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Aside

MOUNT BATTIE: Hiking the Tableland Trail


Ageless Amenities

Copyright  -October 2012-  Bette A. Stevens

Sandstone

mudstone

granite

and

basalt.

 

Step

by

step

I

climb

archaic

rock.

 

October mini-vacation plans included a day trip to climb Mount Battie in Camden, Maine. My friend Lea was up from Virginia for our annual get-together. Only five days and the meteorologists were predicting lots of clouds and little sun. The ground was damp and soggy from weeks of rain.

I’ve wanted to climb Mount Battie for several years, but hadn’t made the trek. We woke, dressed, packed for a short hike and headed out for Camden Hills State Park on the only day with a partly sunny forecast. Camden Hills State Park is historically significant because of its connection with Depression-era federal programs and early efforts in the 1930s to develop state park systems throughout the United States. The national park service relied on local talent, such as Hans Heistad, noted landscape architect, in addition to a Civilian Conservation Corps crew based in the area. The park is open from May through October and offers a hiking system with over 30 miles of trails. We were on our way.

Heading for the hills.

Quick stop for a photo op.

The trails start here, to the left we would veer.

The start of the trail, we’re sure to prevail.

Sandstone, mudstone, granite and basalt;
step by very cautious step, we climb archaic rock.

Down the pits and up the mounds, spying woodlands all around.

A mile and a half,
we finally made it through;
A hike that yields the grandest prize —
magnificent the view!

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Written

on 10/27/2012

Adverbs and Dandelions by Stephen King


Writing Tips from the King!

silverbirchpress's avatarSilver Birch Press

Image

“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops. To put it another way, they’re like dandelions. If you have one on your lawn, it looks pretty and unique. If you fail to root it out, however, you find five the next day…fifty the day after that…and then, my brothers and sisters, your lawn is totally, completely, and profligately covered with dandelions. By then you see them for the weeds they really are, but by then it’s–GASP!!–too late.”

From On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft (2000) by STEPHEN KING. 

Photo Illustration: Halifax Light, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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Maine Author, Writing Challenges, Writing Tips

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Maine Author/Illustrator Debuts Books at Local Craft Fair


Author/Illustrator Bette A. Stevens, Hartland Craft Fair. Photo by Ann Foss, secretary and treasurer of The Hartland Historical Society, Hartland, ME.

Bette A. Stevens debuted her latest children’s books, AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale, and The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! at Hartland’s Annual Craft Fair sponsored by Grace Linn Memorial Methodist Church today. Visitors had the opportunity to meet the author and purchase signed copies of her books. Stevens says, “It was great talking to craft fair visitors, not only from my own community and state, but to ‘neighbors’ as far away as New Hampshire. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to share my books and my writing experiences, to sign books and make new friends. This was my first public appearance as an author. I was nervous, to say the least; but, the warm, welcoming crowd put me completely at ease.”
Stevens and her husband Dan live on Ford Hill Road in Hartland, ME where they are renovating their 37-acre farmstead. They enjoy gardening, clearing woods trails to ‘get the wood in’ and for snowshoeing in the winter or nature walks any time of year. When they want to kick back and relax, they take an occasional day trip to the coast.

Stevens graduated from University of Maine Orono with a B.S. in elementary education after a successful business career at CIANBRO Corporation in Pittsfield, ME where she was editor of the company’s newsletter. Later, as an elementary school teacher, Stevens taught students in grades 4-8 in California and Virginia before retiring in Hartland, ME.

Stevens says, “I am a writer who loves nature. I also love to sketch and paint and often take a small pad and pencil on my walks to the brook, where I jot down picture nuggets for my poetry and stories. Parents, teachers and other adults in our kids’ lives are always looking for ways to inspire children to meet their challenges with patience and persistence. That is the main plot of AMAZING MATILDA.” Stevens has used The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! in the classroom with all of her students to integrate math, science and language arts for a hands-on, creative learning experience. Stevens says, “It makes learning lots of fun whether in the classroom or at home with the family.”

Both of Stevens’s books are available at Amazon.com through her website

http://angelassignmentstm.tripod.com/cherubs4children/amazing-matilda-a-monarch-s-tale-by-author-bette-a-stevens.html

or at your favorite online bookstore. If you live in Central Maine, you may also contact the author directly at bettestevens@tds.net for signed copies of her books and to schedule readings, book talks and book signings for your school or organization.

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The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! | Book Club Reading List


 

English: tangram

English: tangram (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

The Tangram Zoo and Word Puzzles Too! | Book Club Reading List.

 

 

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AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale | Book Club Reading List


AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale | Book Club

One concern parents have is how to inspire children to meet challenges with patience and persistence. That is the plot of this new book.ub Reading List.

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Book Press release, Children's Literature, Children's Picture Book, Inspirational Fiction, Maine Author

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Maine Poetry


Aster alpinus

Aster alpinus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Final Performance

by Bette A. Stevens © 8/29/2012

While asters, purple tutus donned

With velvet yellow crowns

Ballet to cricket violins,

Sway tiptoe in their gowns;

A golden orb in treetops rests

The stage a soft pale blue

And I among their audience

Too soon must say, “Adieu!”

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Aside

October Morning (poem by Bette A. Stevens)


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On nature walks, I often take a small pad and pencil and jot down word picture nuggets for my poems. ~Bette A. Stevens

October Morning

by Bette A. Stevens

North winds whisk the clouds away

Towering  trees in fall array

Purples, golds an firy reds

All throughout Maine’s forests spread

Brook’s a place where minnows play

Dart past leaves that drift and sway

Bluejays chat, expounding tales

Of summer past and coming gales

Starched white towers climb the sky

Reminding all that autumn’s nigh

 

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http://about.me/betteastevens/#

[Explore Bette’s Blog]

Written

on 09/22/2012

Amazing Matilda: A Monarch\’s Tale – YouTube


 

Author Bette A. Stevens debuts her latest picture book, ‘AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale’ on YouTube.

Amazing Matilda: A Monarch\’s Tale – YouTube

AMAZING MATILDA makes her debut on YouTube

AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale  is my latest children’s picture book. I wrote the story when I was teaching fourth and fifth grade students. I wanted to inspire my students and my grandchildren, who were young at the time, to meet their challenges with patience and persistence. MATILDA helped me do just that!

Watch the show and let me know what you think. Here’s the preview link to view MATILDA:

via Amazing Matilda: A Monarch\’s Tale – YouTube.

http://www.examiner.com/article/amazing-matilda-a-monarch-s-tale-by-bette-a-stevens

 

Category:

Children's Literature, Children's Picture Book, Inspirational Fiction, Maine Author, My Books

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Amazing Matilda: A Monarch’s Tale – YouTube


 

Author Bette A. Stevens debuts her latest picture book, ‘AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale’ on YouTube.

Amazing Matilda: A Monarch’s Tale – YouTube

AMAZING MATILDA makes her debut on YouTube

AMAZING MATILDA: A Monarch’s Tale  is my latest children’s picture book. I wrote the story when I was teaching fourth and fifth grade students. I wanted to inspire my students and my grandchildren, who were young at the time, to meet their challenges with patience and persistence. MATILDA helped me do just that!

Watch the show and let me know what you think. Here’s the preview link to view MATILDA:

via Amazing Matilda: A Monarch’s Tale – YouTube.

http://www.examiner.com/article/amazing-matilda-a-monarch-s-tale-by-bette-a-stevens

 

Category:

Children's Literature, Children's Picture Book, Inspirational Fiction, Maine Author, My Books

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Link

http://www.examiner.com/article/amazing-matilda-a-monarch-s-tale-by-bette-a-stevens


http://www.examiner.com/article/amazing-matilda-a-monarch-s-tale-by-bette-a-stevens

(Books    September 4, 2012    BY Paula Hrbecek    http://www.examiner.com )

“One concern parents have is how to inspire their children to meet challenges with patience and persistence. This is the plot of a new book, ‘Amazing Matilda’.”

“Matilda’s story is my story. It’s you story too. It’s everyone’s story. Meeting the challenges of life at every stage of life is no easy task. Matilda and her friends encourage readers and listeners to meet those challenges.” (Bette A. Stevens)

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Written

on 09/05/2012

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