That title says it all!  Blogging, until now, has been uncharted territory for me.  However, being the ever adventurous (especially when feeling left behind) type, I am ready to try this new avenue of expression. 

     I love to read... and have a varied diet of genres of all types.  Recently I found myself hooked on Louis L'Amore.  You know - the western books commonly found in the breast pocket  of the plaid shirt worn by an older gentleman who has spruced up for a trip into town.  He carries his current L'Amore there in his pocket in the case he finds himself parked on a bench outside of some women's clothing store, waiting on his wife.  What better way to pass the time, than with a manly adventure story.

     My stepfather reads L'Amore books.  I found a lot of 50 used volumes for sale on Ebay for a ridiculously low price.  So, wanting to bless him,  I jumped on it.  When the box arrived and was opened,  the aroma of a mixture of  tobacco and mint filled the room.  (Does everyone's grandfather smell like tobacco and mint, or is that just a paradigm that I've developed on my own?)  Relishing the smell that brought back feelings of being loved, I began to dig in. 

     First of all, a caveat for Ebay novices like myself.  When a person lists a box of 50 books by a certain author...that is just what it is!  What I didn't realize is that there may be multiple copies of certain titles, and there were.  It wasn't too bad though.  I still felt I had a made a good deal. (...maybe that smell had something to do with it....) 

     Being the... ah-hem... (there is no gentle way to say it)....'procrastinator' that I am, those books lived in my room for a few weeks before I got around to sorting through them.  That's when it happened!  I got hooked on reading the descriptions of the people the books were about.  They sounded so adventurous - so bold - so intriguing - so.....different!  (...different is a really good thing to me...homeschoolers are often called, "Different"... and I like that...) 

     Ten volumes and many adventures later, I can call myself a bona-fide admirer ('fan' is such a ...um... strong word...) of serial (...I still cringe a little at that word) westerns by Louis L'Amore!  I've been in the back-land, marshy bogs of Ireland... across the Atlantic to the un-settled New World, full of natives - some friendly - some not.. across the Smokies to the un-charted West... and was there during the Gold Rush as claims were made.  In these stories, men are men, women are women and they are strong and committed people.  The good guys are good and the bad are bad - sometimes really bad. 

     Lonesome Gods is my favorite.

     Is there a point to all of this rambling?  Well, let's see ...yes, I think so.  I find that I spend a lot of time going from one task to the next - just getting things done and unhappy about what doesn't get done.  I think, in this case.... through taking time to read what I previously considered...well...fluff...I've learned that life is a treasure to be experienced - not just a job to get done.  I thank Louis for that.

     Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of
what they had seen.   -Louis L'Amour, novelist (1908-1988)

     Blessings and Love,

     Laurie (LakeLady)