Writing is a journey of words that helps you discover a story that hasn’t been written yet.  It starts with a seed of an idea, planted in the garden of your mind.  An idea can come from a conversation you heard, a sign on the highway or even a dream and  grow when write them down.   When I was in college, many years ago,  my creative writing, teacher, told us to keep an idea book. “Ideas are everywhere if you take the time to look for them.”  I bought a small notebook and started paying attention  to sights, sounds, tastes, and how things feel against my skin, as well as my surroundings.

   I grew up in Nevada, a place filled memories of stagecoaches, cowboys, rodeos, and herds of wild horses. Scattered across the barren deserts of Nevada are cluttered fragments of the old west found in towns like Virginia city, Carson, Tonopah and Goldfield.  Driving through Goldfield was like being in a time warp. Everywhere I looked was a piece of history. Broken down railway entrances, an old school, hotel and even a stagecoach. But despite its run-down appearance, it has a history worth writing about. Goldfield is 247 miles southeast of Carson City along highway 95 in the eastern part of Esmeralda County. It was a boom town in the first decade of the 20th century. Gold was discovered there between 1903 -1940 and the gold mines produced more than $86 million {prices at that time} But on July 6th, 1923, a moonshine still caught fire on Main Street. The hotel proved impervious to the blaze, but the town did not. 

The old  adage that you can’t put a square peg in a round hole applies is true. I spent most of my life feeling like a square peg being shoved into a round hole.. . 

Thomas Potter and his son began building the town of Bay ocean, Oregon in 1906 on a sand dune spit between the Pacific Ocean and Tillamook Bay. They had big plans for the development and claimed it would be "the Atlantic City of the West.

When I was a new Christian in the late 70’s true friends were not hard to find. People knew the value of friendship.  Kindness, compassion and understanding were a common commodity.