For all of those Fabulous Graduates & Dreamers Out There!

 Dream What You Want To Dream

By Cathy Lea Collar

Dream what you want to dream.

Dream what you want to do.

Hope that your dreams will all come true.

For the whole world is made up of dreams,

And hope is the stitch that seams

Dreams into reality for you.

Dreams form in the soul and from your heart they flow

Into and everlasting running stream.

There they merge into other dreams

And make a better world this means

The whole world is dependent upon dreams.

Dreams will make you strong, when things seem to go wrong,

They’ll pick you up and carry you away.

So when you’re in despair,

And feel like no one cares,

Your dreams will help you make it through the day.

Dreams that are let go have no heart and so

They slowly and sadly drift away.

So hold on to yours tight,

Grasp it with all your might,

And your dreams will come true for you someday.

If you dream what you want to dream,

Dream what you want to do.

Hope that your dreams will all come true.

For the whole world is made up of dreams,

And hope is the stitch that seams

Dreams into reality for you.

Prayers & Angels

Anna's Legacy will be donating $100.00 to relief efforts for Moore, Oklahoma. We will be constantly sending our prayers up to all of you who have suffered loss from this storm. Let God help you carry your load. Look around you ~ Angels abound ~ take their Hands of Guidance.

Wordweaver's Anthology Freee!

 Four of my stories for freeee!

 I just want to give y'all a head's up that this time NEXT week, the WordWeavers Bartlesville's anthology will be free for your Kindles :o)

Free on May 26th - 28th ~ http://www.amazon.com/Seasons-Remembered-WordWewaver-Anthologies-ebook/dp/B00AAKI2J6/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1368987400&sr=1-3&keywords=Seasons+Remembered

In Memory of My Mother

The Lovely Lou Anne
By Cathy Collar

You reveled in the beauty of the world around,

The sweet fragrance of hyacinths, as they pierce the ground.

The brightly colored daffodils, bobbing toward the sun.

The robin and the meadow lark, when their song is sung.

Turkey, quail, and raccoon, fed in your backyard.

On the creek the beavers worked so diligent and hard.

At the dawn, or at the dusk, a deer might shyly tread

To graze among the blossom growing in the flower bed.

Horses prancing,  pawing, neighing, running just for fun,

The wonder of the sunset, when the day is done.

As ashes drift with the breeze and settle to the ground,

The beauty of your soul enhances everything around.

We’ll hear your laughter in the song, the birds sing everyday.

We’ll see your grace and beauty through the creatures as they play.

And in the haven by the creek, which you have chosen well,

Eternally your soul will keep and your memory will dwell. CLC

 

I Love & Miss You Mom

Thoughts From Cathy

"" Dusting off Cobwebs""

     I have always loved poetry so I guess it was only natural when my girls were born for me to write a lullaby for them. Every night I joyfully sang them to sleep with my special little song, A Land Not So Very Far Away. They were my babies and they didn't care if I sang it out of tune. And who was to say it was out of tune since I made that up too? My husband decided that my singing was at least a little better than their crying, so he wisely held his tongue about by vocal disabilities.

     By the time my babies had grown into rambunctious young girls, they had learned their secret lullaby by heart. This was when they decided they needed pictures to go along with the words, so I brought my lullaby to life with colorful chalk pastels. I had so much fun sharing this gift with my girls. It was our lovely little secret.

     All too soon my lively little girls transformed into charming young ladies and were off on their own adventures. I tucked my sweet little lullaby away along with all of their other childhood memorabilia as I wiped a tear from my eye. “A Land Not So Very Far Away” was now sleeping soundly in my memory box. It slept through many years of family trials and changes, patiently awaiting the arrival of a new baby.

     The time finally came. Our first granddaughter was born. The first night I got to spend with her, I gave her my gift in my not so gifted voice. She smiled and cooed, just like her mama had done when she was a baby. Even though my manuscript was still suck in the memory box, it was being passed down to another generation. It was happy and so was I.

     The time finally came for me to pick one of my picture book stories for the Oklahoma Writers Federation, Inc. Writing Contest. I had the perfect story picked out. It was a story I had written for an online writing group. The prompt was to write a Dr. Suess styled story using no more than 50 words. My story “Where Oh Where Is That Darn Cat” would be a perfect piece for the contest. Then I got devastating news. The contest rules would no allow any stories published on an online site to be entered.

     I begrudgingly put my kitty story away and frantically searched for a replacement. It was then that my granddaughter’s mama came to the rescue. She suggested that I enter, A Land Not So Very Far Away.

     “Really,” I said, “don’t you think it is too old fashioned?”

     “I think it would be perfect. It won’t hurt to try it,” she countered.

     Why not, I thought. It was just sitting in the box collecting cobwebs. But was I ready to share my precious lullaby with the public? I pulled it out of the box and revisited those wonderful memories. Yes, I decided, I had to share it. Who knew how many other precious memories it could make for mothers and their babies.

     I entered it into the contest, with hope that at least I would get some good advice from a professional about whether it was publishable or needed more work.

     Then it happened. I was sitting at my writers group’s table. My beautiful daughters were seated on either side of me. We were enjoying the lively conversation at the table and waiting in anticipation to hear a name from our table announced as a winner.  I was stunned when my precious little lullaby’s name was called out accompanied by mine for 2^nd Honorable Mention for Picture Book. My lullaby had literally come out of the closet, or in its case out of the box. 

     Floating on one of my lullaby’s happy faced clouds, I found my way to the presenter and accepted my award. Both of my wonderful daughters greeted my return to the table with enthusiastic hugs. I also received priceless constructive criticism for my lullaby picture book. Now “A Land Not So Very Far Away” is in the process of become a lot closer to getting into the hands of mothers and babies everywhere.

     Lesson learned. There is no expiration date on your writing. So dig in those drawers, boxes and family chests, dust off those cobwebs from your old manuscripts, and get them out there for everyone to enjoy.

Happy Writing Everyone

Cathy Lea Collar

A Land Not So Very Far Away

Me & My Award

Me & My Beautiful Daughters

Just Me!

 

 

Hi Everyone!!!

 

Looks like it is shaping up to be a lovely day today. Time to try to figure out how to keep Tess The Mess from digging in my flower beds. It might be time to take her on a trip back out to the farm. If you haven't met Tess The Mess click on Tessy's Tales Tab to read about her many adventures.

Mother Nature has a problem.

Mother Nature’s Problem

By Cathy Collar

Mother Nature’s in a rage.

Her boys are misbehaving. 

Her son, North Wind will not stay home.

He is infuriating.

Her Spring-cleaning had just begun.

The trees dropped leaves were swept.

And with the help of Daughter Sun,

the new buds slowly crept

out to see the bright warm day.

But what happened then?

That naughty boy, Jacky Frost,

sent them right back in.

She wrung her hands with worry,

Which brought much needed rain.

Then flew into a fury,

when Jack froze it as it came.

North Wind came a howling

his havoc shared with Jack’s.

 She sent her daughter South Wind

to drive both boys back.

With buzzing songs of joy,

Daughter Sun brought out the bees.

They blessed the new born flowers,

as birds sang amongst the trees.

Now, beaten by their sisters,

the boys went home to pout.

But we had best be on guard,

They will be back, no doubt.