Write Toward the Lake

Rocky Mountain National Park - Photo by Carol Newman



WRITING TIP

Gentleman Friend and I just returned from a trip north of Denver to Rocky Mountain National Park. More snow than usual this time of year topped the mountains, and with the clouds moving in behind them, when I looked up, the mountains looked almost ominous. I wanted to do some hiking, but the mountains and the weather seemed too rugged.  

Our map showed a little valley with a small lake, Lake Sprague. There we found a flat trail, warm sunshine and a cool breeze. We circled the lake once and could have done it again, but we sat to bask in the feat, though minor, that we had accomplished and to look up into the mountains at what we had not attempted. 

You know, I think small accomplishments are just fine. Writing life story is like that. Often people see the mountain that they think they have to climb to write about their life and they feel too overwhelmed to look up and start the climb.

That's when I say, look down. Take a little step. Write a couple of sentences. Do it again. And pretty soon you have gathered an entire lake of things from your life. Some places will feel sunny, some will be shady and refreshing, some will be ominous. Look toward the sunny and refreshing. If you feel like someday tackling the ominous, fine. If not, you still will have produced something worthwhile.

WRITING PROMPT

A step . . . Write about a step you took or didn't take. Or write about the front porch steps at your house. Or how about a dance step you learned? What other steps can you think of? Step-ladder. Step-mother - having a step-mother, being a step-mother, being sure your birth mother was really a step-mother because she was so mean and wouldn't let you go on a unchaperoned overnight trip with everyone else when you were in high school. Write about many steps, or one step, or make up something else, like barrel racing.

CHOCOLATE INKWELL

This recipe is from Diabetic Everyday Cooking magazine. The carb exchange is 1.5 carbs and the carb choices 1.5.

Black Forest Trifle

1 8-ounce package no-sugar-added low fat chocolate cake mix
1 4-serving-size package sugar-free instant chocolate pudding mix
2 cups fat-free milk
1 pound fresh, dark sweet cherries, pitted -- or one 16-ounce package frozen unsweetened pitted dark sweet cherries, thawed and well drained
2 cups frozen, fat-free whipped dessert topping, thawed
Unsweetened cocoa powder (optional)

1. Prepare cake mix according to package directions in a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, remove from pan. Cut into 1-inch pieces.

2. Meanwhile, prepare pudding mix according to package directions using the 2 cups fat-free milk. Cover; chill about 30 minutes or until set.

3. In a 3-quart trifle bowl or glass bowl, layer half of the cake cubes, half of the cherries, half of the chocolate pudding and half of the whipped topping. Repeat the layers. If desired, sprinkle with cocoa powder. Makes 16 (2/3 cup) servings.

Want to write your life story? It's easy with Write Your Life Story in Eight Weeks Workbook. Now updated and expanded. More tips, more how-to, more before-and-after writing samples, more resoures.
  

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