Easter is really my favorite holiday. I love being able to think of Jesus, my Lord and Savior, as being resurrected. His life in heaven shows the reality of eternal life.

The cover design of Holidays Amaze has Easter eggs that appear partially hidden. The light from the sky, though, is making the eggs more visible. Eggs have a symbolic meaning of the empty tomb and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

The Easter poem in Holidays Amaze, "Sticking Together on Easter," is a narrative poem that's a little over seven pages long. Some children are looking for Easter eggs with their Sunday School teachers. They learn more about themselves and their faith by connecting to--and sticking to--each other.

Even though COVID-19 is impacting people this year in negative ways, there are also many positives. My family members, colleagues, friends, and pets have all been connecting to each other through cell phones, Facebook, online video-conferencing, and other methods (smiling, waving, beeping horns, helping sick people, creating and delivering essential items to each other, . . .) I'm so thankful for the technology to be able to connect to others while staying safe. My prayers for myself and for others are also helping me to feel much safer, happier, and stronger.

I'm so happy to be thinking about the upcoming new year. My resolution is to slowly lose some more weight by eating healthy and exercising more:

1. For supper, I'll keep eating a large salad, at least one additional vegetable, and small amounts of carbohydrates and desserts. This has actually been working. I still eat chocolate items, pizza, French fries, etc.; I just eat small amounts of them. 
2. I'm also planning on exercising more: at least 15 minutes a day when I'm super-busy and supposedly don't have that 15 minutes available. On the days when I'm just a little bit busy, I'll be exercising at least 45 minutes a day. Unbusy days very rarely happen for me, so I don't have to try to figure that one out.

I'm most thankful for knowing about and being able to feel love. I love all of the different kinds of love, including knowledge about the love from God toward His creations. I also love my friends, family members, pets, and the whole concept of love. Love helps our world and our lives to have positive energy. I'm also thankful for how people and animals often give to each other, whether they know each other or not. The two cats in this picture are two of my cats; they actually do know each other very well and have been together as brothers in my house now for a couple of years. They're helping each other in this photo by licking and grooming each other.

Writing poetry and prose can be a lot of fun because I learn more about my own thoughts, views, and feelings. Writing is also like a puzzle when I'm trying to figure things out. Sometimes, though, like any task, writing can be difficult. Occasionally, I've told myself, "I can't do this." The problem is often related to not having enough time. For example, when I was writing Mayflower Dreams, I told my publisher on the day before Thanksgiving that Mayflower Dreams would be completed by the end of January. At the time, I was only a little over half-way finished with the manuscript. Thankfully, I was able to send the manuscript to the publisher on the required deadline. My years of experience coping with my busy schedule were very helpful in accomplishing this task. Especially as I get older, I love being able to still be busy and complete a lot of tasks that make me very happy.

I love to watch fireworks on the Fourth of July! Seeing the movements of the bright lights is always a lot of fun, especially since I'm normally relaxing with family members while watching a fireworks show. The lights, sounds, and activities happening on the Fourth of July also remind me about our connections to our history.
"The Lights of Freedom on Independence Day" is one of the narrative poems in Holidays Amaze. This poem is a lot of fun to read on Independence Day. There are connections between us and our history, as well as some interesting narrative content. For example, a scammer wakes up a dreamer who is sleeping. The dreamer is obviously upset. The poem ends in a very positive way. Here are the last two lines of this poem:
        our collaborative efforts can enhance
        our lives with the lighted rays of freedom's stance
        (page 39 of Holidays Amaze).
The picture in this blog posting is on page 40 and is one of the six images included after the poem "The Lights of Freedom on Independence Day" in Holidays Amaze.  ​

​On this Memorial Day, I'm very thankful for the service men and women who have given up their lives to keep other people safe. I know there are too many wars throughout history, but sometimes these wars are fought for positive reasons, such as to support freedom and to initiate necessary actions that will help many people to live more positive lives. World War II is one of many examples that I could give. What would have happened to our whole world--not just to the United States--if no one had fought against Hitler?
My prayers are with the family and friends of service men and women who have lost their loved ones, so a large number of other people can continue to live with freedom and safety.