December has been an exciting month for my writerly life: I received notification of acceptance of two pieces for publication in 2019. A personal essay entitled SECOND CHANCE will be published by the Round Table Literary Journal in April, and a small collection of haiku poems entitled NORDIC IMPRESSIONS will be published in the 2019 Redwood Writers Poetry Anthology.

Here’s a haiku from NORDIC IMPRESSIONS:

Family biking in Copenhagen
Dad presses pedals as
mom and two kids in front box
toss waves at friends

These poems were all composed on a new iPhone app for creating Haiku poetry called Maiku. It was the perfect tool for capturing scenes and impressions of my journey through Scandinavia–Sweden, Denmark, & Norway–in Fall 2018.

Here are a few photos from my Nordic journey:

Balestrand, a village nestled at the base of the Sognefjord

Family apple orchard in Balestrand, Norway

Public ferry crossing Norway’s largest fjord, Sognefjord

Second Chance

SECOND CHANCE tells the story of my mother, who in 1965 at age forty and eight months pregnant with her sixth child, quits her secretarial job and with quiet determination pursues a college degree after years of scraping by since the failure of our Wyoming ranch in 1957. During my freshman year of college that spring of ’65, I convinced my mom to take the risk, certain a college education would get her and our family on a sounder economic footing.

Linda L Reid

December 29, 2018 at 10:46 am

Super website!
College is sooo important. Just today the Press reported that with degree one earns average of $80,000; without $36,000. Huge!
I was first in my family to earn degree and show the way to my children and grandchildren.
Your mom was amazing, and one of the reasons you are so accomplished.

mskinnerlanier
January 1, 2019 at 8:12 pm

Thanks, Linda. Very reinforcing to know you like my website! Also, good info from the Press Democrat. You and I have a lot in common, don’t we?!
Look forward to seeing you soon. Happy new year, Marilyn

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