Amy M. Schaefer
  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
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From the Front Porch

I am an "accidental blogger". When I launched my writing career in March of 2014, one of the things that I decided to include was my journaling, which I have always found to be a comforting and therapeutic endeavor.  It was a big risk to open myself up in such a public forum, but it has taught me that, for the most part, we share far more experiences than we think. It's comforting to know I'm not alone!  (*the "Button Text" is the link to my first novel)
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The Dog Days of Summer

7/6/2016

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Image from vermontfarmheart.wordpress.com
The days slip by in a haze of routine. I bustle around the kitchen moving items on the counter and trying to get ahead of the ants that have invaded once again by the window, thinking of my little one's words, "Mom, the world has no shortage of arthropods. They are crafty, hearty buggers." This makes me feel less evil for smashing as many as I can with a wet paper towel, although surely Karma is still keeping score of my mass ant murder. In the quiet of the massacre, I go back, back to summer days not long ago filled with happy chatter of little girls making up games to play and cajoling me to take them to the pool. Their normal childhood is my greatest achievement, as well as fodder for my fondest memories, which now come leaking out of my eyes, burning hot wet streams down my face.

There was a time when I knew my purpose, knew it well and relished the challenges of fulfilling it. Now that those days have passed, the days like today leave me breathless with the sheer "silence" that parts of my life have become. And yet, my phone spits out the noises and sounds throughout the day of touches from those I love. The leaves drip, drip fat drops of rain leftover from the passing storm we  had earlier, and if you listen carefully, you can still hear soft rumbles in the distance. This evening, as the sun sinks low and the air hangs thick over damp grass, the cicadas, crickets and tree frogs will sing a medley to welcome the starry night. It is then, before I shut down from another dog day of summer, that I will remember new purposes, not all of which have been revealed. New dreams being formed bit by bit, march before me like those ants on the window sill towards a future full of possibilities (...which hopefully will end better for me than it has for them).
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    About The Author

    I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter.

    Since then, I have learned to reach well beyond what I ever dared to think was possible. I've learned not to allow fear to stop me from whatever future I want to create!

    What keeps me grounded? My Tribe! What provides the wind beneath my wings? A well of reserves filled with unstoppable passion!

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  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
  • Blog: From the Front Porch
  • Novels
  • Short Stories
    • Children's Books
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Photo & Art Gallery