Personal Essays

Travel, Rain, and Trying to Write a Short Story

/ Katie / 19 Comments

Well, owing to a combination of a very busy week and my own poor planning, here we are, precariously close to the end of the month, and I haven’t even started April’s short story yet. Sigh.

We’re visiting family this weekend, and we drove down yesterday. It’s so nice to see everyone! And I desperately want to spend this time together, rather than tucked away in a corner trying to write. The good news is, it’s raining today! (No, seriously, this is good.) That means that it’s probably going to be a quieter, slower day, so maybe I will have some time to step away and work for a bit. We shall see.

The other good news is that we brought both Annie and Merlin down with us. Annie loves road trips, but cats don’t usually like to travel (an understatement), so we wondered how Merlin would feel. But he’s been doing great! He didn’t complain in the car, and once we got here and he explored a little bit, he pretty much decided he owns this space now, too. That cat…totally unflappable, I’m telling you.

Anyway, if you don’t see a short story from me by Sunday, I promise to post one next week. And that means two stories in May! Which is breaking my rule a bit, but I figure, we make exceptions for things that matter, right? And family matters a whole lot.

In the meantime, I wish everyone a wonderful Friday and a lovely weekend. Happy creating, y’all!

Annie got a haircut!

/ Katie / 4 Comments

And I think it tired her out.

We’ve actually not gotten her groomed in a very long time (probably too long, honestly), because there’s been a dog flu going around in our area. We know someone who lost a beloved pet to it, and it was scary and sad. Annie’s older and not in the best health – nothing awful, just aging and such – and so I worried about her being in a place with lots of other dogs. And unfortunately, she doesn’t really enjoy it when we try to bathe and brush her. Luckily, we found a mobile groomer!

And also luckily, cases of this particular illness have been going down pretty precipitously.

At any rate, she’s looking much better, and I’m sure feeling better, too. The groomer said she didn’t really want to stand up much, which isn’t surprising. She’s just a little old and creaky these days. But it’s funny, looking at her little graying muzzle. No matter how old she gets, I will always see her as the spunky puppy we brought home all those years ago.  

A Morning Walk in Spring

/ Katie / 5 Comments

It’s so gorgeous out today, and I just had to share some pictures that Graham snapped on his morning walk with Annie. (Where was I? Alas, I’m not a morning person, so, still in bed.)

I’m really hoping we get some fruit this year from our apple trees. I doubt we will, but you never know!

I suppose they’re just weeds, but I think they’re lovely.

The Japanese maple looks so vibrant in the morning sunlight.

Perhaps I ought to start waking up earlier, right? This is certainly a lot of color and beauty to miss in the service of sleeping in.

The Redbud’s Blooming!

/ Katie / 16 Comments

It feels like it happened overnight, and now here we are!

Redbud trees are my favorite. They’re native to the area, and I think every bit as lovely as cherry blossoms. To me, it’s not spring until the redbud trees bloom.

There’s actually a small festival near the town where I grew up. I’ve never attended, despite living so close for so long, and perhaps one of these days I should change that.

But for now, I’ll enjoy this beauty from the comfort of my favorite writing chair.

Apple Blossom Friday

/ Katie / 9 Comments

I love snow in winter, but there’s nothing quite like watching things come alive again in spring.

Maybe we’ll even get some apples from our orchard this year! But even if not, just seeing the blossoms makes me smile.

Is this spring fever?

/ Katie / 15 Comments

Y’all, it’s beautiful outside today.

I always find that in that space between seasons – the end of one and beginning of another, when things first start to change – it’s hard for me to focus. I just want to watch, and feel, and experience.

Anybody else?

My plan for today was to get some non-writing tasks done and then devote the afternoon to creative work. But alas, it’s just perfect daydreaming weather, and I think I shall just have to go and play outside instead.

And I’m not even sorry.

(Well, maybe I’m a little sorry. Or, at least, I likely will be tomorrow. But tomorrow’s tomorrow. We only get one today, don’t we?)

Just Some Monday Things

/ Katie / 6 Comments

Busy weekend. Sleepy Monday. Isn’t that just the way it goes? Sometimes, at least. It’s going to be a busy week, too, but lots of good things are happening.

The basement bathroom is almost done. And just look at this beautiful vanity:

It’s made of fence boards from around the property that needed to be replaced. I’m glad to have a use for them.

We’re still contemplating what we’ll do with the upstairs bathroom, and I’ve definitely got my heart set on wallpaper, at least somewhere in the house. Oh! And if you didn’t guess the theme of one of the samples in my last post, it was Back to the Future. It’s called Hill Valley Toile, and here’s a link to it, if you want to buy it for yourself: https://www.hyggeandwest.com/collections/all-wallpaper/products/hill-valley-toile. It’s so fun and really pretty.

And here’s something to make you smile: Annie and Merlin are officially friends! They don’t quite know how to play together yet, but they’re figuring it out. And Merlin is showing his love by cuddling with Annie’s toys.

May we all be as peaceful and happy as that cat, right? Here’s hoping for a good week!

Friday Flowers

/ Katie / 18 Comments

It’s rainy today, and cloudy and gray and damp and definitely early spring. But yesterday was beautiful, not particularly warm, but sunny. How nice it was, then, to stumble upon these little beauties in our back garden.

And how lovely, looking at them now, to remember that flowers – like days, people, cats, dogs, and old houses – aren’t all the same.

International Women’s Day 2023 (Thoughts, and Two Poems)

/ Katie / 17 Comments

It’s International Women’s Day! Unfortunately, I’ve been feeling under the weather, so I haven’t done much to celebrate, and my brain feels too foggy to write something really good. So, I’ll just say this:

I’m thankful for the amazing women in my life, and the strong, brave women who came before us. I’m proud of the women who dream, and who love, and who go on when it feels impossible. We are heroes, rock stars, the glue that keeps this broken world together. If I had to choose a million times, I would still choose to be a woman, even when it’s hard and unfair. I carry the universe in me. All women do.

And I’ll share a couple of my favorite poems I’ve written in the past. I hope you enjoy them! And I hope that you tell the women in your life today – and yourself, if you’re a woman (yes, ALL women) – just how wonderful and unbreakable and valuable and worthy and loved they are.

************

To the Women Who Came Before

To you,
the women,
the warriors and weavers and
witches and wanderers,
the brave and bold
who came before,
I promise this:

My light will magnify your light.
I will shine because
you reached for the sky
and grabbed the sun and moon and stars
to fight the darkness.

Your words,
your courage,
your heart,
your home –
the one you made with your own hands –
will live on in me.

I will stand and speak.
My voice will carry as yours,
over the mountains you climbed,
across the sands of time
and the pillars and platforms you built.
I won’t make myself small
just to fit into the corners
of a world made and sustained
by mothers.

I cradle your wisdom in my soul
because you carved a place for it.
I will keep that place
sacred and whole.
I will nurture the fire you lit
and pass the eternal torch.

************

Eve

A story we’ve heard:
The first of us all
(to fall) –
help-meet and wife,
made and prized,
then punished,
removed and reviled.
The woman who
became a warning.

And history became
both judge and jury,
gave us no choice,
no voice.
The story became ours,
but it never belonged to us.
And before, and now,
down in our bones
we know it.

We know:
It is human to fall
and rise again,
to seek,
to learn,
to live in curiosity.
And so,
can we reclaim her,
weave her story anew
and see her,
this mother of mothers?

Blood of our blood –
can we finally love
(not blame)
her?