Böcker av Ed Breeding

Mary Ann Russell of Speedwell, Tennessee was an unparalleled poet in her time. She sadly passed away from cancer, but her pure and phenomenal poetry will live on forever. Seldom has a writer captured the truth and essence of life as beautifully and perfectly has Mary Ann has done in her amazing poems. Mary Ann Russell was a very precious and dear friend of mine, and because her writings have always touched me so deeply and profoundly, her loving husband, Franklin "Toppy" Russell has given me permission to share her 'masterpieces' with the world. The power, beauty and truth of Mary Ann's poetry and prose stand above anything I have ever read in this genre. It is for this reason that I feel honored and obligated to have her work published, whereby it may go out into the world and serve the purpose for which it was excellently written. Upon reading Mary Ann's poem about the American Civil War entitled: THE WAR, published author and editor, Eugenia Christensen, who had read almost every book ever written about the Civil War, cried as she told me that she had never before read anything which so perfectly described "THE WAR" as Mary Ann had been able to do in only four short stanzas.**********"Her inspired writing is for that special few who God saw fit to create. They and they alone will understand what she was trying to convey. "Is there a price on the laughter of a child or the song of a robin? Is there a price on a September sunset or an October morning? Is there a price on the first fall breeze or the moonlight on a snow-covered woodland? I think not!" --Franklin G. "Toppy" Russell Because Mary Ann would write poems about many of my paintings when I lived in Tennessee, I have chosen to include some images of my paintings in this booklet. It would be a great honor and pleasure for me to receive comments from you about Mary Ann's poetry, of which I can pass on to her husband. Thank you! Ed BreedingEmail: edbreeding44@gmail.com

You may ask, "What is the importance of solitude?", and the answer to that question is legion. It has been said that ninety-five percent of our human species are takers, and only five percent of us are givers. In anyone's calculation, that is very extreme, and...questionable, but...perhaps we should ask our individual self, am I a taker or a giver? If we study the great achievers and givers throughout history, whether they were inventors, scientists, philosophers, artists, authors, teachers and many others who have contributed greatly to the benefit of mankind, we will learn that most all of them, created their contributions IN SOLITUDE. Perhaps you are an author or a painter. Can you write a book or create a painting in the midst of other people? No... I think not. You must have solitude to think, gather your ideas and then...create. And that does not diminish the joy and importance of spending quality time with other people. It's about priority, balance and discipline in our lives at certain times. But if you know of anyone that you admire and respect that is a creator, you will, no doubt, learn that what they created, which you greatly enjoyed and appreciated, it had been created in solitude, where there were no interruptions or disturbances. IN SOLITUDE is where we go to pray and meditate, and...to be able to connect and commune with the Spirit world. Perhaps we have all heard of 'the still small voice.' And that 'voice' cannot be heard in the midst of disruptions, noise and confusion. It has been said that prayer is us talking to Great Spirit/ Creator/God, and Instinct/Intuition is Great Spirit/Creator/God talking to us, and again, that must take place in solitude. To be a truly Spiritual person, which entails listening to, understanding, hearing and connecting with the Spiritual realm, that must take place in solitude, in order to achieve the greatest benefit. One of mankind's greatest fears is the "unknown." And many people are afraid of being alone; they feel safer around others, but whenever they experience the great benefits, they receive from being in solitude, they will soon seek it at every opportunity, and that need not dismiss quality time spent with family and friends. Perhaps one of the greatest gifts we can receive from being in solitude is when we are able to see, feel, and truly appreciate some of the smaller things around us, whether it's a small flower by the sidewalk, or the bird in a tree, but by being in a crowd or with a group of other people, we overlook or totally miss those things that great thinkers, and creators see, feel, appreciate, love, and incorporate into their wonderful creations which we enjoy and appreciate. Being in solitude does not mean that we should not be around and spend time with other people, and it does not mean being lonely; basically, in solitude means where great and important lessons are learned, and inspiration and creations are created. Loneliness and solitude seem very similar on the outside, but the only characteristic both have in common is the state of physical solitude.

Desiree Russell is very unhappily married to a radical Fundamentalist preacher, fifteen years her senior. She is a beautiful, young singer/songwriter, who during dreamtime, visits with the infamous Billy the Kid in the fourth Spiritual dimension on a regular basis. In Billy's dimension of existence, she experiences equal love for all of creation, and the true definition of being Spiritual versus physical. After leaving the unhappy marriage in Tennessee, Desiree gets a great job as a lounge singer in a wonderful hotel in New Mexico where she becomes very popular as an entertainer. She falls in love with her handsome Mexican boss, but she is also in love with Billy the Kid. How Desiree finally resolves this conflict is at the heart of ........ A PLACE BEYOND TIME.

It was 2003 and Las Vegas, Nevada would never be the same without her. Ivory Meadows' charisma at Caesar's Palace rivaled all the hypnotic lights of Vegas' famous strip. And now, with her fifth marriage coming to an abrupt end, she was leaving Las Vegas with bittersweet memories. It would be a very sad day for Las Vegas and the millions of worshipping fans, who for years had come to see and hear Ivory sing and entertain. She had just finished singing at a sell-out performance in Chicago when police came and whisked her away, and informed her that there had been a serious death threat made on her life. The police insisted she have a twenty-four-hour bodyguard with her at all times, and they had the perfect person for the job: Ebony Waters! It was anything but a love-at-first-sight encounter for the two powerful women. Nevertheless, very reluctantly, Ebony took on the job. Her game-plan was to take Ivory to New Orleans and hide out there with her family. Ebony had worked with the Chicago Police Department until her police husband had been killed a month earlier in the line of duty. She was on a sabbatical when Ivory Meadows came barreling into her life. Ebony was a black woman with the blues, and the last thing she wanted was to be nursemaid to a bleach-blonde, sex kitten, country singer and actress. If Bessie Smith were alive and had Ebony's life history for blues material, then there would be one more blues song to top the charts. New Orleans proved to be what the doctor ordered for Ivory and Ebony. The family setting was something Ivory had always dreamed about, and now, at least for the moment, she had it. But peace and bliss could not dominate for long in "The Big Easy." Ebony soon learned why the death threat had been made on Ivory's life, and how the wooden jewelry box which Ivory's husband had bought for her in Hong Kong played a major role in the drama. Diamonds have been a reason for murdering more than one person in history. The mafia chase had begun and Ebony knew that as long as she kept the jewelry box in her own possession, Ivory would be safe and out of harm's way. Ivory had previously shipped the ugly box to her mother's home in Kentucky before her divorce, because she never liked it. Ebony's handsome, street-wise brother had been more than willing to show the beautiful and sexy Ivory the sights of New Orleans, and so he did, but now it was no longer safe there for Ivory, so once again she and Ebony found themselves back on the road, but this time they would hide out with a friend in the discreet, little seaside town of Destin, Florida. Before a tan could be had from strollers on the beautiful, white sandy beach, and deep-sea fishing in the gulf, once again the pursuers were hot on their tail, and they must run. This time they would take a cruise liner out of Miami and an intriguing government; law enforcement agent would accompany then. Ivory had been scheduled to perform on the cruise ship, and she was determined to not let the mafia or anyone else keep her from doing what she wanted to do. But danger soon found them, and Ivory and Ebony gave new meaning to the story of "Thelma and Louise." What began as two women feeling that their world had come to an end, had now developed into a lifetime friendship, and a new realization about the most important things in life, and how those things were as close as their fingertips.

The documentary stories in this book include the wisdom and important messages from some Traditional Indigenous Native Americans, and other relevant issues and events that may be affecting our lives.. THE HUMAN EFFECT & TRADITIONAL INDIGENOUS WAYS OF BEING are excellent blueprints of how we are destroying our planet, followed by a way that we can live in harmony and balance with ourselves and all living things. SHATTERED REALITY offers gut-wrenching stories from our War veterans, while PRESCRIPTION FOR ADDICTION exposes the horrific damage pharmaceutical drugs are doing to our nation. All of the documentaries written about in this book challenges the reader to look closer at what's going on in our world.

In the early 1990's I was driving along Interstate 10, east of Deming, New Mexico, and ahead of me about a quarter mile I saw what looked like animals running across the highway. I thought they may be deer, but as I got closer to them I saw that they were three migrants with packs over their shoulders entering into El Norte. I was going to visit a cousin in the Army that was stationed near the Mexican border, and going with him into a Mexican border town, in a plaza there I saw young men waiting for their "Coyote" to bring them across the border. Speaking with a local Mexican man, he told me they were from Honduras and Guatemala, seeking sanctuary in El Norte.While living in Tennessee I "adopted" a Mexican family of nine from Leon, whose father had deserted them before getting their legal papers. I helped them financially and other ways that I could until they got better established. They told me of their life and struggles in Mexico, and what they had to do to survive there. The eldest son traveled, camped and backpacked with me in the western states, and we taught each other about our cultures. A younger brother of my traveling companion was an accomplished violinist, and he was soon able to get many jobs performing at events in the small Tennessee town, playing his violin. This story is based on many true events and experiences I have had in my many travels into Mexico and Central America.For many people wanting to leave their homeland in Latin America and migrate to El Norte, in the "land of milk and honey," some soon find out that although they can survive and make good money in El Norte, they quickly learn that there are a legion of pitfalls there that they never knew existed. But as Jose Solana soon learns, my protagonist in this story, he becomes financially successful and able to send back money to his struggling family in Mexico, and becomes famous playing his violin, but...he learns that no matter where you live, there are dangers and unexpected disappointments that you never saw coming. He goes "BEYOND BOUNDARIES" to finally find his true mission in life.

Prior to World War II the gender role for men and women had been fairly well-defined, and before to the advent of automation and the high speed of which technology has progressed, there was seldom any need for the man or woman to question their prescribed gender roles in society, but now those roles have become blurred, and many people have become confused and disillusioned as to who they truly are. What lies behind the heavy drug use, spousal abuse, killings, and more men being incarcerated in the USA than any other country on the planet?This book endeavors to show and explain how power and the lust and love for money has so greatly changed the dynamics of what it used to mean to fully be a man or a woman. And if we look at the power and control that mass-media and materialistic advertising has over us all, then the lust and love for money takes on a very important meaning, and something we can all learn from.After World War II women have entered the workplace at a rapid pace, in areas of work that had previously been done only by men. The Judeo-Christian belief system had kept women subjugated to the will of men, until...modern times.With women demanding and deserving equality with men in all walks of life, what effect has that had on many men's masculine identity? FINDING THE AMERICAN MALE can shed a brighter light on where he has been, where he is today, and what lies ahead for him. And...there is a bright light at the end of the proverbial tunnel for the American Male, if he chooses to seek it.

History is replete with famous, amazing and world-changing people...who just happened to prefer the company of their own sex over that of the opposite sex, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Plato, Aristotle, Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky, Alexander the Great, Eleanor Roosevelt, Queen Christiana, Socrates, Florence Nightingale, and millions more. In our present day, it is widely accepted to be out and open as a Two-Spirit person, but that has not been the case throughout history. Instead of the LGBTQ term, I prefer to use the Two-Spirit definition for who some are, which denotes a balance of the masculine and feminine gender; a term coined by the North American Indigenous.Like myself and most Two-Spirits that I have known, it was not an easy life for us to fit into society's heterosexual world. But now, times have changed, and we have been experiencing a powerful paradigm shift, and it is past time for us to accept and honor the great gift that Creator has bestowed upon us as a Two-Spirit, and with that gift, go out into this chaotic, troubled, confusing, sad, fearful, dangerous, masochistic, destructive, and uncertain world and make our indelible mark on it, whereby we have the gifted attributes to make changes for the betterment of humankind and the planet.Thankfully and amazingly, we now have a Two-Spirit presidential candidate for the highest office on the planet. Although the USA may not be awakened and wise enough to accept such a gifted leader, nevertheless, along with the likes of Ellen DeGeneres, Robin Roberts, and Anderson Cooper, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has broken down many barriers and glass ceilings, and thereby awakened a huge percentage of our populace to the attributes and qualities as to what a Two-Spirit leader can offer. This book showcases many of those throughout history and introduces the open-minded reader to a new way of thinking.

PAINTINGS OF A LIFETIME documents much of Ed Breeding's life-journey over a 40-year period. His extensive travels all over the USA and in many foreign countries have greatly influenced how he perceives the world, and many of the paintings in this book are a visual history of that experience. After his three years in Europe with the U.S. Air Force, he got the desire for traveling and meeting and learning about people from different cultures, and this experience is also on display in many of this books paintings. People from all walks of life have often noticed a spiritual presence in his paintings.

"THE LAND OF EVERMORE" presents a challenging and enchanting look at a world not filled with political agendas, religious dogmas, racism, greed, or selfishness. Three Traditional Indigenous natives from the American southwest meet two aliens from the Planet Erarus in the mystical 'Valley of the Gods' in Utah, and are invited to visit the alien planet where equal love for all beings, including wildlife, is the standard. There is no government, hospitals, nor sickness there, and a lifespan is upwards of 700 Earth years. After being on Eraus and experiencing what life is like where there's equal love for everyone, the trio no longer have any desire to ever return to Earth because of a Third World War that has left the planet almost uninhabitable, and where over three-fourths of humanity has been eliminated. On Erarus it is called NO TIME, because everything there exists in the moment, and just the opposite of linear time on Earth. The three earthlings' biggest challenge on Erarus is how to adapt to a place where time, as they have known it, no longer exists. But the aliens are great teachers and the trio quickly fall in love with their 'new home, ' and never want to leave it, because it truly is "THE LAND OF EVERMORE," where dreams really do come true.