Miss Susie Hutchins finally brought the car back. Neither she nor Maggie would say where they'd been.
With my book turned in and my writerly obligations over with for the moment, I'm taking time to smell the roses . . .
. . . and work in the garden . . . where I met a charming young toad.
It's a pretty hectic schedule.
I actually watched TV last night for the first time in . . . well, a very long time. Episode 1 of Foyle's War -- I loved it -- the settings, the clothes, the pace.
Ahhhh! Time to smell some more roses. In a burst of wild dissipation, I may even watch episode 2 tonight
People have always dreamed of utopias -- ideal places. Shangri-La (an artist's vision pictured above) is one such -- a remote valley in the Himalayas where people live for hundreds of years, surrounded by beauty and indulging in every artistic and philosophic pursuit.
The Garden of Eden is one of the earliest -- an earthly paradise where man need not work for his food (is that a fried egg floating in the sky?) -- a place of innocence where sin is unknown.
The Land of Cockaigne -- a fantasy from medieval times -- was a place of abundant food and drink and idleness -- the dream world of a hard-worked, always hungry peasantry.
"The Big Rock Candy Mountain," -- the dream of a Depression-era hobo, complete with cigarette trees, lakes of stew, and whiskey trickling down the rocks -- is a direct descendant of Cockaigne.
The Heaven of the Bible, with its streets and gold and pearly gate is yet another sort of utopia -- for some.(In Mark Twain'sLetters from the Earth, Book II, Twain points out that this sort of Heaven is a lot like an eternal church service -- and many who pay lip service to the idea of Heaven as a goal manage to avoid the weekly services here on earth.)
Utopias have fascinated many a novelist -- from Hilton's Lost Horizon ( in my opinion, a much better book than the films it inspired)telling of the hidden valley of Shangri La . . .
. . . to James Gurney's wonderful land of Dinotopia -- where intelligent dinosaurs and humans coexist. These are wonderfully imagined and gorgeously illustrated children's books that more than a few adults will adore.
In fact, many children's books are set in utopian or near-utopian lands -- Ozand Narnia come to mind.
Here'sone of my favorite fantasy lands -- Islandiais a strangely compelling work to me -- I find myself wanting to revisit it now and then just because I love the simplicity of this utopia -- a land of isolated farms when travel by horse or boat is the norm, a land that keeps itself apart from 'progress.' a land where manual labor and handicraft is valued -- as I said, this is a utopia that speaks to me.
What's your idea of a perfect place --your own ideal utopia?
The Great Smokies Writing Program, in which I've taught for almost four years now, is celebrating its tenth year of offering classes through the UNCA (University of North Carolina /Asheville) extension program. It's also celebrating the second year of its online literary magazine: The Great Smokies Review.
Yesterday, at Malaprop's Books in downtown Asheville, Tommy Hays, the director of the program, kicked off the celebration by reminding us of the many and diverse students who have been part of the writing program.
Then we heard reading from some of these students whose work had been selected for inclusion in The Great Smokies Review. Two of the students who read had taken my classes and I felt like a proud mama as they stood up and read their pieces. (You can read them too -- just click on the hot links!)
Joy Boothe, who was a member of my most recent class, read her essay "Jesse"-a powerful piece with a voice as authentic as the southern Alabama from which it springs.
And Linda McCracken read an excerpt titled "Elephantizer Grows 'Em Big" from her haunting Young Adult novel String Weavers which she worked on in one of my classes.
I saw more of my students at this gathering and was so happy to learn that they were still working away at their writing. Though I'm not always confident that I know enough to teach anyone anything, I certainly enjoy trying! It's a rewarding facet of the writing life!
And tomorrow I get to experience yet another -- also fun and rewarding. I'm off to speak to/with a book club in Morganton about Signs in the Blood -- and the writing life. I'm looking forward to it -- they meet at a restaurant on a lake. I'll take my camera and post about it on Wednesday.
Under the Skin is finished, all 11o,823 words of it as of midnight my time and ready ( after a quick tidying up) to be sent to my editor sometime tomorrow.
Call me happy! Call me relieved!
I wrote 2, 457 words today (not counting this blog post.) I'm off to have a cider, take a shower, and fall into bed.
Many thanks for the cheering which was in my head all day long!
As of Thursday night, the main story -- the present day story about Elizabeth and her sister was completed. Huzzah!
But I still have to round off that other story -- the one about the DeVine Sisters back in 1887. One and one-half concluding episodes remain to be told, as of Friday night. And I MUST email the lot to Herself, my long-suffering editor by Monday morning.
I know what's going to happen in this story (always a plus). But sometimes the characters take so very long to get to the action.
1. How much poison are you willing
to eat for the success of the free
market and global trade? Please
name your preferred poisons.
_____________ __________ ________
2. For the sake of goodness, how much
evil are you willing to do?
Fill in the following blanks
with the names of your favorite
evils and acts of hatred.
______________ ___________ ___________
3. What sacrifices are you prepared
to make for culture and civilization?
Please list the monuments, shrines,
and works of art you would
most willingly destroy.
______________ ____________ ______________
4. In the name of patriotism and
the flag, how much of our beloved
land are you willing to desecrate?
List in the following spaces
the mountains, rivers, towns, farms
you could most readily do without.
5. State briefly the ideas, ideals, or hopes,
the energy sources, the kinds of security,
for which you would kill a child.
Name, please, the children whom
you would be willing to kill.
The giant collection of photos (over 14,000) all taken at more or less the same moment is available for viewing. Click on the globe over there>>> at the top of the sidebar and be prepared to linger...
Only the lack of opposable thumbs . . .
...and advance planning can stop them ...
Can't resist a quick dog story.
On Monday, Justin and Claui and Claui's folks were up for pizza night. We were crowded into the kitchen, lending the cook moral support. The corner bench was full: Nancy (Claui's mom), Maggie (canine queen of the universe) with her head in my lap, and Justin next to me. William, the little small dog in the picture just above was at my feet, whining urgently.
"Justin," I said, "Would you let William out? -- I would but I have a dog in my lap."
"Come on, William," said Justin, getting up and going to the front door.
William took a look at Justin . . . and a look at the seat he'd just vacated, then jumped up on the bench and curled up, having gotten what he'd wanted in the first place.
Blackberries are blooming on the hill sides and we've had a few days of chilly weather -- lows in the forties, highs in the sixties. Around here this kind of weather at this time of year is known as called blackberry winter. It hasn't been cool enough to harm anything but I've had to shut all the windows and pull out my corduroy shirts and fleece vests.
This little green clump in the asparagus bed almost got yanked out till I looked closer and realized that it was blue-eyed grass -- not grass at all but a tiny, tiny (the flower is slightly smaller than my little fingernail) iris. Such a pretty little thing!
And this is the blue-eyed grass's giant cousin -- a bearded iris just beginning to unfurl.
