Blogging and The Cowboy and the Trophy Gopher

I struggle when it comes to writing blog posts. I know. You’d think someone who can talk non-stop to anyone and anything would be able to put a few words down on a paper once a month. I panic just thinking about crafting an article on subjects the social media experts tell me are important. Among their suggestions are writing about craft, research, my process or my books. Heck, I have no idea what my process is, much less how to teach it to someone else.

I’ve resorted to trolling the websites of people I follow and scanning the newspaper for interesting ideas, but as soon as my mind hears blog post, it goes blank. The only time I have writer’s block is when I try to update my website or post here.

So when I read Kristen Lamb’s Blog http://buff.ly/11gLDJV titled Blogging for Authors, and How A Banana Slicer Saved My Marriage, I didn’t expect to have a light-bulb moment. It was more like a flashbulb moment. I’ve got to admit, I clicked on Kristen’s page to see what the banana slicer was all about, because she’s really funny and I was trying to write this and needed a laugh. Instead I realized I’ve been going about this blogging thing all wrong.

Thanks to Kristen’s eye-opening information, I realized my inspiration needed to come from the things I know and enjoy. Instead of struggling to blog about how to persevere, or setting writing goals, I have a treasure trove of subjects at my fingertips. Cowboys, rodeo, training horses, barrel racing adventures and misadventures with the best and craziest traveling partners on the face of the earth are all subjects I’m not only familiar with but have lived through, thank my lucky stars.  

To quote the question and answer that slapped me upside the head, Kristen asks, “Why are we trying to build a following/fan base for a right-brain product with a left-brain TOOL?”

Her answer: Craft, the industry, our process, and our research are our tools for our art, but they ARE NOT our art. Writers are artists. A writer’s expertise is looking at the world in a unique way mere mortals can’t. THAT is what readers (fans) gravitate to.”

Looking back on my miniscule blogging experience, my most popular blog is The Cowboy and The Trophy Gopher, one of the many true adventures I’ve had since marrying the Bronc Rider, oh so many years ago. Instead of blogging about a subject I’m still learning--writing, I am excited to write about all of the amazing, stupid, exhilarating and downright mindboggling things I done. What better subject could I have to write about than cowboys and cowgirls?

Walking Poles or How I found out I wasn’t Superwoman

     I first saw walking poles on a morning TV show and thought about them for my mother. She’s been having trouble with her balance, and what better way to help her exercise safely. Of course, Mom has her own ideas, and walking poles weren’t on her list. She's too busy quilting, playing cards and volunteering at the old folks home and the library. 

     My dad, however, decided to try them. He lasted one week then he kindly gave them to me. Dad always did like me best.

     If you haven’t heard of them, walking poles are like adjustable ski poles, and the exercise is like cross country skiing without the skis. When I mentioned them on Twitter, a friend in Montana said she was designing a program for the elderly at the medical center where she works. She messaged me a week later to say the walking poles were kicking her . . . assets.

     Now she’s a much younger woman than I am, who owns a ranch, runs barrels, and ropes. She even skis, for goodness sake. She’s in much better shape than I am, but did I listen to her? No, I thought she was making an elderly joke at my expense. Elderly, me? I had more of a vision of Superwoman for myself.

     Did I listen when the brochure said these poles will give you a full body workout, and the user should take it slow in the beginning. No I did not. See the Superwoman picture above. Why would I have trouble with some stinking poles?

     The first time I walked with the poles was a couple of days after Christmas. I had a wonderful time. The snow was about six inches deep, and the poles, by reducing the chance of slipping, made walking easier. I went the whole mile and a half around our place.

     I walk a lot. It’s my major form of exercise, so I figured I’d just use the poles when the ground was slick. You can see this coming, can’t you? Again, reference the Superwoman fantasy.

     When I woke the next morning, I felt like I’d been run over by a herd of wild horses then backed over by a Dodge Ram 3500. Every part of my body was sore. I had to wear slip-on shoes for two days, because I couldn’t bend over to touch my feet. It was the fault of the evil poles. My friend should have cautioned me. There should have been warning labels on the poles. 

     Oh yea, she did and there were.

     I’ve been using the poles a couple of times a week since then, and I’m getting in better shape, but I have yet to walk even a short distance without feeling it the next day. The amazing thing is that when I’m walking, I never get tired or winded, so I walk farther than I intended. 

     Superwoman is still my inner goddess, but she's changed just a bit. She's tackling life's little problems in smaller bites, but make no mistake, the poles are going down just as soon as she and I rest up.

To All My Friends and Family

Best Wishes for Peace, Happiness and Health in 2013. 

Let it be a great year, and don't forget to have a little fun.

 

 I'd like to give special thanks to the wonderful people who have helped me beyond measure this year:

Amity Grays

Julia Barrett

My husband, the Bronc Rider

Wonderful Beta Reader, Tonya Holmes

Jenn Contreras

Diane J Reed

All of my writer friends in my RWA group, Coeur Du Bois

My terrific kids who each in their own way have given me such joy.

And everyone who's encouraged me.

Thanks!