Colorado mountain dog with tiny kitten

(This pic was taken by Wendy Francisco so she has the copyright on it under crackonoon ragdolls...)


This is Caspian, Wendy's dog and my dog's father, with a kitten. The kitten is obviously trying to look as big as she can by sticking all her fur out, putting her tail straight up in the air, and slightly arching her back. Yet, she's holding her ground. But the one to look at here is Caspian. He has a motherly look on his face. Fiona gets this same look when my hamsters crawl across her paws, or go right up to her, nose to nose. Kissy, one of my sweetest and most confident hamsters, sat on her haunches as squirrels do (hamsters are Syrian ground squirrels) and put one hand up on Fiona's nose like a traffic cop, clearly saying, "Back up.". Fiona DID! So cute!

Fiona, and other mountain dogs, has an instinct to protect little helpless animals against big scary predators. These dogs are solving the problems ranchers are having with mountain lions and even wolves, in the case of sheep and goats (supposedly some ranchers of goats and sheep are saying that wolves are taking some of their animals. If it's wolves or wild dogs, either way, Colorado mountain dogs completely solve the problem). They are naturally protective of all the animals of the household and property and naturally aggressive toward predators, even barking at hawks and owls eyeing the chickens!

It's amazing to see such a huge dog be so very gentle with such tiny, vulnerable animals! The only indication Fiona gives that there's a hamster on or between her paws is her tail wags. Now the hamsters are so used to her that when she walks into the hamstery (which is my master bedroom, given over to the care of hamsters), they get out of their nests to greet her and touch noses through the cage bars. She even tries to eat their food, when miss Fiona turns her nose up at the very best of dog foods!

She's the most amazing dog I've ever known or had, and I've had wonderful, wonderful dogs! Fiona is just different - gently protective, super gentle in the house, keeping to her own toys and leaving mine alone.

Sheesh, I sound like a commercial!

Anyway, this picture of Caspian with a tiny ragdoll kitten is just too cute! Wendy is one of the top breeders of ragdoll cats, and they have the run of her house, so they're all indoor cats who are used to a lot of love. If I didn't have hamsters, I'd have one of these fluffy little cloudpuffs. But i digress.

Enjoy the picture!

Yes, I'm working on my next book, but I take a looonngggg time to write a book because there are soo soo many stories to tell and things I want to say, and I start by just writing all of it, which is a LOT of pages, like 1000 pages or so, then I start to whittle it down, almost like sculpting, but w/ words, to say what I think I must say or illustrate through the stories. It takes me a long time, too, possibly because I'm not super experienced as an author. I don't blaze through like some authors. But I am definitely writing the next book, which is one reason I'm no longer online so much.

At some point I will address the issue of the Barn Owl Alliance - I do have plans for it but not the same as I originally thought, because we need more research before we can recommend exactly what should ideally go into a box, and I'm talking w/ owl box makers, rehabbers, and biologists to try to figure it all out in terms of an ideal design.

I do love the branching system that Carlos put up for Molly's babies. Obviously that worked! Also, the one Tom put up for Owlivia's babies also worked quite well. Both of those can serve as very good examples of what is needed for barn owl babies to branch.

I love how the guardians of ga'hoole books emphasize branching and explain in great detail how owlets really learn to fly. That author did her research!

Happy Fall and Happy cooler weather everyone! I wish WE had cooler weather in S. California but no...it's in the 80s again. Believe me, that does get monotonous. It's nice to have a change of seasons and I want that. Hence the desire to move to Colorado. So enjoy your change of seasons!

Maizie

I'm sorry to report that Maizie died of her cancer. Her surgery went well but during recovery she was in the middle of fixing up her nest and she just instantly died. She was not in pain, however, and was acting completely fine - eating, being curious, grooming, making her nests. The doc got all the cancer out because it was localized to her leg, but sometimes there is a delayed reaction to surgery in these very tiny animals, called DIC, I think. I was heartbroken and couldn't bring myself to write about it for awhile.

I have fallen in love with a species that only lives about 2 years. Some of my hamsters live up to 5 years because I take extremely careful care of them, giving them supplements, getting to the vet with any problems, trimming their teeth if they have overgrowth, all the upkeep that takes attention to detail. But still, they just don't live all that long.

I've considered not having hamsters because of the ongoing heartbreak, but I've decided it's worth the heartbreak just to know them. I'd rather deal regularly with the cycle of life and death, love and loss, than live without them at all. They are such amazing, complex, magical little beings. Who knew that the Syrian Ground Squirrel had so many charms?

Many of my hamsters come to me when called by name, and they get all excited when I walk into the room, coming to the door of their cages so I can easily pick them up and snuggle with them. They kiss me on the nose and snuggle under my chin to sleep, they bark at me when they want attention...

One way I've dealt with the constant loss is to breed a special hamster so that when he or she dies, I have her or his babies. In that way, hamsters from the past still live, generations later, through their offspring.

I don't breed a lot, but maybe one litter per generation.

It's the same way with us, isn't it? We achieve some kind of immortality through our children or through those we affect, love, mentor, teach, give to...

This time, though, I bred 4 very special sisters all at once, 2 years ago. I did that because I've found that if one hamster becomes a nervous mother and starts to be unable to care for her babies properly, I can quickly foster those babies into the other litters as long as they're all the same age. So I bred these 4 sisters all on the same night (they seem to go into heat all together at the same time). It worked out well, although for the last 2 years I've had a LOT of hamsters to take care of, or to pay someone to take care of when I travel.

But that's ok. I'm home in bed most of the time and am almost always cuddling with a hamster, so they all get plenty of attention.

But now it's going to be a very difficult season, since they're all getting very old at once. I knew, of course, that this would happen. But that doesn't make it any easier to be losing so many precious friends one right after the other.

Again, it's worth it. And as I've said before, the fact that we outlive our pets is a blessing in that we are able to shepherd them gently through their old age and illnesses and death, rather than us dying first and not knowing if they'll ever be loved or treated in the way we would love and treat them.

I have made arrangements for my animals should that happen, and I highly suggest doing this. Cat and I have mutually agreed to adopt each others' dogs if something happened to one of us, and I have someone who would take my hamsters. I had someone who would have taken care of Wesley, but still, I wouldn't have wanted to have to take any chances with his future, especially with him being so sensitive and so "one person" oriented.

I guess this isn't a real "pick me up" subject, but it's part of having and loving animals, and when we take on an animal and open our hearts, we take on this part of it too. That's ok. I'm so glad I was able to be with Maizie all along and to have spent so much wonderful, magical, joyful time with her. I feel honored to have known her and to have been so trusted by her - and her such a tiny little thing, too.

I'll always love my little Maizie Daisy and will never forget her. Each one of them is an individual and is so special and so full of their own personality. It's pure delight to have shared this beautiful green earth with them!

Stacey

Pic of me and Wesley kissing, news of Fiona

Wow! What lovely comments from old friends and new! Right now I'm holed up writing. I tend to hole up away from home in order to stay away from distractions. Some hotels are very doggy friendly and hamster friendly, too. Fiona, however, is with her brother and her "other mom", Cat. Yes a woman named Cat, which I imagine is short for Catherine, but I've never asked her. How odd that two of my close friends are Cat and Cait!

Anyway, Fiona is in heat, and it seems to be her first true heat, even though she's 2 years old almost. Fortunately, brother Drinian is "fixed". But still, he was thrown off by the "new" Fiona and was really upset by her being in heat at first. Now, he seems to think he is supposed to guard her, which is fine with me! Cat tells me that Fiona is starting to howl, though, so I may have to go get her for the sake of Cat and her neighbors. I don't know how bad it is or isn't.

She puts the dogs in at night, because, being instinctive guard dogs, they will run the property all night barking at every coyote or owl that comes near. They are supposed to do that kind of thing, and Colorado Mountain Dogs are working WONDERS in places like Colorado, Wyoming, Montana - places where the wolf and the mountain lion have come back. Ranchers who have Colorado mountain dogs are reporting that they now have zero losses of livestock. The Colorado Mountain Dog is part Great Pyrenees and part Anatolian Shepherd, and both of those breeds have been keeping flocks of sheep and goats safe in Europe for time immemorial. When I read about ranchers in the midwest being upset about wolves going after their goats, I think, "Well for Pete's sake, get yourself a couple of Colorado Mountain Dogs! Or if they're not available, a couple of Great Pyrenees!" The reason the Colorado Mountain Dog is a little better, is that the combination of the two breeds gives you a lithe, wolflike dog that moves like a cat on the big rocks, can turn on a dime, can leap like crazy, runs like the wind, yet has the umph of the heavy great pyrenees. A Perfect dog for those mountains.

Anyway, because Fiona and Drinian think that's what they're supposed to be doing, they are too boistrous outside at night, and Cat lives along a canyon that reaches to the sea (in fact, she can hear the horns of the big ships as they pass out at sea, echoing up the canyon right to her house).

So...they go into their own sleeping area in the garage at night. Cat says, "Go to bed" and they race to their respective beds. Fiona likes to sleep in a big airline crate for extra large dogs. There's no door on it, so she doesn't have to sleep in there but she likes it. Cat has already put a biscuit on each of their pillows. yes! So Fiona goes to her bed and eats her biscuit, and Drinian goes to his pile of blankets right outside the door of Fiona's case and eats his biscuit. Cat was curious about what their routine is when they go to bed so she started spying on them. She has a nightlight on in there for them, so she can see what they're doing.

They each eat their biscuit, then Fiona comes out to check to see what Drinian ate and look for crumbs. Drinian sticks his nose in her mouth to smell what she ate to make sure she got the same thing he did. They're so funny about food when it comes to each other. On her own, Fiona turns her nose up at food and pretends she couldn't care less about it. She doesn't like treats, for example. She will not take them. When I feed her, she doesn't run to her bowl but looks away as if bored. Eventually, she ambles past her bowl, swinging her head down and swiping a mouthful in one movement, so it is hard to tell she even took a bite. She walks away from the bowl, WELL away from it, then you hear the crunch crunch crunch and you know she's eating the bite. Then, a few minutes later, she ambles past the bowl again, swipe, amble...crunch crunch crunch. I have no idea why she is so "cool" about it, so cavalier.

BUT, when she's at Cat's house, Cat has to separate the two dogs into two different yards because they are suddenly fascinated with each other's food. Fiona is suddenly a food maven, a ravenous beast. As soon as they've both eaten, Cat opens the gate between them and they rush to finish any little bits left in each others' bowls. Sigh. silly dogs. She even gains weight when she's at Cat's because of her competition w/ Drinian over food. The grass is always greener on the other side, it's really true that people and animals think that way. It cracks me up.

have a lovely week, everyone!
Stacey

i'm really here, if you are...

Hi! If anyone is still watching for this blog, after my severe neglect of several months, THANK YOU! I've been on a LOONNNGGG retreat, away from the internet and all the emotion and noise it can generate. I never do very well in the summer with my health, and this summer was no exception. The heat just ruins me and it's one migraine after another, and when there's no migraine, I'm recovering from the exhaustion of having had so many migraines in a row. Not that I'm complaining. I know I'm lucky to live in the USA where there is so much opportunity and comfort. It's ridiculous to even think about complaining when you're lying on a comfortable bed with enough to eat and a roof over your head. So I'm not. I'm just explaining why I haven't been getting on the internet. I did go on a long retreat, also, and when I do that, I never say when I'm going to do it or where I'm going or for how long. I've always had that tendency. And while I can no longer trek off into the high sierras alone at a whim, I can still disappear like I used to do, and think and sleep and think some more.

I've been thinking about the Barn Owl Alliance and all the work that you guys have been doing. Charlotte has been keeping me updated through Keith Malone. I haven't given up on that at all, it's just that a person can only do so much, and can only do one thing at a time, at least this person can only do so many things at one time. When I was younger and healthier I could do everything all at once, or at least I thought I could. It's an illusion of the young, I think.

I'm still on a retreat, esconced in a random hotel for now, dealing with my hamster having major surgery. This hotel allows animals and has mondo air conditioning, which is the main reason I'm here. We had the hottest days ever in recorded history in the past couple of weeks and I just couldn't stand it, even with the air conditioning on at home. California homes, even nice ones, are not built with insulation in mind. The feeling is that things never really get all that bad - heatwise or coldwise, so there's no need to get all excited about details like insulation, so a lot of the heat or air conditioning goes right out the sides of the windows, under the doors, through the mail slots. No one really worries about "drafts" in winter either. Unless they're way up in the mountains where it counts for something.

Anyway, I do apologize for being rather impossible to reach via the internet. On the other hand, I think the internet can be very invasive, so I have mixed feelings about it. But I had established a lot of contacts and feel bad about just dropping off the face of the earth. I do tend to do that, as I said, though.

I'm writing another book, now, so a lot of the writing energy that I would have been using on the blog is now being used for the book. I'm deep in the rough draft right now.

I adhere to the Steven King method, as he explains in his book, "On Writing". I didn't KNOW I adhered to his method until I read the book and thought, "Wow, that's exactly how I do it, too." Not that it's rocket science - few things are.

There are only so many ways to go about it, right? The first thing I do is what I call "Making the fabric", where the finished quilt would be the book. Before you make a quilt, you have to go out and buy yards and yards of fabric, some of this, some of that...if you're not really sure how it's going to look yet, you end up buying a lot of fabric that will not make it into the quilt at the end, but you may take some pieces from each of the fabrics for the final quilt. But you can't put pieces together if there is no fabric to mess around with in the first place. Making the fabric - or the first draft - is done in private, almost in secrecy.

I just let my subconscious run in all kinds of directions, free-flowing. And I'm often surprised by what my subconscious is up to when I see it on the page. It'll take me a while to get all of that out. With the first book, I wrote 400 pages single spaced.. using a font sized 12, Times Roman.

When I went back to the raw fabric to pull the book together, I cut a ton of that, about half of that ended up in the book.

This time it's taking me longer to write the rough draft, since w/ Wesley the Owl, I wrote the first draft in a passionate whirlwind after he died. It's how I processed my grief. This book is being written under a lot less duress, although my passion for my subject is keen.

So, I guess what I'm saying is, please be patient. I may not be the blogger I used to be during this time of writing, because my writing energy will be channeled into the new book.

Today has been intense because my hamster, Maizie, had major surgery to remove a huge cancerous mass that was wrapped around her femur, and she had to have that taken out, plus reconstruction of her muscles around the femur they could save, and they had to amputate the rest of her leg. She was otherwise just fine and healthy, so it was worth it to take this out and let her go on living her life. She clearly has a very strong will to live and wasn't letting the cancer get in her way. But it was becoming very painful and slowing her down. Now she's in recovery and on very strong pain medications. The vet, my hero, Dr. Coward, is taking her home for the night so he can keep monitoring her. This guy is really amazing. He gets so involved with his patients - even a tiny gray hamster like my little Maizie, who I adore.

So I'm going to be worrying about her - I can't help it.

Well, I'll try to blog more often now, and again, sorry for the long absence! I hope you all had a great summer!

-Stacey

WHOOOOSH!! RE-Entry Shock!

Hi everyone! I apologize profusely for being absent for so long. Things have been crazy to say the least!

I have been with you in spirit, however.

I got back from Colorado the day before I did my event in Palos Verdes, which went amazingly well. Then I was re-united with my dog, Fiona, who, believe it or not, had grown visibly while I was gone. These dogs grow slowly over a 2 year period and it never fails to surprise me after I’ve been away for awhile. This was the longest I had ever been away from her. Two months!

The Colorado working “vacation” was not really a vacation, but it was a lovely change of pace. Being up in the forest where it’s so quiet that we would go to the window to see who was passing when we heard the footsteps of people walking on the road below, was so restful. I always do so much better, healthwise, when I’m at a high altitude (in this case, 9,000 ft), and when I’m surrounded by wildlife.

This was a writing vacation, and I got a lot done. Also, it was a series of meetings with my attorney, and we squared away the Barn Owl Alliance paperwork for the 501(c)3. There was a lot to do besides that but I won’t bore you with the details.

After I did the event in Palos Verdes (where I met a few of you blog readers and alliance members!), I returned home and immediately left again with my dog so I could fumigate the house. The hamsters are at a babysitter’s, so it was the first time in years that I had a chance to fumigate, which needed to be done because the hammsters’ food sometimes contains seed moths, which are very tiny moths that become real pests in time.

The key to avoiding seed moths is to freeze the food for at least 24 hours before opening it. I usually buy my hamster food at a place that does this for the customer in advance, but I made the mistake of buying hamster food at one of the big chains a couple of times and was suddenly inundated w/ little moths. Ugh. The situation was beyond the point where I could just catch and release them, which would have been my preference.

So, Fiona and I stayed away for a few days after that.

Finally, however, I returned home.

Every time I return from the mountains – any mountains – I get what I call “re-entry shock”. I crash. My body has to adjust again to the high air pressure of sea level (at high altitudes, I do so much better. There seems to be less pressure on my brain and I have a lot less symptoms, hence the migraines are much fewer and lower in intensity)> When I get back the migraines hit like they’ve been waiting for their revenge and I’m just laid out for weeks with one migraine after another.

The heat also doesn’t help. When it’s hot, ones’ blood vessels dialate, which also contributes to my migraines. I’m just not made for hot weather, and the Colorado mountains are nice and cool in the summer and even cooler in the winter. I literally have gotten out of the car in 40 degree weather, wearing a tank top and shorts, and rolled in a snow bank to cool off. It’s ridiculous!

Other people are wearing coats and hats and I’m still in summer clothes. So coming back to the heat of S. California is just a shock to the system.

Add to all this the smog, traffic, the crush of people, and the complete lack of anything even resembling nature, and the picture is complete.

Hence, I’ve been sick ever since I got back, mostly sleeping right under the direct flow of the air conditioning.

Also, getting online around here is also difficult – I definitely need to get wireless.

All this to say, I have not been online for a couple of weeks, and I do apologize for my absence!

This does NOT mean that I’ve become any less passionate about the Barn Owl Alliance or the blog or anything else, though!

I’ve got a few projects going on that are also going to take some of my time, but the barn owl alliance goes forward. I’m hoping that all the data that you lovely people have been amassing is complete enough for me to start acting on it.

I think the next step is to take that data and have a sit-down meeting with Nancy Conney and perhaps Tom Stephan and try to come up with the ideal parameters for an owl box with a branching system. Tom has experimented with a branching system that worked (the one on Owlivia and Owliver’s box), and a few other people have also devised systems. Perhaps there can be some flexibility if the regulations are written correctly.

I would like to not only come up with a list of parameters w/ Nancy and Tom but would also like to work with Nancy to contact the right regulators and begin discussions with them. The data that we’ve collected will help in making our case.

Please be patient with me on this! I have a lot going on and have to pace myself in all these other projects as well as this one, but I am persistent, if nothing else! Doggedly so!

I’ve hired an assistant who is really a publicist - Keith Malone. He is a long time dear friend. We’ve been friends since the 4th grade and have done many projects together from lab experiments to being on the school newspaper together to being in the International and the Spanish clubs in school to going to the same college even! We’ve even done some writing together.

You might notice that sometimes Keith will put updates on the Wesley the Owl facebook or twitter, or that he’ll occasionally speak for me. That’s fine. He’s on the board for the Barn Owl Alliance and I trust him implicitly!

Because of Keith, the Wesley the Owl facebook page is now active again and you can refer to it for updates about my schedule. The website is not up to date with schedules because Wendy still has charge of that and she’s so busy with her new book and the deadlines involved that Keith is going to be taking that over eventually. But all in good time.

I wanted to let you know that I’ll be speaking and signing books in San Diego on Thursday, July 15. It’s not my usual talk about my life w/ Wesley, however, because it’s for a group of editors. The talk will be more about the editing process, the assembling of a team,, the importance of good editing, and even some of the nuts and bolts techniques I used in editing my book.

I’ll be teaching a workshop on editing and also a workshop on book and chapter structure in September at the Southern California Writers’ Conference in Newport Beach. Obviously, this is tailored for writers who are serious about getting published and would not be of interest to most of my readers, but I thought I’d just mention it. I may also be doing an Audubon event in September in Los Angeles, but it’s not confirmed yet.

Anyway, that’s the update. I just wanted to let you know I haven’t disappeared from your lives or lost interest in the least! I’ve just been busy, overwhelmed w/ projects, and then sick for awhile as I adjusted to the hot, crowded, California environment. Sigh. I guess we can’t live in paradise all the time, right? California is pretty darn good, actually, so I’m not complaining!

Thanks for your concern and patience!

Sincerely,
Stacey O’Brien

PS: The book was recently translated into Hungarian! Wow! I’m amazed at the exotic languages into which it’s been translated. So far we have
English – American
English – Great Britain (the British Isles, Australia, NZ. Canada)
Chinese mainland – both Mandarin and Cantonese
Taiwan
Korean
Italian
German
Portuguese (Brazil)
Polish
And now Hungarian!

It’s also available in large print and as a book on CD.

The German version was recently featured in the German Readers’ Digest and published as a Readers’ Digest Condensed book and was featured in their biggest womens’ magazine.

In Italy, there was a beautiful article in their national newpaper’s weekly magazine w/ gorgeous color pictures.

And in Brazil it was featured in the national newspaper, O Globo. O Globo is also my publisher in Brazil.

I happen to speak Brazilian Portuguese (although it’s very rusty) because the first child I ever sponsored through Compassion International was from Brazil. I wanted to be able to really communicate with her, so I learned Brazilian Portuguese and got permission to call the school and center to talk to her! I’d call and they’d run up the road to get her and we’d talk for hours sometimes. The first time we talked, they didn’t know to hang up the phone after the conversation and just dropped it where it was. The connection stayed alive for hours but thankfully I wasn’t charged for all that time! The ability to speak with her directly was so important as she grew into a young woman and had no one to advise her about certain things. It was a joy to know her through knowing her language!

One of the things that the book supports is sponsorship of kids caught in the deep cycle of poverty. Sponsorship pays for their schooling, medical care, nutrition, parenting programs for their parents, practical lessons on hygienic practices such as boiling the water before drinking it, also drilling wells for clean water, dental, vocational training, and for those who show promise, college education. There is also a psychological/spiritual component that has to do with overcoming the hopeless self image that’s propogated by the society in which the kids live, which tells them that they are worthless and just trash. This is not true, and they are told that each and every one of them is precious and worthy and full of potential and possibility. They aren’t used to hearing these things in the slums where they live.

Obviously I’m passionate about sponsoring kids! I’ve checked out this organization thoroughly and know that the money is going where it’s supposed to be going! I’ve seen so many kids transformed over the years that it keeps me going, keeps me humble, and keeps me from thinking I’ve got it so bad w/ the migraines and such. When a person is in the kind of wretched poverty that these kids have endured, there is no medical care for anyone in their community. I feel lucky that I have access to doctors, etc.

I know I’m rambling a bit, but for me, having the book contribute to these kids as well as to other groups such as Saint Jude Hospital and wildlife organizations gives me a much bigger vision for why I want to continue to keep the book going. It’s not just about me, it’s about what kind of legacy of hope I can contribute to through the book. THAT is something I can get excited about!

And now the Barn Owl Alliance, too! It’s all so inspiring!

Thank you all so much for being a part of this and, again, for your patience!

What I’m reading:

Born to Bark by Stanley Coren – it’s not out yet but will be soon. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Bear Went Over the Mountain by William Kotswinkle: A silly spoof, in the tradition of Being There, about the world of publishing.

Hi! I'm fine! Just kinda swamped!

I do VERY MUCH apologize for being so unavailable in this last week or so! I'm fine. I've been overtired and sleeping a lot, plus working w/ Cait and I'm trying to work on the sequel to Wesley the Owl...I often come to Colorado to write, so I do get swept up. I sure didn't mean to worry you! And please know that I'm very serious about and committed to the BOA and hope my writing can help the cause, too.

I will be back in LA on the 27th, speaking at Border Books in Palos Verdes and signinig books! I'm really lookoing forward to that. I'll also be reunited w/ my dog, Fiona, on the same day. It will be a great day!

I hope some of you can make it! It should be announced on the Wesley the Owl facebook site. My new publicist, Keith, is helping me get the word out about some things, like this event on June 27 at 2:00 at the Borders in palos verdes.

I hope you're all doing well! Hang in there and don't lose faith!

Love,
Stacey

A Quote I Grew Up With Still Applies

I grew up with extraordinary parents. My mom was always singing, quoting shakespeare at opportune moments, and majored in music in College w/ a minor in English literature. She taught English in a High School in the San Fernando Valley until she had us kids, and was very education oriented. My parents moved to La Crescenta, where I grew up, BECAUSE OF the schools. And my mom didn't take anyone's word for it. She sat in on classes in both the private and public schools there to make sure.

My Dad was also a music major and psychology major, but he took so much biology he may as well also have been a bio major. He knew more about snakes than anyone I knew because he used to hang out in the herpetology section of the zoo and be mentored there. He had a full scholarship to USC in French Horn and was an alternate to the Gymnastic olympic team in I don't know what year. But he didn't take the french horn scholarship and instead went to the same school my mom went to and there you have it.

Anyway, they were both so bookish (but not nerdy) that almost every wall of our house was lined w/ books. When I went to people's houses where there were no books lining the walls, I assumed there was a room I didn't know about that served as "the library" in the house. haha!

All that to say, my mom used to hang up quotes all over the house. Still does. There was one big sign that was over her desk, on the refrigerator, over our desks, everywhere. It really sums up what her philosophy is, and although it's perhaps oversimplified, it certainly is true in most cases!

I want to share it with you:

Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'Press On' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race. -Calvin Coolidge

Here's another one of Calvin's famous quotes:
Prosperity is only an instrument to be used, not a deity to be worshipped.
Calvin Coolidge

And finally:
I have found it advisable not to give too much heed to what people say when I am trying to accomplish something of consequence. Invariably they proclaim it can't be done. I deem that the very best time to make the effort.
Calvin Coolidge (1872 - 1933)

All of these truths are worth meditating on, because there is more truth in them than many people care to admit. These principles were drummed through our heads and I passionately believe them to be true. Ok, "Press on" does not solve ALL the problems of the human race, but it does solve an awful lot of our problems in life, and it sure beats not pressing on!

And relying on things like "genius", "talent", "education" are not enough in life. They can be cop-outs, to be honest. How many blow-hards have you met in your life who prance around declaring their own genius, talent, or education? Are they helping anything? No. How many humble people have you met who are quietly changing things - ok I'll bring out my own hero's name - Jane Goodall. She was just pure persistence at the beginning. She only had a high school education when she made the majority of her biggest discoveries, did you know that? Then she went back and rushed through a PhD based on her discoveries. But it was her sheer persistence that got her where she was in the first place!

I hope that inspires you. It inspires me!

-Stacey

PS: It's never too late to follow your "bliss" in the sense of moving ahead on what you've always wanted to do. There are seasons of life where you can't do everything, In fact, you can never do "everything". But you can start to move forward on the thing that inspires and excites you the most. The thing you've always wanted to do. Even if you have to go so slow that only you can tell that there's ever any progress. You just need persistence, not all that other stuff. It's kind of a relief to realize that.