Quil's Postcards: Camp Crater

How Activities Can Teach Us More About Ourselves:

WE HAVE ANOTHER BATCH OF POSTCARDS FROM QUIL! This time we have letters from Summer Space Camp. I am really passionate about summer camps. I went to one as a child and participated in the "horsemanship" program. Many of my close friends went to traditional and religious summer camps growing up as well. There is something really special about going off to camp, you are away from family and have your first taste of independence. You are meeting new friends and trying lots of new things. You get to make choices on your own, food, friends, activities and discover new things about yourself!

Summer Camp was no fun at all ;-)

        We can still have these experiences as adults. Maybe not at overnight camp but through enrichment classes and activities. I encourage anyone reading this to start a new adventure. Sign up for a dance class, a writing class, heck even intermural DODGEBALL! Make a choice that's just for you! Meet new people and discover a new creative or physical outlet. It's always time for a new experience!

      Quil has some incredible experiences at Camp Crater. Our little space friend has taken on new challenges and created lasting bonds with friends. I am so glad we get to learn all about these amazing Camp Crater adventures through Quil's Postcards. 

Fun Links:

Creative Hobbies for Adults

Find a Summer Camp in Maine

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Quil's Postcards: Lava Park Adventure

How Friends Can Make You Brave:

QUIL IS BACK! This time we get to see what an amusement park looks like in outer space. Now here is my confession: I am TOTALLY vicariously living through Quil in these stories. This is pure fun and fantasy for my inner child. I ALWAYS wanted to go to a theme park as a kid. So now I get to go to one on another planet! I also really enjoy getting to spend some time and getting to know a character across multiple stories. In this installment, Quil has a birthday party at a Lava Park.  Our space friend is at a very special age, (7 Earth years), where friendship is MAGICAL!  

     I love that time in a child’s life when they are too young to care about romance or even the concept of popularity. They just love their friends. I had a few really special friends in my childhood. I remember spending several nights in a row at each other's houses. We wanted to do everything together, like tee-ball, summer camp, and birthday parties! I miss those kinds of relationships now. Adults don’t really do the slumber party thing anymore. At least not on a regular basis. So it has been really fun as a writer to revisit those kinds of childhood friendships in the Quil stories.

     Quil has some really special friends named Bula and Nova. They are inspired by two of my friends from childhood who were: A.) Really daring, B.) Really good at sports and C.) really supportive and patient with me even though I was neither A or B, but instead, was D.) a TOTAL WHIMP!!! Bula and Nova have that same kind of friendship with Quil.  I especially like that they motivate Quil to try new things, like going down a LAVA SLIDE!!! I can't wait to see what adventure little space buddies will have next!!! Friends are outta this world!

Thank YOU for being a friend!

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Fun Links:

Some Advice about Friendship

Another Cool Space Podcast

Magic & Merry Toyland

How a Childhood Toy Can Awaken Optimism:

TOYS... There is nothing quite like a child playing with a toy they love. A good toy can ignite the imagination and keep a child busy for hours. For me, it was my childhood dollhouse. You see, my folks worked hard to give us a comfortable life. We had everything we needed, but we didn’t grow up with a lot of “extras.” Those coveted trendy toys like “Power Wheels” or “American Girl Dolls” were outside of our budget. But there was one Christmas morning I woke up and felt like I hit the toy “jackpot.”

     I was five years old and I just loved playing with my dolls. My folks and my Nana conspired to make me something really special for Christmas . . . a handmade dollhouse! For months they would put my brother and I to bed then work downstairs on this project, like elves in Santa’s workshop. My father is a carpenter and he built the house and painted it the same colors as our real house. My mum decorated the house with wallpaper swatches from a catalog and free carpet samples. My dad made little dollhouse furniture out of reject wood scraps from the woodturning mill in our town. And my Nana put all of the finishing touches on the house by sewing the bedding & the other linens. They later told me how much fun they had putting this dollhouse together.

     When I woke up that Christmas morning I was overwhelmed with joy. To this day, this is my “dream house.” It was made with so much love by the people I love. It was a toy that kept me entertained for hours upon hours and made me believe in magical possibilities.

Christmas Morning with my handmade dollhouse!

 

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Fun Links:

Toys You Can Make! (Including a Dollhouse)

“March of the Toys” from Babes in Toyland

Lawrence the Lighthouse

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How to Face Your Fears "Head-light" On:

"HI -YAH  LAWRENCE . . . " I just love this one. I have lived in Portland Maine for 10 years now. We are a little port city with an old working waterfront. The Portland Headlight has been guiding boats into Casco Bay since 1791. It is my favorite lighthouse to visit. When I made my living as a landscape painter, I painted this lighthouse dozens of times.

     The Headlight always looked like it was in a different mood. But mostly, I thought it looked lonely. The Lighthouse stays up all night keeping vigil, guiding boats into the harbor. Boats that have seen the whole world, but the Lighthouse never gets to leave its post. Sailboats get to leisurely float around. But the Lighthouse is always working. Even the “Working” Boats have a day off for the annual Lobster Boat Races. But the Lighthouse doesn’t get to participate. Always a boat guide, never a ride. Okay okay, I know I am getting all worked up about an inanimate object. And if you really stop and think, this Lighthouse doesn’t really have it all that bad. It gets thousands of visitors every year AND is the most photographed lighthouse in the world! Come to think of it, the Portland Headlight has more Instagram followers than most celebrities!

     For all these reasons, I just had to write a story about the Headlight. Soon there will even be a book! A family member took me out on his 1968 Columbia Sailboat for a tour of Casco Bay. It was a beautiful afternoon and I was able to take loads of photographs of the Bay, the Boats, and the Lighthouse. These photos will be the background illustrations in the Lawrence the Lighthouse book. I can’t wait for you all to see it!

Sailing around Casco Bay aboard the "Salt", watching the lobster boats and tug boats race around the harbor while "Lawrence" watches

 

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Fun Links:

Visit “Lawrence” the Lighthouse

Come Watch The Lobster Boat Races Too!

The Quirky Turkey

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How To Let your Quirks Fly:

LET'S FACE IT. . . We all have a quirk. There is no such thing as “normal”. Sometimes we feel like we need to hide these weird parts of ourselves, especially in social situations including… holiday gatherings. Holidays are another one of those schemas that feel completely different when you are a child versus when you are an adult. I don’t know about you but I LOVED the holidays as a child. I loved seeing my family, eating big meals, having more than one dessert option, listening to music, and shaking my TAIL-FEATHER!!! 

      I'm not sure when it happened, but as I grew older things have slowly shifted. I feel more stress, more anxiety associated with holidays, and family gatherings. Maybe because of the expectations I have of myself and of others. Maybe I just want these things to feel as amazing as they did when I was a little girl. Maybe instead of trying to live up to an ideal or fit into a mold, I just need to be brave. Just be me. I’m going to try and take more steps forward. I’m trying to let more of my “quirks” out. Feel the freedom that I had as a child to be myself.

     Since starting Story Spectacular. I have heard from people all over who are connecting back to their childhood through my stories and songs. I am so thankful for this. Anyone reading this note, I am thankful for you too. Now come on everybody, let your quirks out. It’s time to celebrate!

Come on . . . get QUIRKY!!!

 

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Fun Links:

An Article About Managing Holiday Stress

Mr. Bean Holiday Turkey

The Baby Foodie: Great Corn Crusader

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How to Eat your Way to a Good Story:

SINCE MOVING TO MAINE IN 2007 . . . I have watched this small city become a food destination. It is such a pleasure to taste new foods. To learn about the farmers and foragers who take such care in sourcing their ingredients. My favorite part of traveling is the cuisine as well. The first time I went to Puerto Rico I picked a ripe mango from a tree. Living in Maine my whole life, I never had the pleasure of eating a mango so fresh. It was such a joy! I wanted to create a series of stories for families that would celebrate food from all around the world (without taking itself too seriously) and so… the “Baby Foodie” was born.

               Shrimp & Geechie Boy Grits at Hot Suppa Restaurant

      The first story installment of "The Baby Foodie" is inspired by a very special family and a very special farm. I had the pleasure of traveling to Charleston SC in 2015 and sharing a meal with husband and wife who in my opinion, (and many others),  make some of the best grits in the whole country. They use heirloom corn and an old gristmill to stone grind the corn into grits. The process is laborious and the results are DELICIOUS! I loved their story so much that I thought a corn farm would be the perfect place for the Baby Foodie to journey to first. Enjoy this tasty tale!

Geechie Boy Mill - Edisto Island, South Carolina

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Fun Links:

The Farm that Inspired the Story

A Simple Grit Recipe

Monster SMASH!!!

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How to Make Scary... SPECTACULAR:

FOR THE WEEK OF HALLOWEEN . . . I wanted to take some things that I once found scary as a child and make them not so scary. The list of things I was once fearful of is LOOOOOONG!!! Snakes, Ghosts, Sharks… ONIONS…(No SERIOUSLY!) Bats and Monsters were up there too. As I have grown older and slightly wiser, I have come to the realization that most things lose their scariness once you learn a little more about them. Like BATS!!! I have found some wonderful podcasts and articles about bats that have allowed me to admire and appreciate these incredible animals. I now consider myself a bat advocate.

      My fear of monsters, on the other hand, is a little more difficult to overcome. "Monster" is another one of those words that means something different as an adult. I think of people being Monsters now. It can be a hard world out there. Writing adorable stories for kids helps me cope. We have all gone through times in our life where maybe we felt a little like Monsters. I was a “Monster” of a teenager (Sorry Mom). My youngest brother had a real bad case of the Terrible Two’s. I think he was escorted out of most public areas for bad behavior during those troubling toddler years.

      The cure for solving “Monsteritus”? Finding a creative and/or physical outlet. For me it was art. I drew a lot of interesting things during my Monster teen years. It really helped me figure some stuff out. For my youngest brother, it was sports. He loved smashing a ball with a bat or getting to kick and throw various “sports” balls. I think we all know a misguided monster out in the world. Let's try and learn a little more about them and help them find a way to put their unique talents to good use. Happy Halloween everybody!!!

Happy Halloween everybody!!!

 

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Fun Links:

Bat Week!

Another Cool Bat Podcast!

Make your own Rock Candy