Finding Inspiration ~ Elle Rush

Like many of us, I spent part of my social distancing time giving the house a really good cleaning. I even reorganized the storage room, except this time instead of moving my box marked “Childhood Treasures” from one place to another, I decided to open it.

Oh, past me, you have me shaking my head.

I remembered the stuffed animals, and who gave them to me, and I’m keeping them all. To let you know how old some of them are, the green pig is named “Green Pig” because he’s been around since before I knew how to name things, and the AM-radio raccoon was named “Racky”. Obviously, I’ve learned how to pick better names since then.

The wee table and chairs still make me smile. I never had any dolls small enough to use it, but how can I not love it! I would move the chairs around for invisible characters, and sip from the cups, and have engrossing conversations with myself. I’ve written for as long as I can remember, and I think this toy set is part of the reason.

I remember pre-teen me thinking folding fans were so terribly elegant. 

And the owl nightlight chased away nightmares for my entire childhood. Now that I’ve dusted off those memories, perhaps they may appear in a character’s room sometime.

I have NO excuses as to why a photocopy of remote-control instructions and line-dancing VHS tape made it into the box. None! 

And if ever I did consider them treasures, the reason has long since faded from my mind. But they were a hilarious find.

Inspiration fades, but when it comes to the things that truly impacted your life, I think it never truly disappears. You can’t hold on to all the mementos from your past, but a handful of ones that truly lighten your heart shouldn’t be hidden away in a box in the attic. Try to find a way to keep them out so you can see and appreciate the things that turned you into the amazing person you’ve become.

Elle Rush is a sweet romance author from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. When she’s not travelling, she’s hard at work writing books which are set all over the world. From Hollywood to the house next door, her heroes will make you sigh and her heroines will make you laugh out loud.

Elle has a degree in Spanish and French, barely passed German, and has flunked poetry in every language she ever studied, including English. She also has mild addictions to tea, yarn, her garden, and holiday decorations.

Book Link (Fall A Million Times) - released May 4th

https://www.ellerush.com/books/display,hopewell-millionaires/23/fall-a-million-times 

Website:  http://www.ellerush.com 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Elle.Rush.Romance/ 

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/elle_rush 

Wisteria vines and Dan Fogelberg ~ by Kristine Raymond

It's funny how one thought can lead to another.  I'd intended to write a post about Wisteria and my fascination with the flowering vine; instead, I'm writing about one of my favorite musical artists - Dan Fogelberg.

Now, the switch from one subject to the other came about honestly. I was searching YouTube for the link to Dan's song, Wysteria - it's a hauntingly beautiful tune, one of the earliest I remember listening to - and had it playing in the background while I gathered facts about
Wisteria frutescens.

As happens on YouTube, the song ended and immediately went into another, and I found myself transported back decades to a time when Dan Fogelberg music was the soundtrack of my life.  I have a clear memory of the first time I heard Nether Lands, sitting in a darkened stairwell after choir practice waiting for my ride; of the week spent camping alone in the woods of New Hampshire, rewinding my portable cassette player over and over again in order to listen to Souvenirs, There's a Place in the World for a Gambler, Old Tennessee, and Song from Half Mountain, praying the batteries would last the entire trip; of looking up at the moon on a partially-overcast night and 'hearing' the first line of In the Passage.


It was his song, Tucson, Arizona, quoted by Dan as being his all-time favorite track, that intensified my desire to move west.  Not so much the lyrics about drug use and murder, but the melody; and the emotions those notes invoked.  I could envision that wide open space; 'see' the expanse of cloudless blue sky, 'feel' the heat of the desert that was nothing like the day-to-day humidity in Rhode Island.        

In my late teens, I learned that Dan Fogelberg was touring nearby, and quickly snapped up a ticket, only to be disappointed when the concert was canceled.  I'd hoped to see him perform at a later date but never had the opportunity.  Instead, I bought every album he recorded (yes; vinyl) and wore them out listening to his powerful ballads and stirring anthems, falling in love with his more obscure stuff.  Interestingly enough, his top 40 songs are my least favorites. 

So, that's how my post navigated from Wisteria (this is what's growing in my yard.  Isn't it beautiful?) to Dan Fogelberg.  A single song that opened a floodgate of memories.  Don't you love when that happens?

Copyright 2019 - Kristine Raymond