Grey are sitting by the creek, Grey tosses in some pebbles. He remembers his father teaching him how to skim rocks on the water. In another segment Brie could share she was certified as a Lodge Maker. There’s a deep spiritual significance to that. You haven’t seen these things though, I had to leave them out.

I love writing fiction, but here it is very condensed. This series really needs to be a book. I will end these stories after one more this weekend. The Survivors will be a book!

Wishing you peace.

Writing and Image Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed

Wolves and Eagles Speaking

I’ve never been attracted to Hogwarts and dragon tails. Yet there is a certain adventure to the supernatural, isn’t there? We can be taken so quickly to another world.

For example, Emma the Time Traveler is now flying over the Mediterranean, high in the sky surfing a wind wave, to escape the dangerous auburn-haired Countess. She woke one night to find the Countess breathing on her neck. Is the Countess actually a vampire, or is there some other explanation?

And did Emma actually hear wolves and eagles speaking?

Wait! Isn’t this a poetry blog?

When I think of the different rivers within me, there are several of them holding amazing colors and filling me with beautiful possibilities. Men don’t usually write like that, and that’s ok. Yes, Rivers Renewed is a poetry blog and it is about renewal, seeking peace, and wholeness in our broken world. I think I will always let this site stand as it is right now. I love this site.

Have I outgrown it? Probably. We are more than just one river, each of us has many. So for me I will find additional ways to share the fiction river running strong. Another website?

Peace. And thanks for reading!

Writing Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed, Image Vermont Public Radio

Blog Celebration

I’m very proud to announce, that of this writing my blog has more than 2,900 posts here! Wow. Can you believe it? I can hardly believe it myself. It didn’t happen overnight!

Some time ago I mentioned that this site is maxed out, completely full. Did you know there is a limit of memory on each site? I made some room and now it is full again.

Rivers Renewed to the MAX!

I’ve decided to share some of these beautiful posts, from years ago. For example 2017 was a great year! For the next few weeks I’ll be celebrating with classic poetry along with new work, while I’m renovating, which means cataloging, archiving, and making more room.

I will be retiring from blogging sometime in the future, maybe even later this year. Yet every time I consider retiring, I find more inspiration. Maybe that’s the way writing should be.

Thank you so much for reading!

Wishing you peace.

Writing and Image Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed

Follow Your Heart

I write of peace, of nature, healing, discovery, renewal, of God being in the woods. There is spirit and wings, for each of us I think. A quiet heart seeking.

Yet within each of us there are different rivers, sources of inspiration. For example I love writing fiction. Did you know I had a fiction blog at one point?

And with yesterday’s post about the Capitol riot you saw yet another river from my heart. If I had the time (and I don’t) I could start a blog offering political analysis and commentary.

And yes each post can be a risk, if we push the boundaries of where we were. For “Flags and Banners” I was already expecting a much lower response. It’s the nature of that type of post.

And that’s ok.

So my point is – explore who you are as a writer, as an artist. Take chances, discover the new……and most of all……follow your heart.

Peace.

Writing and Image Copyright © 2021 rivers renewed