Funny, how life goes… my mom insisted on naming all us kids with saints names, yet no one in my family calls me Genevieve. Instead, they call me by my middle name, Liv, which in Norwegian means “life”. So being asked to describe a day in the life of me, Liv Bergen, by none other than the wonderful Dru of Dru’s Book Musings, gives me pause to celebrate the greatest gift given me… life!

I was taught from a very young age never to squander a single minute, enjoy everything life brings, the good and the bad. That’s not to say I only spend my time doing worthy, productive things like saving babies from burning buildings or finding a cure for cancer. Nor is it true that I never “invest” time in an occasional couch potato moment watching “Ice Loves Coco.” What living each day means to me is embracing every moment that happens, laugh when there’s joy, cry when there’s tragedy, and sweat when there’s work to be done. Yep, sweat. Not glow. Not perspire. Go ahead and allow yourself to sweat like a dog when there’s work to be done.

I wake up just before dawn, never to an alarm, to enjoy the sunrise with my first cup of coffee. After lacing up my steel-toed boots and foraging for food — lots of it — the toughest part of my morning is trying to rouse Beulah, my bloodhound, and getting her loaded into my pickup so I can get to work. I try to dig through emails and review my calendar before I head over to the plant for shift change to hear what’s happening with the pulverized limestone process team, then with the quarry team. On good days, I spend my time driving to and walking around our quarries in the Rocky Mountains, Beulah beside me, which is when I do my best thinking. Those are my most productive days.

I love watching when we detonate a blast, never tire of the awesome power and productivity of correctly-engineered explosives. Although I simplify for people what I do by saying we’re just like Fred Flintstone (yabba dabba do), limestone mining takes a lot of discipline, caution, strength, and intelligence to get the job done if you want to do it right. And if you want to keep all your digits. Which we all do. Hard hats, safety glasses, earplugs, and leather work gloves are just as natural to work as an apron and hairnet for those in the restaurant business.

After a ten or twelve hour day, Beulah and I make the thirty minute drive back into Fort Collins where I fix a dinner for two (me and the dog… still working on a date) and a drink that I enjoy while dinner is cooking and I take a shower. I normally slump down on the couch to eat my dinner, enjoy my drink, and read a good book, watch a sappy movie, or watch a little television. Sometimes when the mood strikes, nothing is better than listening to a little opera music and reading a classic. But I just as much enjoy Pink and good mystery thriller. Yes, a perfect day ends with lights out at a decent hour, a bedtime prayer of gratitude, and a dog curled up beside me… dreaming of a day when it’s someone insisting the dog sleep on the floor.
————————
You can read more about Liv in Lot’s Return To Sodom, the second book in the “Liv Bergen” mystery series. The first book in this series is In The Belly Of Jonah.

The life and times of Liv Bergen is written by Sandra Brannan who after living in Wyoming, Washington, D.C., Washington state, and Colorado, Sandra Brannan returned to her hometown in South Dakota, where she is surrounded by family. She enjoys working with relatives in the mining business; living in the Black Hills with her husband, Joel; smiling with pride over the journeys taken by her four sons; doting over her three grandchildren; and appreciating all of life’s blessings, too many to count.

Visit Sandra’s website at www.sandrabrannan.com

Books are available at retail and online booksellers.