SharonEdwards

My husband and I had the most wonderful getaway, just this past weekend, to Arches National Park.  We left as soon as I got home from work on Friday afternoon, drove as far as American Fork, Utah, where we spent Friday night, and then on to Arches, which we reached by noon on Saturday. What a magnificent place! It is amazing to see the incredible delicacy with which many would say mother nature has endowed this incredible landscape, but I prefer to recognize the majesty of God in the balanced rocks that defy the forces of gravity and the graceful sandstone arches that stand against the ravages of time. It was awe-inspiring, looking up at a vermilion double arch that easily spanned two hundred feet a mere 100 feet above me. I'm guessing, of course! But I have the photo with people standing inside it to prove it! And the Parade of Elephants, which truly looked so much like elephants, you could almost hear them trumpet. I mean, what are the odds that there would be a head and trunk and then the weathering of the sandstone actually creating arches that looked for all the world like the legs of an elephant? Everything I saw there was so exquisitely beautiful! I can't wait to go back there sometime when we can view some of the features in the waning light of evening.

After we left the park,  we drove up a canyon my husband had become familiar with as a truck driver a few years ago. It leads to a mine, and it's also frequented by rock climbers but not by many other people. There are two sections of petroglyphs along this road (at least as far as we went up the road). Archaeologists estimate that these glyphs were carved around 600 A.D. For those of you who follow ancient history and myth, that's a couple hundred years or so after King Arthur (and yes, I do believe he existed in some form or other). It was incredible to gaze upon glyphs that had been unspoiled by smart-alecs who had come after them because they were so far up above us on the walls of the canyon. I recognized carvings of people and bighorn sheep and deer. It was wonderful to imagine those men, so long ago, saving for the ages the things that meant so much to them. It was poignant to think about them. Wish I could have spent more time there.

If you have a long weekend, consider traveling to Arches. This wonderful national treasure is open all year round, and as you can see, it can easily be a weekend trip for a family from Pocatello. After we finished in the rock-climbers' canyon, we drove back to American Fork for Saturday night, and then on home to Pocatello on Sunday.  Please understand, however, that if you are able to do a lot of hiking, you may wish to spend more time in Arches. Unfortunately, my husband has some physical limitations that make it very difficult for him.

I have just one question after this trip, and if anyone knows the answer I would be so grateful to hear from you, because I've done quite a bit of research on line about this, to no avail. In the Moab country, there is a layer of rock several layers down that is blue. It's a beautiful, light turquoise blue. I would love to know why that layer is blue! I'll be waiting breathlessly for an answer!

And stay tuned! We're heading to Yellowstone the first weekend in October. Aren't we all so blessed to live in such a beautiful country!

Hi, everybody! Well, I'm sorry that I haven't posted in the last little while. I've been a little busy! I've published another book! For those of you who may not know, I published my first novel a couple of years ago, entitled Loving Andy. Recently, I published the sequel which I titled Coming Down to Earth.

To celebrate, I'm inviting all of you to my book release party! It will take place on Saturday, September 26th from 1:00-4:00 pm at Snake River Coffee. I'd love to have you all there! If you'd like to buy a book, great. If you just want to have a piece of cake, please come for that! If you do come, please tell me you're part of JHUB! That would mean a lot to me.

I'm hoping also to have my webpage up by then. Working hard on it. Please check in once in awhile at SharonEdwardsNovels.com!

Hope to see you at my book release party!

When I first began to write seriously, my husband bought me a laptop computer. Up until that time, I had been using the computer in the family room, which -- you know -- also houses the TV, the phones, the dogs, and most of the activity in the house! Finding hours of quiet time to concentrate on my writing was really difficult. (Do I hear an Amen, sister out there from all you sympathic writer-types??)

Even though I had no idea that what I was working on would ever see the light of day at a publisher, he could see that I was taking it seriously. And when we began to talk about going on vacation to see our daughter in Illinois, my heart sank as I imagined a whole week away from my writing. Some writers like working in notebooks, and I've done my share of that -- jotting down ideas, making descriptive notes about locations to jog my memory. Certainly, every writer should take a notebook with them everywhere they go! But I simply could not imagine continuing in that way the manuscript with which I was so involved at the time. Just think of the crossed out words and phrases, corrections jotted here and there --sideways in the margins, squished in between the lines -- almost like modern art! Nope, I'm much more linear in my thinking -- I don't work that way!

So my wonderful laptop entered my life! And the next innovative item was a jump drive, so I could take my manuscript back and forth between computers--what will they think of next! But here's the best part, and I'm actually enjoying this right now, which is why I wanted to tell you about it.

A laptop frees you, people! Through the magic of a simple extension cord, I'm able to take my work out to my patio in the backyard. But here's the best part: Those of you who have read my profile know I LOVE MOUNTAINS. Well, we are lucky enough to have a beautiful view of the mountains surrounding us here in Pocatello. Some people are even fortunate enough to live in Johnny Creek or Mink Creek, finding themselves up close and personal with said mountains.

Those of us in the valley, though, gaze with sighs upon those high pine forests we spy upon the highest ridges and long for the sound of a babbling brook.