Lifescapes

Food chain

 

Life happens. Death does, too. This hungry spider wrapped her prey into a tidy bundle, then feasted on the edible parts of her queen butterfly. And this ribbon snake found an unwary frog and had him for lunch. Please don't say "gross." This is just life, up close and personal. (You can see both images up closer if you click on the photos.)

     

Lots happening this week. Too much, really. Bill and I remembered the Bertram Library's Souper Supper on Friday night. I took a big pot of China's Italian Sausage Soup, which everyone seemed to like--at least, it all disappeared. But I completely forgot the Willa awards at the Women Writing the West conference in San Antonio! Actually, I didn't forget: I thought it was next week. Never mind that it was on the calendar, and that I was looking forward to it--it just disappeared from the radar screen. I hope you don't do things like this. I am wretchedly embarrassed, and apologize to all my friends at WWW.

Most of what's happening here is happening in the book (Holly Blues, China #18) or in the fall garden. We've been eating green beans, snow peas, and summer carrots this week. Last night (when I should have been at the Willa!) I was on my knees planting garlic. Also planted this week: spinach and beets. The weather gurus are predicting the low 30s next week, so I'm getting out my row covers. Oh, and I baked a pecan pie in the solar oven, and yes: I'm happy to report that it turned out just fine. Couldn't tell the difference between that pie and one baked in my kitchen.

In the book, forward progress, although I need to develop another storyline or two. I don't think there's enough material in the central story to fill out the book without a lot of padding, which I dislike. In a mystery, everything, even characterization, ought to be connected somehow with the plot. I'm always impatient with "mysteries" that are filled out with lots of stuff, the only purpose of which is to pad out the book to an acceptable length. Happens more often in cozies than in other forms of mystery, and I try not to let it happen in mine.

And of course, there is the election and the economy and the news about both to keep us all occupied. I'm a lifelong Democrat (I love Texas, but it's tough for a Blue to live in a Red state, where her vote doesn't count in the presidential election) and am doing my small bit for the cause. And the economy is on everyone's mind, because we are all personally affected, in one way or another: ourselves, our extended families, our neighborhoods, our communities. I'm thinking of all of you, and hoping that you're okay. It's a time to be mindful of the needs of others--and to practice tolerance, please, whatever your political persuasions.

Reading note. You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.--Friedrich Nietzsche

Abundance

Aren't these gorgeous? These are Dani's squash (plus a few ears of corn), grown in Colorado. She shared this abundance (via this photo) with me because my squash crop was destroyed by bugs while I was in Illinois a couple of weeks ago. I don't know about you, but it makes me feel good just to look at these beauties and imagine all the delicious meals Dani will produce from her squash.

And speaking of squash, I did manage to rescue a butternut and a spaghetti squash from the bugs. Yesterday, I baked the spaghetti squash in the solar oven. We ate half of it for supper with some chopped basil, chives, parsley, salt, pepper, and butter--yum! I put the other half in the freezer. Here' what the squash looked like when I took it out of the solar oven (2 hours, 325) and fluffed it up.

Right to dry--and not. I've really enjoyed your comments on the clothesline post. Thanks so much for sharing! I'm continuing to hang, and noticing that I pay more attention to the clothing than when I simply bundle the clothes from the washer into the dryer. I notice buttons that need replacing (yes, I do own a button box) and seams that need repair--and a stain that didn't come out. Back to the sink, with a little scrubbing, and the tee shirt is ready for the line. Bet I wouldn't have seen that if I'd stuck it in the dryer, and then the heat would have set it. Plus I'm becoming more aware of the energy this saves.

But I'm also aware of the time commitment and remember how I welcomed my first electric dryer, as a mom with three kids, and how much I've depended on it over the years. So there's an important tradeoff, and I don't want any of us to think that our sisters are lesser beings because they're using their dryers! I am, when I need to--although I'm using it more mindfully now.

Writing log. I'm into China now (Holly Blues) almost every day, and enjoying it. Wormwood (completed in March 08 and out in April 09) was a very different book, set in a Shaker village in Kentucky. Feels good to be back in Pecan Springs with China and Ruby and the gang. Oh, and Sally. Remember McQuaid's first wife? She's back, bringing her usual troubles, and then some. For those of you who keep track of such things, I am now up to about 13,000 words, aiming for 85-87,000. I keep track of my word count, because it soothes my soul to see that I'm making progress, and because it helps me to gauge the shape of the book as I go along.

Reading notes. Not what we have but what we enjoy constitutes our abundance.--Epicurus

Catching up

I went to high school in a very small town, Bismarck IL. When we lined up for our graduation photo in 1958, there were only 39 of us. That's why I was hugely surprised when I went back for my 50th reunion last weekend. The town has grown, inevitably, and the high school now has about 350 students (still small, I guess, by American standards). And everybody--I mean everybody--turned out for the Homecoming parade. Here's a small sample of the people who came, lined up in front of what used to be Chrisman's Grocery on the corner, and the old Brown Brothers hardware store on the right. The crowd--sitting in folding chairs, with kids playing everywhere--lined both sides of the road for the mile-long trek from the Lions' Club Park (across the tracks from the grain elevator) to the high school.

I took this photo from an antique car (our class served as parade marshals). There were a dozen old cars, the town fire engine, the high school pep band (a shadow of our 75-piece band back in 1958), cheerleaders--everthing you'd expect in a small-town Homecoming parade. Bismarck won the football game that night, and the class get-togethers were wonderful. The instant connections I felt to people I hadn't seen in fifty years were remarkable. You know the word "closure"? Somehow, this reunion smoothed out all of the lingering conflicts and unhappinesses I felt during those chaotic teen years, and I saw us not as the kids I remembered but as who we have become: productive, thoughtful, mature adults who happened to share an important four years in our lives. I'm so glad I went. The class has created a website with our bios and photos, and most of us have email. So we can keep in touch, as one of our optimists says, during the next fifty years.

Back home, I have a new energy-saving project. Bill strung a clothesline for me between a couple of cedar trees, I bought some new clothespins, and I'm in business. I hadn't hung up sheets for--what? 30 years? But I think hanging clothes is a skill (like bike riding) that you never forget. I have the luxury of choosing which days I want to wash, so I can choose the sunny one. Gotta say: those sheets certainly smelled good, just like Texas sunshine and fresh wind. I appreciate the dryer and the work it saves. But I'm also becoming much more aware (aren't we all?) of the real cost of our energy-saving appliances. Hanging clothes is something I can do to reduce my energy use. And it's not against the law here, either. I don't have to fight for my right to dry, as some people have.

Book report. Back at work, too, on the next China Bayles mystery, Holly Blues. I usually start writing China in mid-September, but the past few weeks have been full of other things (teaching an online class for Story Circle, working with Peggy on a couple of projects). So I'm about 20 days behind my usual writing calendar. But there's plenty of time, so I'm not anxious. (Not yet, anyway.) It's fun to be back in Pecan Springs with China and Ruby.

In case you haven't noticed, The Tale of Briar Bank came out last week. I love this book, especially love the dragon (he's on the cover, too). The dragon will be a character in another book, so I hope you'll like him in this one. Good reviews and lots of positive reader response, so I'm happy.

Reading note. It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.--J.R.R. Tolkein, The Hobbit.