a walk in the snow

Today Randy and I took a walk through the woods in the snow. He rarely walks with me so this was a rare treat. The woods are full of huge firs and hemlocks and cedars, so tall they shut out nearly all the light and even the snow. We saw some bare ground for the first time in weeks underneath those colossal trees. But most of the time we walked with snow up to our boot tops. I was okay as long as I followed Randy and stepped exactly in his tracks. Then I could look around and enjoy the waterfall and creek and the stillness.

We walked to a ledge overlooking the creek and Randy turned to see if I was still stepping in his tracks. But we'd come to a place with a sharp drop where you have to squeeze by or risk falling in the water far below. I'm terribly afraid of heights so I ignored his outstretched hand and said I wanted to go a different way. And I did. No amount of coaxing on his part would get me past that one spot. So he had to push me up a little icy cliff where I promptly tore my pants on barbed wire and got ice in my boots!

Immediately I thought of all the times in my life when I've insisted on abandoning my Shepherd and going my own willful way. I've gotten into a lot more trouble than torn pants and icy boots! If I'd just kept following and let Him lead, I think I would have found more green pastures and still waters. Our walk was a good reminder of what happens when I veer off the right path even in the slightest way. I was reminded of the Scripture that says, "...that the Lord your God may tell us the way in which we should walk and the thing that we should do." Jeremiah 42:3

Now that the galleys are done I'm not doing much writing but catching up on my reading (and walking). Amazon just delivered a wonderful box of new releases from my publisher and I'll name them here:

Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot
The Edge of Light by Ann Shorey
No Place for a Lady by Maggie Brendan

I'm always amazed by the beautiful covers Baker Books designs. Sure to catch a book buyer's eye. I don't know about you but the cover is often the big reason I pick up a book in the first place. Lots of covers don't work for me but these are just right.

I have to get back to Red River Daughter in a couple of days. I'm beginning to see the value of a critique group which I don't have. It would be nice to run the story by some writer types and see what they'd say about my too long ending and how they'd make cuts. Maybe I'll know when I get back into the manuscript next week. I haven't touched it for 2 months so things are bound to leap out at me. Let's hope I like the Red River as much as when I left! But now I have to set aside book 3 - always a wrench!

Hope you're enjoying a good book with a catchy cover:) And walking down the right path.