All Categories - Liz Tyner

An Acreage and A Tractor

8/24/2019

I don't drive a tractor, but they are handy on an acreage.

A farmer expects to tend hay and let the animals graze the pasture. But if you're not a farmer, and you have a pasture that's small and too secluded to rent to a farmer, you might need a tractor.

A few things I never expected about tractor ownership:
1. When brush hogging, a bit material you've just cleared can puncture a tire, or perhaps even a radiator. And this can happen right after you the tractor has been returned from the shop.
2. When a tractor breaks down, it's never close to a shop. Never. It can break down at very inconvenient places. To hire someone to take your tractor to the shop becomes just a normal expense.
3. Brush may need cleared to get the wrecker to the tractor, and if a wrecker takes out a part of the fence...oops.
4. The tractor needs driven occasionally, even in the winter when there's almost nothing to use it for if you don't have livestock. Whether it's to keep the battery working, or to keep the motor seals working—or both, I'm not sure. But it's not recommended to just let the vehicles sit. Which means, the owner can't sit through the winter. If you do, you might need the wrecker again.
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But it's easy to get fond of having one. Tractors with a front end loader are so helpful. An overgrown path can be cleared. A trailer on the back helps when picking up storm debris. The front end loader moves gravel or dirt.

So, on an acreage, it's also handy to have a trailer, a brush hog, and a disk.

I never expected to need farm equipment. But, it does come in handy.

Muse, Muscling Through, or Motivating

8/17/2019

When the Road Closed sign was in front of my house due to flooding, various drivers took the sign differently. At first, everyone turned around because it would have been disastrous to continue. Then, after the water went down enough to see the road signs and judge the depths better, some drivers of sturdy trucks chanced it. It may have been more of a risk than they realized as the pavement could have washed away. Luckily, the flood waters didn't damage this street.

Sometimes writers face something which correlates to the sign. A blank screen without a visible path. The options are similar to the ones for the people on the highway in front of my house. Power through and hope you don't get swept away, and have to replace the vehicle. Or, turn around—take another path. Spend a little longer on the process, but arrive at the destination. Different days result in different choices.

For the Road Closed sign at my house, something surprised me. I had a lot of conversations with people who told me they'd turned around in my driveway. I had no idea how many acquaintances knew where I lived. I chatted with a neighbor I'd never before met.

I hope the flood waters do not ever return—particularly for my friends who were devastated by the situation. I'm pleased it's behind me.

But whichever path a person takes, either on the street or the page, the results are the same. A choice to get to the destination.

Photo credit: Liz Tyner

Photos From My World: Butterfly

8/16/2019

Writing 101...Where Do I Write?

8/10/2019

Where do writer's write?

While writing, a sportsman’s blind is a great opportunity for me to watch the bird feeder, and sometimes get surprised by the animals. A covey of quail scattered once when I stepped out of the blind, and I was so disappointed I’d not stayed put for only five more minutes. But for all I know, they could have been sitting behind me from the time I sat down.

It’s not unusual for me to perch my keyboard outside. I find it inspirational. It’s hard to have writer’s block if you keep moving away from it.

Sometimes, a standing desk is the only way to go.

There's really no rule about where to write...but a word of warning... Writing in an airport is fine, but if you're a person who unconsciously lives the scenes...be aware...your face may give you away... You could be entertaining the other people around you.

Photos From My World—Bee Balm

7/27/2019

The Rotunda

7/20/2019

The Rotunda of the Capital Building in the USA is used for dignitaries to lie in state, and the public is allowed to pay their respects. It was surprising to me to discover that it had been used during the civil war as a union hospital.

Another surprising fact for me was that the artist had fallen while on the scaffolding but had held on for 15 minutes to be rescued. How terrifying. And how tragic it would have been for him to have been killed completing his final masterpiece.

Photos From My World...Butterfly

7/13/2019

After a hail storm, I've noticed that some of the butterflies have damage.

Reading... A Chore or An Adventure?

7/6/2019

My grandfather didn't want to read aloud. Then one day, he heard my brother read something.
My grandfather decided if a little boy could do that, he could as well.
      He did.
   A few miles away, another person read a newspaper article to me and stumbled over the words. I knew she read the newspaper every day.
   I'm amazed that people continue reading when it is so difficult for them. But, that is the power of written words.
   As a child, I sometimes felt starved for books in the summer. I was about 18 before I went into my first library other than at school.
My reading world has changed so drastically. Libraries abound. Books are only a click away.
   Yet, would I have valued literature as much as I do if I'd had books floor to ceiling in my world?
   I'm fairly certain I would have.

Photos From My World—Poppies

7/4/2019

The poppy pollen seems almost like a geyser inside the flower, or a mini-firework bursting.

Fashions—1700's Style

6/29/2019

Buttons of the past weren't the simple plastic fasteners most often used today on shirts. Having created fabric-covered buttons once, I'm always impressed when I see them.

The other thing that fascinated me about this reproduction outfit was the layering. The coat and the spats on the shoes would have made one additional layer against the elements.

I could easily see one of my characters donning something similar, except he would have been wearing leather boots, and perhaps a caped coat.