Summer Writing

I have really been neglecting my blog lately - I apologize.
It seems that summer is a very busy time for us here at The Blackberry Patch.

But - I promise you, I am still writing.  And, I am still surfing the web and reading helpful, wonderful blog posts of my friends.

To go out of July with a bang - below is my Two-Lane Livin' July column for kids.

FIREWORKS SHOUT OUR FREEDOM SONG

     What would you get if you crossed George Washington with cattle feed?
     The Fodder of Our Country!

    WHOOOOOOOOSH! BOOM! HISS! CRACK! On July 4, 1777 fireworks lit up the sky celebrating the country’s first anniversary.  Many towns still have celebrations and fireworks on Independence Day.  Our town of Ripley, West Virginia boasts of having the largest small town celebration in the nation. After parading, eating, and celebrating all day, the fire department puts on a dazzling display at night. Fireworks flash across the sky in a sparkling array of color and sound, creating big booms and bright lights.

     Did you know that fireworks are also called pyrotechnic devices and the experts that handle the explosives are pyro technicians?  And, since fireworks are explosives, they should only be handled by experts

     They have been around for a long time and are as American as apple pie, but fireworks originated in China. The Chinese roasted bamboo, which explodes with a bang when heated due to the hollow air pockets.  Later in history they began stuffing saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur and other ingredients into bamboo shoots that were then thrown into the fire to produce a loud blast.

     BANG! The first fireworks were born.

     The colorful displays we know today began in the 1830s, when Italians added trace amounts of metals that burn at high temperatures, creating beautiful colors. Calcium produces orange and is the easiest color to create. The hardest color to create is blue. It is done with copper compounds and the temperature has to be just right. Sodium makes yellow and barium makes green. Lithium salts and strontium salt create red. Aluminum makes white and is a common ingredient of sparklers. Just like you produce different colors by mixing primary colors, pyro technicians mix copper (blue) and strontium (red) to create purple fireworks.

     Iron flakes create sizzling sparkles. Titanium powder creates crackling sounds and sparks.  The whistling sounds are created by using cylindrical tubes with an open end.  When the oxidizer and salts burn a layer at a time, the pulses of escaping gas produces the whistling sound.  Zinc creates smoke clouds.

     Not everyone likes fireworks. Dogs whimper, cats hide under the bed, birds may become startled and fly into things and even some people shake with fear.

     With my poem, Freedom Song, I wish everyone a fun, safe and sparkling Fourth of July.

FREEDOM SONG

WHOOSH! Fireworks

streak across the sky.

POP! Fireworks

dazzle way up high.

BOOM! Fireworks

sparkle in the night.

CRACK! Fireworks

whistle and take flight.

BANG! Fireworks

bellow loud and strong.

ZING! Fireworks

sing our freedom song!

I hope you enjoyed it. My column is titled, Fun Facts for Kids, so I always like to include fun information for kids. I've been told by many adults, that they also love my column and learn something new when reading it.

My book, Fun Through the Seasons, is filled with these type of articles, fun recipes,crafts and stories for kids and adults to enjoy.

I hope you are enjoying your summer. I'll start blogging more soon - I promise.

Happy Labor Day

Thanks to Karen Jones Gowan, we're having a Labor Day Bloggerhood BBQ.
Go check it out! I'm bringing an apple cobbler. I just picked the apples off of our tree and it's in the oven as I type.

Also, my September column is posted now at Two-Lane Livin's site. It's about school days of long ago and I included my recipe for peanut butter chews. . .ummm, ummm. When I was a kid in grade school, it was one of the goodies the cooks made.

I hope everyone has a nice Labor Day weekend. Maybe now that summer is coming to an end, our lives will become less busy and we will have more time to write. Between our vegetable garden and my blackberry vines, I haven't had much time to write this summer. I picked and sold 201 quarts of blackberries this summer. I also gave a few away, made cobblers and crumbles and ate lots while I picked!

I'm Still Here

Hi everyone. I just thought I'd drop by and let everyone know that I have not dropped off the face of the earth.

Summer has been so busy and I have not been able to keep up with my blogging like I would like to.

I had a bad case of tendinitis in my right arm, which after four visits to the doctor and treatment with what he calls the hammer, I was cured of.

My berry patch, bless her heart, survived freezes in the spring, a hail storm and weird weather to give us lots and lots of berries. I have picked around 160 quarts so far this summer and they are still coming on! I picked 12 quarts yesterday and have to go out again today to pick the rest. The patch has more stamina than I do. I try to pick every other day, but lately I haven't been able to pick them all at one time, so when that happens, I pick every day. I'm out in the hot sun about four hours at a time. I trudge inside with purple fingers carrying trays of berries. But, I love my berry patch. One of my favorite memories as a child is of picking berries with my mother, my aunts and my grandma.

My last Aunt on my mom's side of the family just passed away. We tried to make it to Florida to see her one last time, but she passed away just as we crossed over the Florida state line. We went down there on Monday and got back home on Wednesday night. We had never driven to Florida before. . . believe me when I say it is a long ways from up here in West Virginia, especially when you drive it without a stop over. Aunt Irma was brought back to her beloved West Virginia to be buried. We will miss her very much! I was always asking her questions about family. She'd tell people, "Watch out what you tell Janet, she'll write it down."

I haven't been writing much, but have slowly started back. I am editing my picture book again, so I can send it to Candlewick before the Sept 15th deadline. I sent in Lucy of Tuppers Hollow in June and am anxiously waiting for a response. I am still writing my columns for Two-Lane Livin' Magazine. My column is called Fun Facts For Kids.

I hope to be back to blogging on a regular basis soon.

Hope all of you are having a nice summer and are having a great time writing. Anyone have any good writing news to report?