Emma Palova, born in Czech Republic, is an author, a writer, a screenwriter, a journalist, a photographer, a designer and the founder of Emma Blogs, LLC, based in Lowell, Michigan.
Currently, she is working on her memoir "Greenwich Meridian" which she intends to turn into a screenplay.
Palova started her blog EW Emma's Writings at http://emmaplova.com in support of the publication of her memoir in January, 2013.
The blog has grown into a passion and a company that designs blogs for other people under the umbrella of Emma Blogs.
Palova is a prolific online publisher open to new ideas and to new horizons. A natural innovator, Palova loves to create progressive brands into the future. Check out her inspirational post "Desert epiphany" and the authors page on About_me and on Facebook.
I am looking forward to seeing you around the greater Grand Rapids area and on my blog.
I am seeking an agent or a publisher for the memoir that I intend to publish for my mom Ella's 80 birthday on Aug. 23.
I celebrated my fourth anniversary on the WordPress publishing platform on Jan. 15th, 2017 with more than 1,000 followers and 500 plus posts.
Love always,
Emma
The new Lowell City Directory was unveiled during the 23 annual Lowell Expo at the Lowell High School on Saturday.
The LCD will be available at the Lowell Ledger & Buyer’s Guide offices on Broadway Street in downtown Lowell.
Pictured above are Ludek Pala and LCD designer Cathy Acker. Not Pictured LCD partners Jeanne Boss and Tammy Janowiak.
Other favorites included the Kent County Lowell Fair mascot, a calf yet to be named, a body fitness group, Fallasburg Historical Society with president Ken Tamke, Lowell Area Historical Museum and Melinda Cosgrove from the Snow Greenhouse.
The greenhouse opens on April 17.
Stay tuned for historic news from the @Fallasburg Historical Society.
Copyright (c) 2019. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Lent is a spiritual time of reflection for 40 days before Easter observed by Christians around the world. It begins with Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Thursday, April 18 this year.
It is marked by the color purple and fasting. On Lenten Fridays, Christians should abstain from meat and excessive drinking.
One of its traditions are Lenten soups served by many local parish communities such as The Franciscan Life Process Center. The following soups, donated by the area restaurants, will be offered on Lenten Wednesdays:
March 20th Cannonsburg Catering Potato Soup Dilly Bread Cannonsburgcatering.com
March 27th Applause Catering Broccoli Cheese Oatmeal Bread Applause-catering.net
April 3rd G RCC Culinary Program Beef Barley Cinnamon Bread http://www.grcc.edu
April 10th Vitaleās Ada Minestrone Extreme Garlic
With its deeply embedded traditions, Lent has inspired many of my stories and writings. My favorite soup, not only for Lent, is Mediterranean lentil soup with lemon and turmeric.
Excerpt from “Shifting Sands: Secrets”
Amora
decided to further think about a night walk under the moon in pursuit of a
glimpse of the giant silk moth.
In
the meantime, she would do some research about the luminous winged wonder, and
find a clock that wouldnāt be as noisy.
Worse
even yet in the cottage living, you couldnāt release any stink either; like
frying a fish on a Lenten Friday or on any Friday. Being a good Catholic, Amora
made sure she never ate meat on Fridays. Unlike Margot, who both ate meat and
drank on Lenten Fridays, Amora stuck to her acquired routine.
Undisciplined Amora had to build up her routine like a bee flying from a wild flower to an order trapped in her own beehive.
āAre
we going out on Friday, Amora?ā Margot asked when they were gossiping on the
balcony.
āWe
shouldnāt,ā Amora said. āItās Lent. You should know that, youāre Irish.ā
They
decided to go anyways to the old Irish Pub with dubious reputation in downtown.
They settled at their favorite table in the corner.
āWill
it be the usual two Killarneys for the ladies?ā asked the waiter.
āJust
one,ā snapped Amora. āItās Lent.ā
āFor
you, mam?ā the waiter looked surprised at Amora.
āNo,
for her,ā Amora pointed at Margot.
āSlainte,ā
Margot smiled at the waiter. āThatās cheers in Irish.ā
The waiter brought the reddish beer and a glass of water full of ice. for Amora. Margot disciplined herself and ordered fish and chips like Amora.
āAt
least itās cheap,ā Margot said eating her chips. āTell me all about him.ā
āWho?ā Amora was shocked.
Copyright (c) 2019 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
On the first day of spring, I drove to the nearby Murray Lake for inspiration and meditation to finish the last story in the new book “Shifting Sands: Secrets” slated for spring publication.
The lake was thawing and the ducks were bathing in the fresh streams.
It was only me, a diehard ice fisherman and a curious blue heron perched on a piece of floating ice. Later, it started snowing mixed together with rain.
I had to get out of the car to get a photo of that brave man, who was literally floating on the remaining ice. The man was totally oblivious to his surroundings.
Did I find my inspiration?
I have to answer the question: I did find inspiration on the shores of a water body. This time 1,000 miles up North from where I found the first pieces of inspiration on the Gulf for the following story.
Excerpt from “Six Palms by the Tiki”
āWhat
kind of secrets were hiding in those calcium skeletons built by slimy mollusks
that have no spine?ā Amora often wondered.
After
all, the mollusks were long dead when washed ashore eaten by another sea
creature. Most big shells had broken fringes and fragments of shells were more
usual than whole intact shells. To find shells still attached to each other was
out of the norm completely.
Amora
paid $2 for a cup of Venetian coffee at Papaās. The hot dark liquid still
steaming vaguely reminded her of mornings Up North. Seadog George was always
available for a chat. He had a tan of a sailor and considered himself to be
one, since he had spent the last 15 years on the pierās deck hovering 20 feet
above water.
āDo
you ever get seasick?ā asked Amora naively searching Georgeās tanned hardened
by wind and sun.
āSometimes,
I do when the wind is high and the pier sways in the waves,ā he said. āBut they
built to withstand anything from Brazilian swamp wood that has already grown in
water.ā
Tall
seadog George wasnāt a native of Florida, although he wished he was. Once he
tried to pretend in front of tourists that he was a Floridian.
āCome
on buddy, you sound like the Yankees, you canāt lose that,ā laughed the New
Yorker. āI am a fourth generation Yankee, I know.ā
From
then on, George stopped pretending. With blonde hair matching the tan and the
beard, Amora guessed he must have been Norwegian or Swedish. She hasnāt found
the guts yet to ask him; Amora didnāt want to be either too friendly or too
nosy, or worse yet: Seadog George could think she was hitting on him.
She only engaged enough in casual talk to finish the cup of Venetian coffee without having to walk with it.
Copyright (c) 2019. Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
I have fond memories of this event aka MDZ from former Czechoslovakia. On this day in history, we received flowers and/or pantyhose to celebrate our womanhood. The celebration mainly honored women as mothers and workers for the common good. It felt good to be recognized for something that is natural to all women in the world.
The Inspiring Women series is dedicated to all the women around the globe for their day to day efforts.
Inspiring Women- Carol Briggs
Lowell
Person of the Year inspires and motivates others to get things done
āWhether I work
with two or 10 people, I like to share the success, and not to solely own it.
It takes a myriad of people and networking effort.ā
Carol Briggs
By
Emma Palova
EW
Emmaās Writings
Lowell,
MI ā If you want to get things done, just ask Carol Briggs.
The
Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce has named Briggs as Person of the Year 2019 for
her community involvement in multiple organizations such as the Lowell United
Methodist Church, F.R.O.M., the Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce and Relay for
Life.
The
top award came as a complete surprise to Briggs, when chamber director Liz
Baker gave her a piece to proofread on Wednesday, Jan. 23.
āI
found out from the chamber flyer that I was the person of the year,ā Briggs
said. āThere were friends waiting for me at the chamber to congratulate me.ā
Briggs
is passionate about the Lowell community, and she radiates and spreads that
passion around her.
āMy
personal motive is to help our Lowell community to be vibrant, inviting and fun
for those who live here, as well as for those who may stop by for an event,ā Briggs
said in her acceptance speech at the Annual Membership Gathering at Deer Run.
Form a committee
And
special events are her cup of tea. Briggs has a keen interest in organizational
things.
āI
love working with a group of people with the same interests toward results that
are both educational and enjoyable,ā she said.
Briggs
enjoys the most working in committees for special events. Her most recent experience
comes from organizing the 20th Anniversary of F.R.O.M. last summer.
āI
like when everyone takes their piece and follows through,ā she said.
She attributes the huge success of the F.R.O.M. event, held at Wittās Inn and attended by 140 people, mainly to being prepared. The preparations for the event started about a year ahead of time with regular monthly meetings of a committee of nine.
Be prepared, have
a theme
āWe
started brainstorming with the theme,ā she said, āhaving in mind the main purpose
of the event, whether itās education, awareness or celebration.ā
The committee consisting of nine people picked the theme: āRoaring 20s.ā
It
all evolved from there; from entertainment by Roger McNaughton to catering by Miss
Pās Catering and the silent auction.
āWe
used china plate settings from F.R.O.M. and some costumes,ā she said. āEighty-five
percent of people dressed up.ā
The
event was complete with pictures by the vintage car provided by John Sterly.
The key to success
āThe
key to success is understanding the purpose of the event,ā she said. āThat is
what does the organization want to achieve.ā
Make connections
āThink
about people and their connections in the area,ā she said. āItās about finding
those connections in the community and expecting people to follow through.ā
Challenges &
fears
Briggs
advises to face challenges by not feeling overwhelmed with an upcoming event.
āYou
work through it and you have to be flexible,ā she said. āSometimes I woke up at
3 a.m.ā
Briggs
likes to break down complex tasks into steps and she definitely makes lists.
āIf
I have a lot going on, I have a lot of lists and a lot of folders,ā she said.
Budget
Some
funds for the event were directed from the proceeds of the Food Fight, while
others were in kind gifts.
Visualization
āI
am a visual learner,ā she said. āI like to see things first, and then the mind
absorbs it. I like to see my task or I canāt sleep.ā
Success and
accomplishments
āI
like to share the success, whether I work with two people or 10,ā she said. āI
am not the only one who made this happen. I try to practice humility.ā
Motivation
āA
person who has his or her fingers in many pots must have a motive,ā she said. āMy
personal motive is to help our Lowell community.ā
Inspiration
Briggs
offers tips and advise for other women in terms of everyday goals, as well as
long term goals:
āI
try to find good in every day in whatever comes my way,ā she said. āI try to
decide how to respond not to react.ā
Her
mantra is acceptance.
āI
am accepting of others and their lives,ā she said.
In
response to what makes her feel good about herself, Briggs said: āItās mainly
family and close friends, if they are supportive you can do so much more.ā
And
you can always do a lot more than you think you can, according to Briggs.
āDonāt
let other peopleās comments or your own inhibitions hold you back,ā she said. āAsk
for an opinion from a trusted friend, we donāt have all the answers. Weāre all
in this together.ā
Secrets
If Briggs has any secrets, weāre not going to find out about them from her.
Copyright (c) 2019 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Lowell, MI- I am working on e-newsletters; as I look outside my writing studio window, I see snow on the ground.
However, definite signs of spring are here. The spring theme dominated at the 40th Home and Garden Show in Grand Rapids at the DeVos Hall this weekend.
The fragrance of tulips and daffodils was in the air as hundreds of people browsed through the packed hall.
I marveled at the CNC sewing and embroidery machines; how skillfully they stitched an image and a message into a piece of cloth.
āThatās the only way I could do it,ā laughed a woman next to me.
Also the upcoming March 23 Lowell Expo is close to the heart as more than a hundred of local vendors and organizations showcase their work at the Lowell High School.
My fellow history lovers from the Fallasburg Historical Society will be side by side with the Lowell Area Historical Museum located inside the cafeteria.
My favorite are the bucket rides by the Lowell Light & Power crew.
On a personal note, I am moving ahead with the publishing of my second collection of short stories āShifting Sands: Secrets.ā Copyright (c) 2019 Emma Palova.
Book cover for “Secrets” aka the Face of Gossip.
I am on target for April/May publishing. The new book, a sequel to my debut āShifting Sands: Short Storiesā will be available for preorder on Amazon. Both the cover and the anchor story “Silk Nora” were inspired by the Belrockton Museum in Belding. The “Gossip” photograph can be found on the third floor of Belrockton. The museum is open on the first Sunday of each month.
Check out my debut at:
Kindle
ISBN
9781521302262
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Aboard Allegiant Flight 1600 from Punta Gorda to Grand Rapids
By Emma Palova
In Air- I
am leaving Florida eight days later, just like I have arrived, with the rain.
In between, the sun and the full moon graced the clear skies.
On the
horizon, the turquoise sea touched the blue sky in a magnificent union.
But before
the full moon on Feb. 18, a strong morning tide hit the Venice Beach washing
ashore shells galore and wracks wrapped in seaweed.
The
perfect morning cup inside a cockle shell was hiding the jewels from the sea;
small olive and bubble shells, sturdy jewel boxes and translucent jingle
shells.
I spent a
magnificent week in āParadiseā where the hibiscus bloomed in shades of orange,
the banana trees in white and the palms rendered orange ripe figs.
The front yards were tropical gardens with “Birds of Paradise” just opening up their orange beaks.
The sunsets were a splash from an artist’s palate of yellows, reds, oranges and browns.
Itās February- Soak it up, stir an argument
Yoga
instructor Elin reminded us this morning to soak up the beach life in February.
āYou
walked here, laid in the sand, listened to the waves,ā she said. āSoak it up.
Itās February.ā
On
Wednesday, Elin held up a large red leaf and said something about mailing it as
a postcard. Since, the wind carried Elinās words into the sea, I missed the
details. For some odd reason, I thought it had to be a mangrove leaf.
I picked up some reddish leaves yesterday thinking they were mangrove leaves on the dune banks by Sharkyās. Yellow veins branched into the ripe red leaf. It resembled large grape leaves.
My hosts in Venice were my parents Ella and Vaclav Konecny of Michigan. They made fun of me because I believed in the USPS red leaf postcard program. I asked my dad to take me to the post office, so I could mail the red leaf. My mom Ella was convinced my prized leaf wasnāt a mangrove, and that I shouldnāt pursue mailing it.
“Ask
Siri,” my dad said.
When I asked Siri, and she knew nothing about the mangrove leaf USPS mailing program, doubts also entered my mind.
My dad
came to the conclusion that it was an April Fool’s joke. In our homeland we
used the following prank:
“It’s like going to the store to get mosquito fat,” he laughed. “I am not going inside the post office with you.”
“But,
it’s not April Fool’s,” I refused to give up.
I found myself in the midst of an argument over the validity of the USPS leaf postcard mailing program.
“Leave
your dad alone, he needs to get some rest,” mom snapped.
“Well,
maybe we can wrap up some meat inside the leaf and make rolls,” I defended
my grounds sarcastically.
My dad who never gives up suggested that I ask Elin. After my last morning yoga session on the beach on Thursday, I made my way through Elin’s fans to hear it from the horse’s mouth.
“You pick up some sea grape leaves,” Elin said pointing to the banks by the beach house and take it to the post office. The postal workers get a kick out of it. A lady from my class sent out five of them the other day. The postage is under a dollar. Send it out within five days or they dry out and crumble.”
According to Elin, the post office can even put a dried out leaf in a cellophane.
“I
told you, it wasn’t a mangrove leaf,” my mom persisted.
“You know they wrap up meat in grape leaves in Greece, right?” I snapped back.
Back home at the writing studio Feb. 22, 2019
Lowell, MI -That was it. I was running out of time to go to the post office, since I was flying out of Florida in the afternoon.
I wrote my address on the sea grape leaf, mom provided the stamps, and dad disguised the leaf in a sac and took it to the mailbox. Dad was convinced that I made a fool out of him.
It remains
unknown whether he put the sac with the sea grape leaf in the mail, or in the
trash can.
In a
bizarre way, we were all right; mom with her contention that it is not a
mangrove leaf, me with the sea grape meat rolls and dad with the April Fool’s
prank, that he had probably created by dropping the leaf in the trash.
Venice, FL- The morning tide washed ashore treasures galore: large speckled cockles, coquinas, calico scallops, whelks, sturdy white jewel boxes, twisted conches, translucent jingle shells in shades of orange, olive and bubble shells.
The yellowish cocquina and turkey shells were still attached holding on tight to each other. The mollusks have long jumped out of the shells digging themselves into the sand.
The warm westerly wind combined with the cold Norte whipped a white foam on top of the waves breaking and crashing to the shore.
The perfect morning cup of jewels hiding inside a large cockle shell was still filled with water. A skilled paddle boarder navigated the wild waves falling only once, and climbing back up again. A sailboat rocked in the waves.
A dead seagull found its resting place on the beach. A trio of pelicans delighted in the wind flying ten feet above the water.
A slippery wrack of branches and seaweed washed ashore will serve later as a buffet for the birds. Wrack communities are native to Florida beaches; it is stuff cast ashore by the sea.
The encounters on the two-mile long morning walk on Venice Beach range from brief hellos to “How long are you going to stay?”
People walking on the beach were not only couples or families, but often a parent with an adult child. Life on beach takes on a different rhythm; time constraints disappear.
The beach walk has inspired the last story in Shifting Sands: Secrets, a sequel to Shifting Sands: Short Stories.
Feature photo: The perfect morning cup of jewels
The perfect morning full of jewels washed ashore still filled with sea water.
To be continued
Copyright (c) 2019 Emma Blogs, LLC. All rights reserved.
Venice, Fl- On Valentineās Day, I went to the beach to live deliberately.
It was 50 F in the morning, and I was still like an ice cube after arriving in the sunshine state from the frigid North. I did yoga with Elin on the Venice Beach including the āpalm treeā pose to honor the new palms on Venice Avenue.
I breathed in the fresh air coming from the Gulf waters and watched the seagulls fly over my head.
The lady doing the ācat and the cowā pose in front of me was wearing socks with the following verbiage on the bottom of each sock: āIf you can read this, bring me a glass of wine.ā
We parked in front of the beautiful Venice City Hall built in the Mediterranean Revival style much like the rest of the historic and Venetian theme districts.
One of my favorite joints in the bustling downtown is Croissant & Co., a French artisan bakery magically transported from Paris.
Even the mousse desserts were decorated for Valentineās with ornate words in pink and red. My dad professor Vaclav Konecny, who never drinks coffee, ordered cafeĢ de la maison or house coffee. Mom Ella tried their tarte dāapricot or apricot pie and I had salmon and spinach quiche. My dad with a gift of gab greeted the bicyclists in front of the bakery, and to his great surprise they spoke French.
āHeās a charmer,ā said the clerk at the Green Parrot gift shop.
Back at the condo, I noticed figs on the palm and the orange hibiscus blossoms.
It warmed up by 22 F in a few hours.
ā It would take three days to warm up in Michigan,ā mom said.
On the beach
Digging my feet deeper into the sand, it felt cool from Wednesdayās rain. On a perfect day, the blue Gulf waters touch the blues of the sky in a magnificent union.
This blues symphony harmonizes with the rhythm of the waves.
I thought the slight breeze from the South should have a name like Zephyros signifying itās softness, while reflecting the turquoise waters. Water erosion has washed some of the beach away while creating a bank that wasnāt there during my last visit in 2016.
I watched the beach goers with their sifters in search for the elusive black shark teeth. They usually emptied the small cage full of broken shells, but no shark teeth. The sifter rents for $7 an hour at Sharkyās boutique. It seems to me like a very zen thing to do: the water goes through the sifter, takes with it smaller parts and leaves in fragments of shells. If youāre lucky, a three-prong black shark tooth might be among them.
More seasoned hunters appeared by the Sharkyās Pier. This is where hundreds of fishermen cast lines with bait into the water attracting both dolphins and sharks.
Iāve seen schools of dolphins usually around noon lured by the bait. Mom and dad have seen dolphins in the morning at the jetty again with fishermen throwing lines.
Back at the pier, a kid caught a baby shark and proudly showed it off for a photo op. Then, he threw it back into the water. The kid with the shark scene reminded me of the white Egret with its yellowish beak showing off in front of cameras by the light posts on the pier waiting for his reward. If the heron doesnāt get its shrimp, he flies off.
One evening, we walked on the pier to watch one of the magnificent sunsets. It looked like an artist tipped his or her palette with the yellow in the middle and the oranges, the reds and the browns running away from it; the yellow explosion was flanked by the shades of blue on top and bottom.
Sunday surprised me with crowds; hundreds of people flocked to the beach with everything you can imagine.The sandy shore speckled by beach umbrellas, parasols and tents looked like a circus, only without animals.
If a colony of seagulls found a spot in between, they would invade it.
Itās not unusual to hear French or Russian in this area with authentic restaurants.
authoremmapalova 