Pancakes for breakfast. Walmart for the fishing license and bait. We went fishing yesterday and Little "almost caught a fish". She's sure of it because there was a little piece of her worm missing. I'm not as convinced because there was a kid fishing every 10 feet around that lake. What a cool sight to see! Little had an ethical dilemma. She wouldn't use live bait because she wouldn't kill it. And, she was very concerned about the pain she might inflict on a fish by hooking it. I assured her as best I could that fish brains are rather small and unsophisticated but how should I know if a fish feels pain or not? Now she's got ME feeling bad!

Little says the deepest things. We were driving up to the mountains yesterday. As she was calculating how much longer we had to go and measuring the merits of s'mores vs. other desserts, she quietly said, "You know, Nana...I'm not weird. I'm unique. There ARE no weird people. We're all just unique."

She's been my spiritual, deep thinker as long as she could articulate her thoughts. And she is always delightfully refreshing. We were discussing my lifestyle. She said, "Your lifestyle isn't weird, Nana. It's unique, like you. The world is your home. And that's pretty cool!" Ahhhh, she gets me! We sat on the deck overlooking the river and discussed which would be more fun...river rafting or zip lining. She said there will be fishing on this trip, and we won't have to quit just because Big is bored. She's interested in trying kayaking. OMGosh! She's mini me!

Good morning, Ranchers. I want you to meet Jackie, a "Rancher" from Wichita. Jackie has been following Marshmallow Ranch since before Mr. Virgo died. She can't quite remember how she found me but she thinks it was one of my ads I used when I was first making jewelry. For those of you who are new and may not know, I started this page as a way to promote my art studio (called Marshmallow Ranch) and the jewelry I made out of antique silverware and maps. She liked the necklaces because they were unique so she hit "like" and started reading my posts.

I love Americana Roots music. I go to the Americana music series in Parkersburg every chance I get. But last night I experienced a rare treat. I went to the Olde Town Pickin' Parlor in Arvada with some of my Sisters on the Fly friends. An amazing group of talented musicians gathered to play their own music as well as some standards.

These are some pretty dark times in our world. I've never felt the world so disjointed before. We're all so disconnected and it scares me. I hate politics. I rarely watch it and never comment. I watched the opening night of the Republican National Convention last night. I felt pretty discouraged afterward. Not that the Democratic version will be any better. They regurgitate what they think we want to hear. And it's really so disheartening. It just exhausts me and left me with nothing to say last night when I sat down to write this post.

I met a great gal this spring from my hometown. We have a mutual friend who connected her to Marshmallow Ranch because she was just at the one year Angelversary of her husband's death. We met for coffee one day and ended up talking for four hours at Panera! She recently posted this...her "Dear Self" note drawn on her hand. I absolutely love this. It really speaks to me. It's a work of art. I have had a lot of "Dear Self" conversations since Mr. Virgo died.

I spent the day with Big yesterday. There's something magical when you break through the barriers of a twelve-year-old who is entirely too cool for you. She's not into tent camping. I'll be lucky to get her out in TOW-Wanda next time I bring her. A tent would push her over the edge. Her mommy was the same way. If she couldn't plug in her curling iron, she wasn't interested. Then she went off to college and did a ten day rafting trip down the Colorado River and about blew my mind.

I'm sure I've told you this story, but it's been a while and we have lots of new Ranchers that may not have heard it. Mr. Virgo is buried on a golf course! Well, sort of. This area was a long time ranch. When the land was sold and developed into a subdivision, there was the question of how to deal with the pioneer cemetery up on the hill. Established in the late 1800's, when New Castle was a booming coal mining town, locals and miners have been buried there for generations. The final design has the golf course actually circling the cemetery with a right of way where a street gives access for visits and burials.

I just received the schedule for the International Conference on Positive Aging! I'm speaking in the very last session of the conference. I'm hoping they saved the best for last! lol I'm also hoping people aren't totally burned out and taking a nap by that time. I have a friend whose career takes him to conference after conference and he says this is a good position so I'll take him at his word.

The book proposal has been submitted! I hit "send" around 3:00 yesterday afternoon. Forty-three pages, nearly 20,000 word proposal for a thirty chapter book with a projected word count of 76,000 words! Holy cats!!! Within moments, I was dancing around the kitchen like I'd just chugged three Red Bulls. Within an hour I was like "Hmmmm, I hope she likes it. Do you suppose I should have talked a little more about this and a little less about that? I wonder how long it will take to hear from her! OMGosh! They're gonna hate it. I mean, what's so important about my story?"
"Shut up, Ginny, and dance!"