Kate DiCamillo's Blog, page 19
December 5, 2013
ODE TO AN OLD DOG
Henry turned twelve on Sunday.
He is diabetic. He prefers an...
ODE TO AN OLD DOG
Henry turned twelve on Sunday.
He is diabetic. He prefers an amble
to a walk. He snores so loudly that he
can’t hear anything else,
and so he sleeps
through the doorbell
and the mailman.
But still, in the snow yesterday, he turned
happy circles. He kept looking up
at me and wagging his tail. I knew
what he was saying:
here we are!
Here
we are.
Henry turned twelve on Sunday.
He is diabetic. He prefers an amble
to a walk. He snores so loudly that he
can’t hear anything else,
and so he sleeps
through the doorbell
and the mailman.
But still, in the snow yesterday, he turned
happy circles. He kept looking up
at me and wagging his tail. I knew
what he was saying:
here we are!
Here
we are.
December 3, 2013
I keep thinking about this: on Sunday, I was out walking and a flock of sparrows...
I keep thinking about this: on Sunday, I was out walking and a flock of sparrows (is there a name for a flock of sparrows?) came flying right at me. There must have been at least a hundred of them and right before it seemed like they were going to mow me down, they parted and I was surrounded. All I heard was the rustle of wings. It was glorious. I felt lifted up. And then they were gone.
November 28, 2013
My mother passed away almost five years ago now.
She was a good cook, but she d...
My mother passed away almost five years ago now.
She was a good cook, but she didn’t do much cooking in the last decade of her life. All of which is to say that it has been a long time since I had her Thanksgiving stuffing.
My mother made the stuffing the same way her mother made it—cubed, stale bread cooked with butter, onion, salt and black pepper in a cast iron skillet and then introduced into the bird.
It is a simple stuffing and it is glorious in its simplicity.
I don’t cook. I am notori...
She was a good cook, but she didn’t do much cooking in the last decade of her life. All of which is to say that it has been a long time since I had her Thanksgiving stuffing.
My mother made the stuffing the same way her mother made it—cubed, stale bread cooked with butter, onion, salt and black pepper in a cast iron skillet and then introduced into the bird.
It is a simple stuffing and it is glorious in its simplicity.
I don’t cook. I am notori...
November 26, 2013
November 24, 2013:
Sunrise over Ten Mile Lake.
Fire in the fireplace.
Dog on...
November 24, 2013:
Sunrise over Ten Mile Lake.
Fire in the fireplace.
Dog on the couch.
Coffee in hand.
Friends all around.
These words are here, to remind myself:
I was there.
I am here.
I am happy.
Sunrise over Ten Mile Lake.
Fire in the fireplace.
Dog on the couch.
Coffee in hand.
Friends all around.
These words are here, to remind myself:
I was there.
I am here.
I am happy.
November 21, 2013
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
I have no idea.
But they have been following me around...
WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?
I have no idea.
But they have been following me around for twenty years now.
I found this photograph in an antique store when I first moved to Minneapolis, and I have displayed it in every apartment and house that I have lived in since.
I love and know the faces of each of these people , and each time I look at this family, I see a story.
It is there, particularly, in the eyes of the baby, in her look that manages to encompass both hope and doubt.
Someday, I will tell t...
I have no idea.
But they have been following me around for twenty years now.
I found this photograph in an antique store when I first moved to Minneapolis, and I have displayed it in every apartment and house that I have lived in since.
I love and know the faces of each of these people , and each time I look at this family, I see a story.
It is there, particularly, in the eyes of the baby, in her look that manages to encompass both hope and doubt.
Someday, I will tell t...
November 19, 2013
It was late afternoon and I was standing out in front of my house talking with m...
It was late afternoon and I was standing out in front of my house talking with my neighbor when I heard the honk-squeak of geese and looked up to see a gigantic V of them, the setting sun lighting up the white of their undersides.
“Look, look,” I said, grabbing hold of my neighbor’s arm.
I had a hundred different things in my head: things to do and things I had not done; worries and hopes, resentments and regrets.
I stood with my neighbor and looked up at the geese. I listened to their honk-s...
“Look, look,” I said, grabbing hold of my neighbor’s arm.
I had a hundred different things in my head: things to do and things I had not done; worries and hopes, resentments and regrets.
I stood with my neighbor and looked up at the geese. I listened to their honk-s...
November 14, 2013
MAGIC
A long time ago, when I first started traveling around the country and ta...
MAGIC
A long time ago, when I first started traveling around the country and talking about books, I was in Appleton, Wisconsin, and my flight was delayed and then it was cancelled and I ended up sitting in the airport for eight hours. I read my book. And then I finished my book and all the stores in the airport were closed and there were no more books to be found, so I read, over and over again, a pamphlet about Harry Houdini (Houdini lived in Appleton when he was a kid). While I read the Hou...
A long time ago, when I first started traveling around the country and talking about books, I was in Appleton, Wisconsin, and my flight was delayed and then it was cancelled and I ended up sitting in the airport for eight hours. I read my book. And then I finished my book and all the stores in the airport were closed and there were no more books to be found, so I read, over and over again, a pamphlet about Harry Houdini (Houdini lived in Appleton when he was a kid). While I read the Hou...
November 12, 2013
I was driving down the alley yesterday and I saw what looked like part of a back...
I was driving down the alley yesterday and I saw what looked like part of a backhoe. Next to the backhoe thingy was a floral-print mattress. After the floral-print mattress, I saw a small refrigerator minus its door.
“Oh,” I thought. “Tomorrow must be large trash day.”
As I pulled into my garage, I thought about how much I would like to have an emotional large trash day.
That is, I would like to pull some of the enormous broken parts of myself out in the alley for someone else to take away—r...
“Oh,” I thought. “Tomorrow must be large trash day.”
As I pulled into my garage, I thought about how much I would like to have an emotional large trash day.
That is, I would like to pull some of the enormous broken parts of myself out in the alley for someone else to take away—r...
November 7, 2013
I woke from a dream of underlining (in what book? Whose words?) the best, most...
I woke from a dream of underlining (in what book? Whose words?) the best, most cogent advice about how to write that I have ever read.
In my dream, I thought: oh, now I understand how to do it. This makes so much sense to me. I will have to tell other people.
But the underlined words were gone as soon as I was fully awake, and try as I might, I could not pull them back.
I came downstairs and poured the coffee and sat in front of the computer and thought: if only I could remember what I read...
In my dream, I thought: oh, now I understand how to do it. This makes so much sense to me. I will have to tell other people.
But the underlined words were gone as soon as I was fully awake, and try as I might, I could not pull them back.
I came downstairs and poured the coffee and sat in front of the computer and thought: if only I could remember what I read...
November 5, 2013
From class 5-308 at PS 54 in Staten Island: a fabulous bunch of letters about Th...
From class 5-308 at PS 54 in Staten Island: a fabulous bunch of letters about The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.
Each letter is illustrated with a favorite scene from the book.
The artwork shown here is by Simrun whose favorite scene is when Edward was flying “because it made me happy.”
This art makes me happy, Simrun.
These letters make me happy.
Thank you.
Each letter is illustrated with a favorite scene from the book.
The artwork shown here is by Simrun whose favorite scene is when Edward was flying “because it made me happy.”
This art makes me happy, Simrun.
These letters make me happy.
Thank you.
