January Opens Spaces

Vol.: 20.1 January 29, 2020

How is your winter going so far? Though we cannot predict the months ahead I must say that most of December and January have been have easy, weather-wise. Those that enjoy SNOW and that sorta’ thing are surely disappointed by the winter so far. When I was young I loved sledding. My older brother and I and sometime my sisters as well would pull our sleds down the road to a pasture lot down the road. Of course we did not allow the cows to wander the field in the winter so we had no competition from the herd. The lot had a few acres of trees we called the woods and stood upon a ridge that sloped toward the west. That slope provided us young Vander Veldens hours of thrills on cold Saturdays when the snow was right.

I’m sure that if I were to go a trespassing and visit that hillside today I’d probably wonder why the hill has shrunk. Life is like that. The mountains of our memories become little more than the heaping mounds the moles leave in our yards. So I won’t go back to that place that lives within my memories. Because it is private property under the control of others, but also because it lives clearly within in me. I do not wish to muddle my remembrances with something as silly as reality.

Maybe it is my yearnings for the past that shape so much of my writing these days. Not that those times were easier than today, for they were not. Pumping water is not simpler than turning the tap. Firing up the wood stove is not easier than twisting the thermostat. But that world seems less complex. Whether that was the case or not doesn’t matter when it comes to stories, does it?

It seems that those that have read MISTY CREEK must feel the same way, and have told me so. So today I share with you one of the greatest benefits I have had with the release of my books. I have met some of you. Whether you have taken some of your precious time to come to one of my Author’s Events, or I have approached you in a book store or library. It has been a joy and I thank you for the opportunity.

In that regard, I have been invited to participate in a Local Authors Fair next month. This will be my first experience of that type and am excited to participate. So if you are near Culver, Indiana, Saturday February 15^th, 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM stop by and say hello to some of your friends and neighbors that have worked to provide books they hope you might enjoy.

So as January nears its closing it is my hope that the month has been kind to you and yours. That as the days grow longer you look forward to the wonders that each day brings. That you remember that God loves you and that he is very near, even when you do not notice.

With God’s blessings, and Christ’s love, your friend,

John