A writer inspired by nature and human nature

“Once you are REAL, you can’t be ugly” or The life of the little stuffed bear

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Memories made and remembered. A poignant post! ~ Bette A. Stevens

Julie (aka Cookie)'s avatarcookiecrumbstoliveby

Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. ‘When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.’

‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby…

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Winter Haiku by Bette A. Stevens

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Winter Haiku 2014Nature’s beauty is inspirational, no matter the region or the season. Winter 2013-2014 (as of January 8, 2014) has been extremely cold  in Maine and around most of the USA as well. Here in Central Maine, we’ve already had more than two feet of snow, several inches of ice and even some freezing rain on days when the air temperature rose above the freezing point and the rain froze as it hit the ground.  Nature’s winter wonderland beauty is breathtaking; and, the work it requires is breath-taking, too if you want to leave the homestead… HAPPY WINTER! Stay safe and warm. — Bette A. Stevens, MAINE Author/Illustrator

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on 01/09/2014

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Choose Something Like a Star, poem by Robert Frost

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Happy star-gazing! ~ Bette A. Stevens http://www.4writersandreaders.com

silverbirchpress's avatarSilver Birch Press

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CHOOSE SOMETHING LIKE A STAR
by Robert Frost

O Star (the fairest one in sight),

We grant your loftiness the right

To some obscurity of cloud –

It will not do to say of night,

Since dark is what brings out your light.

Some mystery becomes the proud.

But to be wholly taciturn

In your reserve is not allowed.

Say something to us we can learn

By heart and when alone repeat.

Say something! And it says “I burn.”

But say with what degree of heat.

Talk Fahrenheit, talk Centigrade.

Use language we can comprehend.

Tell us what elements you blend.

It gives us strangely little aid,

But does tell something in the end.

And steadfast as Keats’ Eremite,

Not even stooping from its sphere,

It asks a little of us here.

It asks of us a certain height,

So when at times the mob is swayed

To carry praise…

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ANGEL DEAR

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Poignant… Prayers for those you have lost a little angel. ~ Bette A. Stevens

http://www.salpa58.wordpress.com's avatarThe Writers Desk

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ANGEL DEAR

By Patricia Salamone

Littlest angel ever so near

my heart is weeping, can you hear.

I held you in my arms

and felt your breath upon my cheek,

I gently kissed your face, you were just so weak.

Your little hand held mine, your face was so divine,

 I looked into your eyes, you looked back into mine.

 As your life ebbed away and the night turned to day I held you close to me,

you reached your tiny hand up and touched me with a sigh,

you smiled a little smile for me as if to say goodbye.

Littlest angel ever so near my heart is weeping, can you hear.

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Wishing you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

01 01 14

Happy New Year 2014 PICMay PEACE, LOVE & JOY follow you into the New Year and beyond. ~ Bette A. Stevens

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Holiday Greeting, Maine Author

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2013 in review

01 01 14

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Thanks WordPress for putting this together for me. Your team is amazing…

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ~ Bette A. Stevens, Maine Author/Illustrator at http://www.4writersandreaders.com

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,700 times in 2013. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

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The Versatile Blogger Award

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versatileblogger113Thank you Catherine Townsend-Lyon, my dear author friend at Recovery Ramblings Blog for nominating me for this lovely award. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you and to follow you in the blogosphere this year. Thank you for finding and following me.

You can find out all about Catherine at http://anauthorandwriterinprogress.wordpress.com/.


Catherine is a blogger who is always reaching out to help others. I value her friendship and support and invite you to stop by one of her blogs for a visit. You can also find Catherine at her new blog http://CatherineLyonaddictedtodimes.wordpress.com  You can find Catherine’s book Addicted to Dimes (Confessions of a Liar and a Cheat) http://www.amazon.com/dp/0984478485 

Here are the rules for accepting The Versatile Blogger Award

  • Thank the person who gave you this award
  • Include a link to their blog
  • Next, select 8 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly
  • Nominate those 8 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award
  • Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself

DRUM ROLL… My Nominees are:

Sherri Rabinowitz, Blogtalk Radio Host & Blogger  http://rithebard.wordpress.com/

Tara Lazar at Writing for Kids (While Raising Them ) http://taralazar.com/

Nonnie Jules, an author helping authors  at http://ravereviewsbynonniejules.wordpress.com/ and http://nonniewrites.wordpress.com/

Writers in the Storm—this group of professional writers share writing tips and so much more http://writersinthestorm.wordpress.com/

Bullying prevention blog, Thoughts on Bullying  http://erricksm.wordpress.com/

Garry Rogers advocates for nature in fiction and science fiction: Conservation & Science Fiction http://garryrogers.com/

Glynnis Smy, Author of Historical Romance with a Twist at http://glynissmyauthor.com/

Cindy Knoke, travel, photos and timeless posts http://cindyknoke.com/

Here are the 7 Things About Me:

  • I am a retired teacher (grades 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8) and I enjoy visiting schools and libraries and reading to kids.
  • I live on a 37-acre farm in Central Maine with my amazing husband of 48 years.
  • Our kitty child MIDNIGHT adopted us in 2008. She was wild and living in our barn from June to December that year. My grandson helped me lure her into the house with a can of tuna fish. She’s our girl!
  • My computer is going crazy… I think I’ll have to save everything and start from ground zero. Prayers, please.
  • I love nature, people and literature and advocate for children at every opportunity.
  • I am very thankful for my family and for all of my wonderful friends in the blogosphere and beyond. You have all helped me in more ways than I could ever repay. THANK YOU!
  • Since retiring from teaching in 2005, I have self-published three books. You can find them at http://www.Amazon.com/author/betteastevens
  • I love writing and reading. I’m currently rereading To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. It’s even better the second time around. I’m also working on my first novel. The draft was completed in November and I’m making a New Year’s resolution to have it ready to publish in 2014.

Thank you again, Catherine. It is an honor to receive this award, and a delight to pass it on.

You can find Catherine Townsend-Lyon at http://CatherineLyonaddictedtodimes.wordpress.com

That’s it for now. folks.

Wishing you all God’s richest blessings in 2014 and beyond,
Bette A. Stevens, Maine author/illustrator

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Peace

12 31 13

May peace germinate withiin each heart and spread around the globe! ~ Bette A. Stevens

patgarcia's avatarWalk On

Unlike what most people think, peace doesn’t vegetate at MacDonald, Burger King, Wendy’s or Chic-fil-A. You won’t find it at a German diner, a French Cafe or at an Italian restaurant. Neither does it reside at your most favorite steakhouse, nor is its habitat found at your nearest bar.  Like a kernel as small as a mustard seed peace germinates in the hearts of men and women

As the year closes, I look back at 364 days that have been a challenge for all humanity living on planet earth.  Many people died.  Death became an acceptable disease in our societies.  We have become desensitized to the suffering going on in the world. We see children being bombed, maimed, dying of starvation, or some type of curable disease, and we’re thankful that it doesn’t happen in the western world.  We hear the cry for peace, the scream for reconciliation…

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232. Adopt the pace of nature:  her secret is patience.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

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A perfect post to ponder at year’s end. ~ Bette A. Stevens

nataliescarberry's avatarSacred Touches

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How good it is to center down!  To sit quietly and see one’s self pass by!  The streets of our mind seethe with endless traffic; our spirits resound with clashings, with noisy silences, while something deep within hungers and thirsts for the still moment and the resting lull.  We look at ourselves in this waiting moment–the kinds of people we are.  The questions persist; what are we doing with our lives? What is the end of our doings?  Where is my treasure?  As we listen, floating up through all the jangling echoes of our turbulence, there is a sound of another kind–a deeper note which only the stillness of the heart makes clear.  It moves directly to the core of our being.  Our questions are answered, our spirits are refreshed, and we move back into the traffic of our daily rounds with the peace of the Eternal in our step. …

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Super Sweet Blogger Award

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Thank you, JR Barker, author of The Adventures of the Frog Prince  http://jrbarker101.wordpress.com/the-blog/ for nominating me for A Super Sweet Blogger Award. May your Sweetest Dreams come true!

super-sweet-blogging-award21w6451Please stop by to visit children’s author J.R. Barker and all of my Super Sweet Blogger nominees. These outstanding bloggers have inspired me with their own blogs and faithfully continue to support me at 4writersandreaders. Here are my Super Sweet nominees:

Here are the rules for accepting this delightfully delicious award, my Super Sweet Friends;

1. Thank the Super Sweet Blogger that nominated you.

2. Answer 5 Super Sweet questions.

3. Include the Super Sweet Blogging Award in your blog post.

4. Nominate a bakers’s dozen (13) other deserving bloggers.

6. Notify your Super Sweet nominees on their blog.

The 5 Super Sweet Questions.

1. Cookies or Cake? Cookies, by all means, especially if they’re home made Chocolate Chip with Walnuts!

2. Chocolate or Vanilla? Decisions, decisions… Chocolate for candies, vanilla for ice cream and cakes.

3.Favorite Sweet Treat? Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark Squares (Have to stock up at Christmas time, since I can’t find them after the holidays…)

4. When Do You Crave Sweet Things The Most? Bedtime

5. Sweet Nick Name? Honey

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on 12/29/2013

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