Barbara's Meanderings: Ring in the New

Me and Donna Marie Merritt at my Meet and Greet at
Fairfield University Bookstore - December 8, 2012

I guess I stopped blogging during the holiday season. Even though I had very few gifts to buy and no real parties to attend, somehow this holiday season was a lot busier than usual. The reason was twofold. First of all, I had my Meet and Greet on December 8, which went off very well. Then of course, at the end of November, for everyone who follows my Facebook pages and/or Twitter feed, this will be repetitious, my husband developed pneumonia and this caused him to have heart failure. The night after Thanksgiving we rushed him to the ER and then he was admitted to the hospital. He wound up in the ICU with a respirator and a tube into his neck to control his heart beat!! I was in the hospital for 22 hours and if not for the wonderful chaplains and the constant struggle of the nurses and doctors in the ICU to monitor him and take care of his condition, I don't know what I would have done!! There is nothing like seeing your husband with a respirator and knowing that this is the only way he can breathe!! The next 3 days were very scary, but eventually after the 3rd day they removed his respirator and moved him to a regular room. He was there for 7 more days. He got out the day before my Meet and Greet, so he couldn't be there with me. It took another couple of weeks in the house for him to recuperate and since he was weak and on a very strict diet I had a lot of work to do. So I didn't write very much anywhere except to keep up with my friends' emails and Facebook. He is now much better and getting out more and more. We are hoping he will be able to go back to his normal activities, which include hyperbaric for his wounds and maybe getting out for more than doctor's visits.:)
We had a very nice, but quiet New Year's Eve this year and hoping this year will see his health get better!!!

As a result, you can see I haven't posted here since December 3rd. Yikes!!!

Good things have been happening in my writing life, though. If you remember on October 20, 2012 I told you about my poems being accepted into Backlit Barbell. I also promised I would post them as soon as they were published. I am pleased to say the anthology is now available in print. Here are the two poems as promised from that anthology:

from
Backlit Barbell: An Anthology of Health and Fitness Poetry:

Tunnel of Exercise

by Barbara Ehrentreu

We used to go, you and I

a mother daughter thing

side by side on the EFX

paddling as fast as our

bodies could take us

traveling long distances

without moving in the midst

of a noisy, smelly,

crowded space

not concentrating

on the effort as our muscles

strained to push us

further

listening to rock bands as

we pressed toward

our next best goal and

moved into a

cavern where only

the dials moving upward

had our attention

and in this tunnel of exercise

we shut out the world and became

stronger and supercharged

women emerging only after muscles

cooled and acknowledging

as we relaxed on the

stretching mat, only then,

the other people

in their own

tunnels.

Mornings with Maddy

by Barbara Ehrentreu

She jogged while I walked

and we meandered through

forest paths with the morning

dew still fresh on the new leaves

and we talked

of our plights

she so much burdened by

her sorrows and I with family

baggage carrying it with me

in those days like a backpack of

worries

And we sprinkled our troubles on

the soil of the path as we moved

around the circle each keeping

pace with the other and words

tumbling so fast they barely

had time to breathe before being

stomped upon by their comrades

Deep and painful thoughts

ballooned into the air as we

jog-walked around the overgrown

pathways and soon the pain grew

scabs and fell off and

at the end we were lighter

drained of all the sadness and ready

to return to our everyday lives

as we finished each time over

bagel and coffee

able to smile again across the table

as the sweat

reminded us of our

physical triumph.

So also I am happy to report that I am published in The Best of 2012 anthology: Storm Cycle, which is not available yet. I am thrilled to have my poem, "Rebirth" chosen for this volume. Here is that poem, which I may have posted here when it was published originally on Jellyfish Whispers:

Rebirth

by Barbara Ehrentreu

The earth lays brown

covered with ice and snow

until the sun’s rays melts it

awakens the sleeping seeds

dormant within the rich

humus to begin the process

a milligram at a time until

the delicate embryo

sprouts a tender green

stem and pushes hard

imagine how strong the

effort to spring forward

free in the sunshine!

The new green shoot

cracks through struggling

toward the light. Rushing

from the womb of Mother

Earth to feel the touch

of first sunlight

upon the newborn leaves.

Now for my writing resolutions for 2013, the Ring in the New part!!!

I'm thinking these are very similar to last years, but here goes:

I am going to send out my second novel, When My Life Changed, to my publisher and hopefully I will have a second book coming out next year!!
I am going to work on my WIP Footsteps on the Sand and work in a supernatural element. The ms is finished, but adding the ghost is the part I need to do.:)
I will continue working on the last novel I wrote and finished. for NaNo years ago, Tall Poison.
I am hoping to get more readings of my work and of course, write more!! Since my life has gotten incredibly strange and busy, I don't have the amount of time I used to have to write poetry.
I am going to try to get more either Meet and Greets for my novel, If I Could Be Like Jennifer Taylor, or book signings at local bookstores and libraries. This just needs me to concentrate on contacting more places. I have that wonderful Meet and Greet at Fairfield University Bookstore to use.

Until the next time, I hope you will all post your writing resolutions to share with us all. I have really no idea what this month will bring, but I hope to post one more time at least.:) Also I am posting regularly on DowntownYA again, so look for me there. I may or may not be doing my Blog Talk Radio show this month and so far this month is free of all guest author spots. I will be interviewing anyone who is interested during the year. Please contact me if you are interested in being on this blog as a guest author.