Lin and I just got back from a cruise through the Panama Canal and one of our ports was Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala. From there we drove through the country side for ninety minutes to Antigua, the old capitol of Guatemala. On the drive, we saw a volcano erupt and I got great photos of it.
At one of our stops along the way at a coffee plantation, I bought a journal with a Guatemalan textile cover. Guatemalan textiles use all the colors I love!
Antigua’s charm comes from her age; she dates back to 1524. We walked ancient cobblestone streets, and I had a blast bartering with the vendors. I speak a little Spanish so I was able to visit with them and enjoy them in a different way from the non-Spanish speaking tourist.
I collect journals and use them regularly for writing. I’ve gone through phases when I’ve bought big ones — 9 x 11 and toted them around everywhere I went to smaller, more convenient ones. I have a collection of full journals in my book shelf besides my computer, and the other day I started going through them, looking for a specific story. I didn’t find the story, but what joy I had to see all my writing over the years.
Right now, I have a small notebook in my purse and I wrote in it regularly on the cruise ship by the pool.
I have set my new gorgeous Guatemalan journal on a stand besides my computer and every time I walk by it, it calls to me to open it up and write. I will!
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Published by Larada Horner-Miller
Larada Horner-Miller is a poet, essayist and accomplished multi-genre author who holds a bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in Spanish and a master of education degree in Integrating Technology into the Classroom. She is the accomplished author of eight award-winning biographies, historical fiction, memoir, and poetry works and three audiobook’s plus three self-published cookbooks.
Her most recent book, Was It a Dream?: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry is a finalist in the Global Book Awards. As is our book released last year, Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir.
Horner-Miller has also been a past national presenter at the Women Writing the West Conference and is currently the creator of Memoir Workshops for others who want to share their family’s legacies through words.
Larada and her husband, Lin, enjoy being nestled in the mountains above Albuquerque, New Mexico, near the village of Tijeras. When not writing books, this passionate, energetic, and enthusiastic woman loves to spend time kicking up her heels at square dancing gatherings, traveling, knitting, and reading.
As co-manager of her family’s southeastern Colorado ranch, she enjoys spending time exploring her family’s historic ranch and reminiscing with her brother and his children about their mom, dad, and granddad.
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