Joy In Laughter

Don't let the title of this entry fool you. Sure, it's easy to laugh when we're happy, ENjoying life. I'm kinda weird, though. I laugh when I'm in pain. Really throws some people. Those who don't know me have accused me of being a drama queen. Actually, I'm just the opposite. It's rare for me to show strong emotion. So when I really let out a "Clownish laugh," it means I'm in pain. It's either that, or cry. Side story here: A couple of years ago I saved a honey bee from drowning in an outside water bowl. Just reached in, cupped my hand, then spilled the bee onto the picnic table. It fluttered its wings, did its dance, then flew off. Last year I did the exact same thing with another drowning bee. I didn't do anything different, but this bee had been stung numerous times by wasps. This bee stung me, then died. The reason for the side story is this: Be gentle with people on Mondays. Especially Mondays after holidays, or on a Tuesday after a Monday holiday. Not everyone enjoys holidays or weekends like maybe you did. There's a chance someone is in pain and not showing it. Food for thought... Let me laugh. It beats seeing me angry.....

Joy in Change

Where did that website go?! kcheath.com is going off-line for awhile. Several reasons--the main one being: it just doesn't Fit my needs. I originally got into book reviews, and if you saw kcheath.com [established in 2006], you know there were over 200 reviews there. Then I wrote my own book...well, a Trilogy. The first book--REINS OF TIME--got published in 2008. The publisher never linked my website to theirs, even though I asked repeatedly. In the 3+ years the book was represented on my website, I never once got an email from a "reader". No. I continued getting "requests for reviews." Why should I read your book when you haven't read mine? --LOL-- I hate being the proverbial Black Hole of Submissions, so I'm taking the site down for awhile. Another reason for the change is the new slant on philosophy. "Escape Time with KC Heath" was the official name of the website. Back in '06, I was convinced that reading and writing fantasy fiction was my escape from reality. I've since been over and under and back and forth.... Yeah, life will do it to you, won't it just! My new take on life is that we should not try to escape time, but live In The Moment. Tough. But a great new challenge! I'm keeping kcheath.com as my domain. Once my day-job situation changes [expect that within 2 years], then I'll put a new website up to represent where my creativity has taken me lately. It's all over the board, really. In the last 2 years I've taken cooking classes. Piano lessons. Yoga. ...read books by some really incredible authors [non-fiction & fiction both]. Have cobbled together a very nice poetry chapbook. Painted an antique chair. Poked at gardening. Dabbled in photography. And told my publisher who asked for Book Two that they can't have it until they're ready to accept that I have 5 main character points of view. Change is good. It helps us grow.

Joy in Where You Live

For my friends in the frozen north I send a vision of my mid-February business trip:

The song, "TEXAS" says: "Heat and blue sky, a road that goes forever."
This state is indeed large, though not so hot in February.

Driving home through
Pouring chill rain and cracking thunder
We see black cattle on rolling green pastures
Stretching to a horizon dotted with majestic oaks,
Windmills, red barns, horses, and oil pumps,
Rock fences, cactus, deer, and yard-chickens,
Drought-dead trees and flooding streams,
Sandhill cranes, snow geese, and longhorns.
And on this narrow road, 18-wheelers,
Pickup trucks, and Harleys.
We pass small town antique stores,
Palm trees, bare willows in fog,
White-barked sycamores lining wide rivers.

Home again on the coastal plain we are
Greeted by pink roses blooming, doves cooing,
Warm humidity, three over-wintering hummingbirds,
And, by nuzzling deep, the scent of kitty tummy just washed.

"They got big long roads out there,
Warm winds blowin'...
Texas--the only place to be."

[Quoted passages by Chris Rea]

Joy in losing weight

Yes, it is painful to watch the person at the table with you pigging out on lots of yummy stuff when you are on a diet. I crave artisan bread smothered in whipped butter....

But! This extreme diet I've been on for the last five months has me down two clothing sizes AND feeling a lot better about myself.

Dieting and exercise are worth the effort. The secret to surviving the other person slurping the yummies in front of you is to look at that person's waist line. Odds are, that will cheer you :)

Joy in Living

Doing it Right
doesn't mean
Making No Mistakes--
It means:
When you finish,
People smile :) ~kc

Good luck in the new year, my friends.

Joy in Peace

The news this weekend is horrific.

There will never be peace
In this divided world.
There will never be understanding
With offenses so great.

I mourn what
I cannot understand:
Killing that never stops,
Offenses without end.

If you too have a need to find Joy in Peace, see this link: Tolerance.org

Joy in MUFAs

Found another notch in my belt!

Credit due to the MUFA diet. It's really easy to remember: your body wants to eat fat, and it needs it! So--choose Good fat instead of Bad fat. That's easy too: Bad fat comes from animals: bacon, ice cream, cheese, sausage, etc. Good fats come from plants: avocadoes, nuts, olives, bitter chocolate, etc. Just include a MUFA in a moderate sized meal INSTEAD of the bad fat. I'm not losing weight fast, but it is coming off!

What's your diet secret?