Star Gazing

When is the last time you took a moment to look up on a clear night to see stars and make a wish? Back home we had very minimal light pollution when surrounded by farm fields as far as the eyes could see. This allowed the stars to be super bright and the sky a deep blue. The best nights where the cool nights on a blanket in the grass listening to classical or show tunes from the latest Disney animated movie. Every time I saw a falling star, I made a wish and wondered where it was going so fast. Was the object in the sky on a special mission, had it lost its ability to stay in the sky or was it a signal to others in another world.

Enhanced by the music the stars became a story in the sky. Sometimes new galaxies with a host of interesting creatures. Other times they were guardians made of people, pets and things that used to reside on earth that shined at night to let me know that they were protecting the world from up high. Either way it brought to light new thoughts of the possibilities of the unknown.

I knew the scientific side of the stars, but found it more fun to make up my own adventures and theories. Allowing creative energy to flow in a not so exciting country life.

If you don't create your own adventures, then what do you have to share with the world or to remember your own life?

Birthday's

Do you remember your favorite Birthday Celebration as a child?

Ever heard of a golden birthday? In my family it is when the day you are born matches the age you are celebrating. Mine was turning 10 on the 10th. Our school teacher allowed us to bring something special in for the whole class to enjoy. My special treat was bring in chop sticks to teach everyone how to use them while eating food. I can't remember what we ate, but don't forget the chop sticks. As you can imagine, a bunch of 9 and 10-year-olds could make quite a mess trying to pick things up with two sticks in one hand.

How do you plan on making your next birthday a memory for others? Sometimes it is not about getting, but about giving.

Rainy Days

I found over time that rainy days brought out the most creativity. When you are trapped inside for a day, you develop an indoor haven and world of adventure. Lucky for me my parents encouraged thinking outside of the box and sometimes within.

One of the coolest presents a child can get with little money is large appliance boxes, colored construction paper, scrap fabric, string, tape, scissors, glue, crayons, and markers. Don't discount the medium size boxes as well. Together everything can create a fun place that gives hours of play time.

Here is one creation I remember developing during a series of rainy days:

I took a refrigerator box for the castle tower. Drew on the bricks and cut out the windows. Then attached a stove box with tape and cut an opening that passed through both as a hallway. Added windows and a main door with scissors. The windows had shoe boxes attached under them filled with construction paper flowers. On the outside I drew on wood looking shutters on the windows. The door I was drawn it to look like it was carved out of wood. Then I took another large box cut in half to that had two sides and a corner to use as the roof. Using different colored construction paper I added roof tiles to the roof.

Next I furnished and decorated the inside. Taking string and fabric scraps I made curtains for the windows. Used construction paper to create frames for the artwork that I cut out of magazines and glued to the walls. Medium size boxes were cut into a table and stove. Lastly, I drew a stone fireplace on one of the walls and used construction paper with markers to create the logs and flames in the hearth.

Once the play house was set, it was to time to invite my friends (stuff animals) into the new castle for a party. Party hats and tiaras were made out of construction paper with splashes of color added with glue and glitter, sometimes an occasional feather added. We would pretend it was a grand tea party or a secret gathering to plot a take over of a neighboring castle. Sometimes being influenced by "Alice in Wonderland", "Robin Hood", and "Cinderella".

All great stories are influenced by the past, present and thought of the future. I twist some of the creative elements that I developed in my castles to describe cottages, homes and castles in the book series.

I'm glad there were plenty of rainy days to develop creative thought. May you have an insightful rainy day.

Living in a Small Town not Related

Ever heard of New Lothrop? It is a mid-Michigan farming community and most everyone in the area is related. My dad brought us here as a School Teacher/JV Football Coach/Drivers ED Instructor for one of our rival schools, therefore not related to anyone. My dad is UPr (Ironwood, MI) and mom was from the smallest city (Omer, MI). They bought a plot of land from a farmer and built their own house. Overtime developing friendships in the area with other people with similar interests.

Everything was grand in this rural world until my 3rd grade and we graduated to riding the bus with all the rest of our area's kids 3rd - 7th grade. That is where realized I didn't know many kids as others my age. Everyone being related in some sort of fashion exposed them to knowing more people and already having a report with each other. I was starting from scratch with long reddish hair, freckles, paper white skin, and a quirky fashion sense (Mixing of new clothes, hand me downs and new "Nicole" creations). Most the people in the area had nice tans, brown hair that went a golden blonde tone in the summer, and dressed similar (whatever trend had seeped its way down into the country from the local malls that were 45 minutes away). You could say I stood out a bit.

I would get picked on from the time I stepped on the bus until I stepped off it at night. Sometimes getting off several stops before mine so I could walk in silence home. Over time I became the one that stood up for others that had similar treatment. Another great lesson was I understood that no matter how someone looks, you should never doubt their inside. So the motto I ended up with over time was:

"Greet everyone with a warm smile while looking them in the eye, even when just walking by on a street. Everyone has value and sometimes needs encouragement to help them blossom to their full potential. It is OK to stand out in a crowd. If your just like everyone else, what is there to talk about when you get old and who will remember you? Develop a brand "You" that your proud of and gives you Charmed Adventures."

Omer, MI

Growing up we lived quite a simple life. Grew most of our vegetables, hunted, fished, heated the house with a wood burning stove, played in the yard, read books, swam in the pond and camped in tents on vacation. These simple things created grand memories over time and gave experiences that not everyone can talk about.

At a young age I became fascinated in tracking animals. Following their paths through the forest while my parents were cutting up dead trees to heat the house in the winter. I would come across deer, rabbits, turkeys, fox, frogs, salamanders, owls, and hawks. Each I would pretend were my friends and that they left me special marks in the forest so I could find them. I would follow forest animal paths for hours, sometimes getting lost, but not for long. I always knew North, South, West and East from the Sun and paying attention to where it was in relation to the time I left my parents.

These mini adventures grew my fondness for the great outdoors and the animals within it. Plus, I even learned about the different types of plants and dirt.

- Found I love the smell of most pine trees.

- I love the color of maple leaves in the fall.

- Birch bark and some fungus are fun to draw on with sticks and leave symbols on as path markers.

- Always use a stick to poke in front of you while walking on wet ground, some areas you can actually sink in and get stuck. A good hint: the rotting earth smell in those areas tend to give it away as a danger.

As I learned more about my surroundings the more I let my imagination grow about how these areas were protected and what creatures lived there that I couldn't see. My favorite stories to read were about gnomes, faeries, pixies, elves, and ewoks.

It is amazing looking back now how much nature can provide beyond life and foster an imagination.

While writing Charmed Adventures I've been able to blend in my childhood experiences and nature knowledge to bring to life adventures for all children to join along.

New Water - Charmed Adventures

Wow, it has been about 2 years since I wrote the concept of Charmed Adventures while remembering childhood adventures I had.

It seems like yesterday that I was living in the middle of nowhere (Chesaning/New Lothrop, MI) on some acres surrounded by fields and trees. Ok, we did have a pond filled with fish, frogs and anything else that decided to visit. My days included creating adventures of traveling big seas (pond), building big castles (tree house), riding in carriages (wagon pulled behind a family dog), living with Eskimos (piled snow dug out in the center), and many more.

This place called home was the start of creating many adventures, but never the end. Every summer my family would pack up the family van and travel the US and Canada to see the many treasures this world of ours has to offer. I learned a great deal from traveling. You can make friends with other children even if you don't speak the same language. A smile, hug and hand shake don't need words, but have similar meanings. You can have all the money in the world, it doesn't mean you will have fun. The most satisfaction comes when you use your imagination and put your mind to things. Laughter is the best medicine and those that learn to laugh at themselves have the fastest recovery.

Not everyone has the most charmed life. Life is what you make it. However, if it takes a charm to open your world to new adventure, then pick it up and use it as the power to give you the imagination to create an new adventure. A person can make anything become real in their own way. Not all minds think the same or work the same, but can come to the same answer.

The book series "Charmed Adventures" has been created to help children to think outside of the box and to encourage them to make their own adventures. As a child, I was not the "smart" one, but the "creative" one. However, based on the ability that I could make anything become real, I always found a way to figure things out in my own way. This allowed me to take an adventure through the work world of interior design, tooling design, automotive chassis design, GM engineering, GM marketing and consulting. Now I'm inviting you to join me in my new adventure of authoring my first book series "Charmed Adventures".