Dick's Blog
REFLECTIONS AND STORIES ALONG THE WAY
I have been blogging for exactly 4 years since May 5, 2012. This is my 140th blog. I’m considering cutting back on my blogging and introducing a new feature on my web site, a serialization of my two memoirs, a way of introducing you to my writing. I’d publish a new chapter each week. You’d be able to download either each new chapter or all the chapters up to that point. If you are impatient or need a great gift for someone, you can purchase my memoirs at low cost as e-books or paperbacks from Amazon, etc. The chapters of my memoirs, “Hiking Out” and “Inside and Outside”, consist of easy to read inspirational, often humorous, nonfiction short stories and essays. Each serial chapter would include a new short introductory update. This will be similar to what Andy Weir did for free on the Internet for the “Martian”, except it will be one man’s life journey through the ups and downs of life here on earth. I’d appreciate any comments you may have on my creating this new feature.
Dick Sederquist
May 2016
dicksederquist.com
RECHARGING MY BATTERIES
This is Dick Sederquist with my 12th audio PODCAST called “Floating Down”. It’s an audio update to a previous written BLOG. No wonder when we look up to the skies, we call it heaven. We owe everything to the heavens from which everything came, the grains of space rock and dust, which accreted to form our planet four and a half billion years ago, the comets which brought us our water and oceans, the sunlight which nourished the first primitive plants and algae in our oceans producing life giving oxygen. We even owe the malevolent space rock that impacted the Earth wiping out the dinosaurs, allowing a new species to inherit the Earth. Without this, there would never have been the rise of mammals and human life on earth. We would never have been able to contemplate the sources of our existence, and all the things, including feathers, which float down from the sky. From the skies and the stars, we received the gifts of life and intelligence, gifts we cherish, honor and protect. We celebrate these gifts through our human and global connection called love. I can’t think of anything better than love that connects us together under a common sky and heaven.
I’m taking my annual vacation from blogging and podcasting for a while, recharging my batteries. Coming up with something new every two weeks is a challenge. I do look to my readers for their input (hint!). I’m also moving my volunteer (secular) prison ministry to a new venue from a medium to a minimum-security prison. I’m sure I’ll have something to say about that when I get back. Whatever an inmate’s history, they all need help in changing their lives and reentering society. In Europe, the incarceration rate is ten percent of that in the U.S. The European system is based on rehabilitation and success, not warehousing and failure. We can’t financially afford to lock up the high number of non-violent offenders that we do. When my batteries are up to 100 percent, I’ll start the process again.
While I’m recharging, checkout all my BLOGS and PODCASTS. You may have missed some. Here we go. Look up into the sky. You may be amazed by what you see. Until next time, keep looking up. You can hear the complete audio PODCAST on iTunes at “Reflections and Stories Along the Way” and at my web site at www.dicksederquist.com
This is the opening to my tenth audio PODCAST. Listen to it here on my web site or at iTunes at "Reflection and Stories Along the Way".
WALKING SOFTLY
In the opening session of my eight session volunteer motivational prison program “Life Change Discussion Group” I usually read the following essay to set the tone and attitude of our first meeting, to get the guys thinking quiet thoughts. Over the years, I have developed certain strategies, ways of looking at things, which help me feel better and get over the humps and speed bumps of life. One strategy I call “walking softly”, showing quiet reverence and appreciation for the environment, the world and people around me, and for myself. This is Dick Sederquist with my tenth audio podcast. I call this essay, “Walking Softly”.
This is the lead in to my latest PODCAST. You will find the PODCAST button next to the HOME and BLOG buttons on my web site www.dicksederquist.com You will also find my podcast on iTunes under "Reflections and Stories Along the Way".
This is Dick Sederquist with my ninth audio podcast. This was my very first piece of fiction. It’s for the child in you, and in us all. When my daughter was small, lying next to her before tucking her in, I would tell a silly little story about her favorite hand puppet and an adventure they had in a magic land located on the other side of the mirror inside her closet. I did this with appropriate gestures and sound effects. I did the same, but a different theme for her children when they had a sleepover at Nana and Grandpa’s. This time, lying between them on top of our king size bed, I told stories about a magic transporter box.
This short story is called “The Magic Box”, written for my grandchildren when they were at the bedtime story telling age. It’s a sequel to my true story “The Magic Picture Window” found in my first memoir “Hiking Out”. Writing for children is a lot of fun, certainly different than for older teens and adults. It’s a whole new set of writing rules, which reminds me, I have two blogs on a guide to writing a nonfiction memoir called “Telling Your Story” and “The I’s in Writing”. This fictional story is about Johnny and Marylou, alter egos of my grandchildren. It’s how Johnny and Marylou found the magic box. Maybe you have a magic box in your house. If you have children, I bet they know where it is.
This is the introduction to my latest audio PODCAST "A Night in Dudleytown" A Scary Story. You can also find my podcasts on iTunes under "Reflections and Stories Along the Way".
This is Dick Sederquist with my eighth Reflections and Stories Along the Way podcast. I wrote this two-part mystery, a departure from my normal nonfiction writing, a few years ago after a visit to Dudleytown. Unlike television that bombards your senses with a thousand images a minute, the old late night radio plays would suck you in with a single seductive mental image, which slowly evolved as the plot thickened. Think of me as your radio narrator. Hide under your covers in a darkened room, like I did as a child with my radio. This story may be fictional, except for some historical and contemporary parts, but in the telling it provides insight into how those old radio plays influenced the mind of the child and taught him to visualize and turn mental pictures into words. If you listened to my seventh podcast, Radio Nights, you will get the picture. My writing style is expressed in my own quote “I paint pictures with words”. Here is my tale. Imagine yourself in a scary place called Dudleytown.