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Book Review: I Chose You by Carmen Leal
Book Summary For every pet parent who knows there’s no such thing as ‘just a dog,’ this collection of uplifting glimpses into the lives of ordinary-turned-extraordinary dogs and the people who love them is a tail-wagging good read. Thanks to the rescue dog who saved her life after a traumatic brain injury, Carmen Leal went from saying she’d never have a dog to becoming an advocate for man’s best friend. Carmen volunteered at the local rescue shelter by writing bios and social media posts, applying for grants, and helping to save and re-home over 6,500 dogs from a high-kill shelter. This endearing anthology includes stories that celebrate the bond between canines and humans…
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Confessions of a “Free Spirit” Writer
Financial expert Dave Ramsey has a philosophy that people have different personality types when it comes to managing money. “Nerds” are the ones who like creating a financial budget, sticking to it, and keeping a close eye on the finances because it gives them a sense of security. “Free spirits” don’t like to be constrained by the budget and have more of a “I want to live life to the fullest—we’ll figure out how to make more money!” attitude. In our house, my husband is definitely the nerd most of the time with our finances and I’m more the free spirit. He’s always had a practical approach to money although he does have…
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Ghosts of Davidson is a Tour Steeped in History
This article originally ran in Lake Norman CURRENTS. As a true crime fan and person who is intrigued by ghost tours, I love checking them out whenever I’m traveling. Several years ago, I got the chance to stay at the Omni Grove Park Inn, where the mysterious story of “The Pink Lady” is shared by the staff. I’ve also taken ghost tours in Asheville and in Charleston, S.C., where I’m pretty sure I captured some paranormal activity in one photo of a church. The LKN area is also home to rich history, so when I heard about Ghosts of Davidson, I reached out to the student who owns the tour company to learn…
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A Purposeful Life
This editor’s letter appears in the March 2022 issue of Lake Norman CURRENTS. In early January, the community of Lake Norman learned of the passing of Tom Clark, a Davidson College professor who eventually found his life’s calling working in sculpture. While planning an article on his work, we put a call out on our social media pages asking if anyone had a collection of the miniature gnomes he grew so famous for creating. We were overwhelmed by the responses of so many people, not only of those who still have his gnome sculptures in their homes but also those who had a personal connection to Clark or a memory of what his…
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A Recipe for Love
This editor’s letter appears in the February 2022 issue of Lake Norman CURRENTS. I have fond memories of food playing a strong role throughout my childhood—providing comfort, bringing me together with family, cheering me up when I was down, providing the background for celebratory events. My mom was a fan of those hearty dishes like broccoli cheese casserole, homemade macaroni and cheese, Salisbury Steak, and mashed potatoes. My grandmother loved nothing better than whipping up a batch of homemade tortillas, tamales, or a big pot of refried beans. After I got married, I dabbled in cooking here and there, but it wasn’t until I became a mom that my interest in finding and…
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Celebrate the Joy of Reading with Library Card Sign-Up Month
If you enjoy reading, there’s no doubt you probably have a library card. From the time both my kids could walk, we spent many hours each week at the library, especially in the summers. One summer my daughter even volunteered as a library intern and loved it. We are fortunate to belong to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library, which allows us access to books and other resources at 21 area libraries. Another summer, we challenged ourselves to visit as many libraries as we could and planned excursions around the visits. A few months ago, I interviewed an intelligent young lady in our community who is on track to read 200 books this year–and she’s only…
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Always Learning
This letter appears in the August 2021 issue of Lake Norman CURRENTS. I love to learn about new things. Some of my favorite ways to consume new information is through podcasts, documentaries, and books. Sometime in this past year I realized I had gotten into a bit of a rut when it came to my personal education choices. I was reading the same types of books over and over (often women’s fiction, contemporary young adult novels and other “book club” type literature) because they were entertaining, but was I really learning anything new? I began to challenge myself, first by choosing to read books by authors with entirely different backgrounds, as well as…
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Time to Get Away
This letter appears in the June 2021 issue of Lake Norman CURRENTS. For so many years, my weekends have been filled with “to-do’s.” I must go to the grocery store. I have to get to my kids’ sporting events. I absolutely must clean the house. A Target run is essential. All those things I couldn’t quite get to during the week because of work and weekday activities would be pushed off until the weekend. Before I knew it, the entire weekend would have been filled up with me running around from place to place only to collapse, exhausted, on Sunday evening wondering how it was already time to get back to work the…
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Observations from a Mom
This letter appears in the May 2021 issue of Lake Norman CURRENTS. My mother and I have always had a complicated relationship, and I think that’s true for a lot of mothers and daughters. But as I’ve grown older and become a mom myself, there are so many things I would like to tell my mother. I understand that you can tell yourself that you may be the type of person who doesn’t need to have children, and then you hold your child for the first time and your heart becomes a messy puddle. You will realize there’s a huge difference between the ages of 1 and 2 years and become that person…
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Get Refreshed
This letter originally appeared in the April 2021 issue of Lake Norman CURRENTS. When I was twelve, I moved from Central Texas to the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, where I spent much of my time outdoors, hiking on nearby trails, taking long drives on the parkway with my parents, eating berries straight off the bushes the bloomed in our yard and playing in the icy rivers. I’ve come to realize nature has always been a big part of my life, even if I consider myself a homebody who probably spends too much time indoors reading, working or simply trying to cover off all the household chores. It’s hard to…