Lifescapes

Moving on

There's no cure for sadness better than friendship. Thank you for all your comments and emails. And yesterday, I was welcomed at the May meeting of the Herb Society of America's Pioneer Unit, held at Winedale. I talked about herbs (naturally) and Henry Flowers, who manages the gardens at Festival Hill, brought an extensive, impressive display of nightshades. Fun to be with friends, fun to share what we know about the plants we love. Here's just a glimpse of Henry's display.

























Notice the peppers, tomatoes, and tomatillos. And here's the rest (second photo)--the potato end of the table! Notice the vodka (you knew that vodka is made from potatoes, didn't you?) and the eggplant: the "mad apple," it was called, when it was brought to Europe from Asia. Henry has also included a petunia, a nicotiana, and several other ornamentals.

























A great display that gave people a very clear idea about the remarkable range of this plant family.

Home again for a while, I hope (with just a couple of day trips out), and happy to be here. It's Bill's turn now--he went off to New Mexico this morning, where he can enjoy some R&R and maybe do a little work on the house. Log houses always need something, it seems! Next week, I'm getting back to work on the next Beatrix book, The Tale of Applebeck Orchard. Can't wait to find out what it's all about.

Reading note. Writing a first draft is very much like watching a Polaroid develop. You can't--and, in fact, you're not supposed to--know exactly what the picture is going to look like until it has finished developing.--Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Sad news

I'm sorry to tell you this, but Lady suffered a stroke (we think) this morning. She was non-responsive when we got her to the vet and he put her to sleep. She'd been having quite a bit of trouble getting up and down stairs and in and out of the car, but we hadn't quite expected this. She was a rescue dog of indeterminate age. Back in 2000 or so, she appeared at the local Rottweiler rescue, looking for help, and was passed along to the Lab rescue folks, who brought us together.

Lady lived a rich, joyful life, full of grass and trees with teasing squirrels and birds and a creek and a lake to swim in, and food in her dish (her favorite part of the day) and a cool spot beside my desk for long naps on hot summer afternoons. She loved chew sticks and puppy treats and frisbees and tennis balls. She celebrated brisk mornings along the meadow paths and starlit evenings when she could disappear into the grass, black as the blackest shadow. She blessed us with a quiet, undemanding affection. She will be missed.

Home again

Home and winding down after a full month of in-and-out road work. And believe me, it's work, but all part of the job—a part I love, except that I love being home, too.

Here are my roadnotes from the recent Nightshade trip:

Wednesday night (April 23) at the library in historic Columbus TX, lots of people who bought lots of books (for Story Circle).

Thursday and Friday (April 24-25), at the Master Gardeners conference in Conroe, where I made two presentations (on Shaker herbs and Nicholas Culpeper and astrological herbalism); chatted with lots of gardening friends I hadn't seen for a while; and sold books.

On Saturday (April 26), I drove into Houston (brave me!) to the Garden Center at Hermann Park, for lunch with the South Texas Unit of the Herb Association of America and a book sale ably managed by Lucia Bettler, of Lucia’s Garden (a must-visit place, the next time you’re in Houston).

Later that afternoon, I drove over to Murder By the Book, one of the best mystery bookstores in the entire country (check out Dean's video of the store). Not the best time: late Saturday afternoon on a pretty day. I expected maybe fifteen or twenty people. Instead, we had a full house, nearly 50 folks and plenty of mail orders and store stock to sign.

Sunday (April 27), I was at Arbor Gate Nursery in Tomball, where I expected a rain-out (storms to the north and south of us and a fifteen-degree temperature drop) but enjoyed a dry afternoon with plenty of garden-shopper traffic and several people who read about the event on the blog. One gal drove all the way from Richmond, south of Houston, a terrific compliment. Beverly (the owner) sold out of her stock of Nightshade and I bought some herbs for my wheelbarrow herb garden.

Monday (April 27), a day off, sort of. I drove from Tomball to Houston to pick up another box of Nightshade, then to Brenham. Stopped at a nursery and bought a couple of tomato plants and some zuchinni and squash seeds for the garden. Read, knitted (working on the second sock of a BigFoot pair), watched TV, vegetated.

Tuesday (April 28). I spoke at a luncheon at Blinn College, then drove a hundred miles to Angleton, where I spoke to 160 Friends of the Library, at a dinner held in the Presbyterian Church. More books sold for Story Circle. I don't have the final amount yet, but it looks like the book sales for the two trips and the website this month have come to nearly $7,000. Many, many thanks to all of you who have contributed to this fund-raising project! Story Circle and I are grateful. (And we hope you enjoy your books!)

Wednesday (April 29). Drove home (200+ miles) and settled into catch-up mode: urgent emails, a bushel of mail, books to be packed and sent, laundry and housecleaning to be done, vet trips for the dogs. Everything is incredibly, deliciously green, the roses and iris are blooming, and it’s been remarkably cool.

So glad to be home, here, right here.

Reading note. If you can't find the truth right where you are, where else do you expect to find it?--Dogen Zenji, circa 1250

These are dunes on South Padre Island, where I made a couple of presentations to the Friends of the Library on Saturday. Great groups, a terrific brunch (the quiche was made from China's recipe), and plenty of good talk about books and the importance of libraries. Many thanks to Margie and Carolyn for inviting me--oh, and to Pamela for the great CDs, that made my drive home enjoyable. I had a good time, met some wonderful people, and even got in a couple of beach walks.

South Padre is a barrier island on the Gulf, at the southern tip of Texas. My first visit there was in 1973. There were a flurry of visits--mostly fishing trips--during the 70s, the latest in 1997. When I first started going to the Island, there was a small settlement, a couple of hotels, and mostly beach and wild places along the lagoon. There's been a great deal of new development since then: high-rise hotels and condos, new restaurants, etc. (You can guess how I feel about that.)

Walking on the beach, feeling gloomy about the trash, the development, and people's careless attitude toward this beautiful place, I met a guy on an ATV riding "sea turtle patrol." Turns out that there's an active turtle rescue operation on the island that cares for and rehabilitates injured turtles, protects turtle eggs, and educates the local folk about the importance of these creatures. Do check out the website, especially the page on the sea turtles. Kemp's Ridley is our native Texas sea turtle--native, because the females return to Texas beaches to lay their eggs. I felt differently about the Island after I learned about the turtle rescue. Clearly, some people do care, and are willing to work hard to save whatever can be saved.

But the tide of development is too strong to be resisted, I'm afraid. The Island road has been extended, and the property along both sides of it--wild dunes, lagoon shore--is all for sale. If I go back in another ten years, will  all the wild places be paved over?

Home again, but only briefly. This week and next: Borders in Austin, the library in Columbus TX, the Master Gardeners' Conference at Conroe, Murder by the Book in Houston, Arbor Gate in Tomball, Blinn College for the Lifetime Learning Luncheon, and the library at Angleton TX. All the details are here. Hope to see you if I'm in your neighborhood.

Reading note: Bearing witness to both the beauty and the pain of our world is a task I want to be part of. As a writer, this is my work. By bearing witness, the story that is told can provide a healing ground. Through the art of language, the art of story, alchemy can occur. And if we choose to turn our backs, we've walked away from what it means to be human.--A Voice in the Wilderness, Terry Tempest Williams

Remember the Alibi

Oops, I forgot! I'll also be in San Antonio this weekend, Sunday, 3-5, at Remember the Alibi--one of only two mystery bookstores in Texas (to my knowledge). If you've got a stack of unsigned China Bayles books (or books in the other two series), bring 'em along. I'll be glad to sign them. This is a special event: Alibi isn't usually open on Sunday.

Reading note, from Nightshade: If you will follow my counsell, deal not with Nightshade in any case, and banish it from your gardens and the use of it also, being a plant so furious and deadly. The Herbal, 1598, by John Gerard

Pure gold

Paintbrush doesn't always just bloom orange, red, pink. Sometimes it's pure gold. This was blooming in our meadow this morning, when I got home from my short swing through North Texas: Brownwood (where I spoke to the Garden Club), Abilene (the Texas Author lunch at the Abilene Library), Texas Christian University (an author series luncheon), and Barnes & Noble in Fort Worth. A busy three days, seeing old friends, making new ones. It was a pleasure to see so many interested readers! I'm glad to be home, if only for 24 hours--just long enough to answer emails and get some clean undies. Tomorrow, I'm heading south, to Port Isabel and South Padre Island, for an author weekend on the beach, sponsored by the Port Isabel Library. And yes, I'm taking my camera, but not the laptop. So no blogging while I'm gone.

And yes, the blog tour is over. Many thanks to those of you who came along for the ride. You're a dedicated lot, you are! Peggy will be posting winners' names on the blog tour calendar when she gets a chance. Congratulations to all fifteen of you, and to the grand prize winner, as well! It was great fun. Let's do it again sometime. (But not just right away. Okay?)

In the meantime, very, very nice news. Spanish Dagger made the NY Times extended best-seller list and the Pacific Northwest Booksellers best-seller list. China and I are very pleased.

And here's an idea for you, when you've finished reading Nightshade. Click on over to Amazon or B&N and write a review of the book. Easy-peasy, as my friend Dani likes to say. Just tell what you liked (or didn't) about the book. Now is a good time to do it, while there are still only a few reviews up.

Reading note, from Nightshade: The fruit of the silver-leaf nightshade (Solanum elaeagnifolium) is a berry that is yellow or blackish when ripe. It was used by Southwestern Indians in making cheese. The berries were also used to treat sore throat and toothache. Nightshade berries mixed with cream have reportedly been used as a cure for poison ivy.--Wildflowers of Texas, by Geyata Ajilvsgi

Turkey love songs

Walking with the dogs in the mornings, I've been hearing the unmistakable love song of the turkey tom. This morning, he sounded very close, although the dogs were too busy with a rabbit to notice. Not that they could catch the rabbit, who was much too fast for them. But they had a good time trying, while the rabbit was no doubt laughing up her sleeve at their foolish efforts. After I got home and fed the dogs, I looked out into the meadow in front of our house, and this is what I saw.

He strutted his stuff along the fence for fifteen minutes or so. Here, he's inflating himself and lifting his wings, getting ready to gobble. "Come on, girls, here I am, cocked, loaded, and ready to fire--and all yours!"

We've seen more turkeys this year than in previous years. One evening last week, reading in the living room just about twilight, I looked out the window to see a large turkey hen sail over our house and swoop (no other word for it) down onto the grass. They're not noted flyers, so this was a remarkable and lovely sight.

The blog tour is over--but it isn't, of course. Unlike a "live" event, which is over when it's over, the posts will be up for a long time. Eventually, I'll reassemble them into something for my website. But for now, they're on the blogs where they first appeared, and you can read them anytime. Check out the calendar here. Oh, and there's still time to enter the last couple of drawings--but you'd better hurry. Peggy has the last drawing scheduled for Monday, April 14.

I'm out for most of the week next week and won't have the laptop with me, so I won't be blogging. If you're in the Brownwood/Abilene areas, that's where I'll be on Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday evening, I'll be at the B&N in Hulen Mall, Fort Worth, just off I-20. It's my only Dallas-FW visit this spring/summer. Hope to see you there. For all the details, go here.

Reading note. I seat myself at the typewriter and hope, and lurk. When an idea appears, I leap on it with all fours and hold it down till I've mastered it.--Mignon Eberhart

Early rose

I caught this Zepherine Drouhin yesterday morning, at her freshest. After last night's huge wind, it's looking a bit frazzled. (But photos are forever, right?) The wind took off our porch roof, too--ten panels of corrogated sheet metal. The repair job is more than Bill wants to think about right now, but it will have to be done, and soon, too. The sun on that side of the house can be pretty fierce. The wind kept us awake all night, so we're pretty groggy this morning.

I'm blogging over at Zanthan Gardens today. Bring your coffee and a doughnut (China prefers lemon cream) and join us. Oh, and there's still time to enter several of the drawings--they're open for three days from the date of the posting. Check them out on the calendar.

Reading note. Joys come from simple and natural things, mists over meadows, sunlight onleaves, the path of the moon over water. Even rain and wind and stormy clouds bring joy, just as knowing animals and flowers and where they live. Such things are where you find them, and belong to the aware and alive.--Sigurd Olson, Open Horizons

Earthquake, guest blogging, and Internet radio

Hey, did you know we had an earthquake here in Texas on Monday? True thing. And not the first time, either. In case you're interested, the US Geological Survey has a history of earthquakes in Texas. I mention it because it was such a surprise to me--hadn't even considered it a possibility, since Texas is in the "lowest hazard" earthquake zone. Rhonda suggested that I use an earthquake in one of China's mysteries. Now, there's an idea. Remember, you heard it here first.

Here's another idea. I'm blogging today with Tina at Essential Herbal, with Part 2 of the nightshade saga. If you missed Part 1, it's on May Dreams. You can read it first, then skip on over to Tina's.

And one more. Yesterday, I recorded an interview with Pat and Elisabeth at The Book Report, to be broadcast today. (Thanks, guys--that was fun!) If I have my facts straight, you'll be able to hear it via streaming audio here, from 8 to 9 this morning. If you miss it, you can listen via podcast. While you're on the site, take the time to listen to a show called "Tiaras and Books" (Jan. 16). If you haven't heard of the Pulpwood Queens Book Club . . . well, you're missing out, that's all I've got to say. The first chance I get, I'm going to see if Kathy Patrick will host a China Bayles party over there in the Piney Woods. China and I both need a good haircut.

Reading note: Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.--E. L. Doctorow [I think the same thing can be said about launching a book. You just gotta keep from hitting the deer.]

In bloom this week

Welcome the first clematis of the season. The clematis, crossvine, and honeysuckle have all survived last fall's determined garden-clearing swath (documented today over at Transplantable Rose in a post called "Unbecoming a Gardener"). While you're on Annie's blog, check out the great photo of the two of us in her April 6 post. It was taken at the Spring Fling. Can you tell how much fun we're having?

If you live in the Austin area, please consider joining me at Hastings in Round Rock on Thursday afternoon, 5-7. I hate being all by myself at bookstore signings! Details here. 

Reading note: The truest art I would strive for in any work would be to give the page the same qualities as earth: weather would land on it harshly, light would elucidate the most difficult truths; wind would sweep away obtuse padding. Finally, the lessons of impermanence taught me this: loss constitutes an odd kind of fullness; despair empties out into an unquenchable appetite for life.--The Solace of Open Spaces, Gretel Ehrlich