I wear many different hats in my life today and have over the years. Currently the hats I wear vary and require different things from me.

Author/Poet

I love to write, and I enjoy writing in a variety of genres. My collection of ten books varies: poetry, memoir, biography, historical fiction, biography and essays. So I don’t stick to just one, and it’s worked for me for years. But recently, I have focused more on poetry—free verse poetry. I’ve published two poetry books in a five-book poetry series.

Also, I love to write haikus. As a literature & language arts teacher, I did a poetry unit every year with my students, and I had them write haiku. Back then, I didn’t write haikus though.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, I did a lot of walking on our lane in the east mountains above Albuquerque, winter and summer. The rhythmic walking and my interest in haikus opened the door to my writing them. While I walked, the lines came to me and I recorded them when I got home.

Then Natalie Goldberg’s book, Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku, inspired me to write more. I love the simple framework of the 3 lines—5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables—give me. It forces me to be selective about word choice—totally different than any other writing I do.

My next project is an autofiction book, part autobiography and part fiction. I’ve written 50,000 words already, so I just need to revise it, but I keep pushing it to the back burner because everything else pushes ahead of it.

Book Marketer

Because I self-publish my books, I have to do it all—write the book, layout of books, publishing and marketing. Deeply, I love all of it except marketing. It consumes my time with the ads, the questions what to do, the different social media apps, the financial demands and everything.

For years, I haven’t made a definite marketing plan, but this year I have, and I hope I stick to it!

Co-Owner of a Ranch

My brother and I co-own our family ranch in southeastern Colorado that has been our family for almost 100 years. He lives in the community near our ranch, so he’s the boots-on-the-ground guy. I do the business side. Today, I labored at balancing the checkbook. Usually, I balance it to the penny. Today, I’m $1.69 off and I hate that.

Also, I’ve been busy entering the checkbook into an Open-Source app to prepare for our 2025 taxes. Managing our finances keeps me connected to our ranch, even though I live 5,000+ miles away now. The only way I can possible do it is through the internet.

Dancer

Since I was viciously attacked by a dog on July24, 2024, my dance life disappeared, and that activity fed my soul. Coming from a dancing family, I have danced my whole life. My parents glided across the dance floor on sawdust and dirt at our country dances.

On New Year’s Eve, Lin, my husband, and I danced at a local bar here in Boquete, mostly just to rock and roll music, but it was movement to music! For one song, we danced a Cha Cha, and my heart soared. Later in the evening, another dance song came on and we did a mean jitterbug. Oh, I miss the days!

Christian

My faith keeps me going. I am Episcopalian by choice, but I haven’t found a church yet here in Boquete, Panama. There seems to be mostly Protestant and Catholic churches. Because of this, I have attended Hope in the Desert Episcopal Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico on Facebook, Livestream, my church before we moved.

I have issues today with so many Christians turning away from Jesus’ teachings in loving the immigrant, feeding the poor and loving our neighbors, so that has affected my attending any churches here so far. I will find a place and land, I’m sure.

In Recovery

I have been in recovery for 37 years and it’s the basis of my life. It saved my life. So a big plus here—a strong active recovery community. I still have my connections back in Albuquerque, but I see that I will fit in here for sure.

Denver Broncos’ Fan

Yes, that’s a big hat to wear today. We just won the game last week against the Buffalo Bills, a hard-fought fight. Immediately after the game we heard our quarterback, Bo Nix, broke a bone in his ankle and is out for the rest of the year. So, I’m preparing emotionally for the game on Sunday where our backup quarterback, Jarrett Stidham, will fill in the void.

I’ve been a fan for years—been happy with the winning years and stuck with them through the lean years.

Finally,

Yes, I wear a variety of hats, bouncing back and forth between activities, demands and loves of my life. The rich variety makes my life full—I wouldn’t want it any other way!

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My Newest Books

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Buy My Audio Books:

This Tumbleweed Landed

Let Me Tell You a Story 

Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Memoir Audiobook

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