Alison Hendrix's Blog, page 7
July 30, 2020
The Johnston County Project
I’m excited to tell you about my newest project, something that will be keeping me busy for probably the rest of the summer!!
I live in big ol’ Johnston County, North Carolina, 796 square miles of beauty and industry and strength in community. In driving around this place I call home, I’ve seen many rural and also more urban sites that spark and inspire my imagination! In the next few weeks, I will be travelling around, taking photos, making notes, and writing short stories based on these magical places. Please follow along with me on my journey to discover and re-discover the allure and inspiration of Johnston County!!
I’ve completed my first short story about a sparkling place my husband and I recently discovered. I’ve included a photo I took and a link to their website. I hope you enjoy the story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
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Part 1: Mannings
The early morning fog hugged the roof like a fuzzy gray blanket. This was Eddy’s favorite time of day: the special moments before Main Street came to life. There were one or two cars around, but most of the businesses hadn’t opened yet.
Eddy flew lazily to light on top of a string of patio lights that crisscrossed over the flat rooftop. He cocked his head to one side and peered down at the tables, chairs, and the big blue umbrellas that hadn’t been opened yet. He loved it here! This rooftop was the happiest place he knew. He’d seen people fall in love here, dance here, form friendships. He thought about what had happened here the day before.
Yesterday evening, he saw a Father and Daughter at that table over there, the one closest to the door, and they seemed awkward at first. By the end of their meal on the rooftop, though, they were laughing and chatting together, and the smile on the father’s face was warm enough to make even Eddy’s tiny heart beat happily. After that, he saw a married couple who’d finally gotten away for a date night. He watched as they scooted closer and closer during dinner, and the man told jokes that made his wife laugh, even though Eddy didn’t think they were very funny. He saw them fall in love again. Then he saw a teenage girl, dressed fancy, open the door and walk out onto the roof. A large group of friends followed her, and they walked around until they found the perfect spot for a photo. Eddy thought all the spots on this roof were picture perfect, but the group decided to sit in front of a funny statue of a waitress, built from random found objects like car parts. Eddy landed on this statue often and it made him laugh. The group took their photo, the father and daughter finished and left, and the married couple on date night lingered until the patio lights glowed.
The waiter last night was Toby, a young man with dark curling hair and a clean black apron. He wore a gold watch that was a special present from his dad. Eddy had heard him telling someone about it once. Toby greeted everyone with kindness, and he worked hard. He moved from table to table, refilling sweet teas and checking to be sure the food was perfect. It always was.
How Eddy wanted to try a bite of that pink salmon or snack on a crab cake! Once in a while, after all the diners had gone, Eddy would swoop down and have a quick taste before Toby or the other waitresses could clear it all. It was such yummy food! But Eddy was very polite and only did this once everyone was gone. Until then, he enjoyed observing the people. Last night was no exception. He was happily watching from his bird’s eye view, and it’s a good thing he was watching so closely!
Toby had been working especially hard that day. It was summer time and the sunshine was bright and hot on the rooftop. Eddy watched Toby squinting into the light as he conversed with customers, and watched sweat form on his brow as he rushed back and forth from the tables to the kitchen.
He was waiting on a large group of people, a group of family and friends with several young children who kept him running, when the clasp on his gold watch popped loose. Toby was so intent on taking orders and helping his customers, that he didn’t notice, but Eddy did. As Toby spun around a toddler and squeezed between two chairs, dodged a table, and rushed to the kitchen to put an order in, his watch slipped right off his arm and skidded to the rail that lined the rooftop. It clinked on an upright post, and fell right off the side!
Eddy flew down, quick as lightning, all the way to the ground. He looked everywhere, but he couldn’t find the watch. Where could it have gone? He flew back up to the roof and scanned it, but he didn’t see it there, either. Toby came through the door just then with a worried look on his face. He was looking around frantically, and Eddy knew he had realized the watch was missing. Toby was so busy with customers, though, he didn’t have time to search. It was busy until closing, and when the married couple finally left, arm in arm, Toby dove under the tables searching everywhere.
Eddy gave up the fries that he had planned to snatch from a plate, and flew to the rail where he’d seen the watch fall. He pecked around the upright post and something glittering caught his eye.
The watch! It had somehow slipped into a tiny crack just behind the post. He pecked at it and barely nudged the sparkling band. He pushed his beak in as far as it could go and shoved. The watch came loose and Eddy snatched it up before it could fall.
He proudly flew over to where Toby was looking behind some stacked chairs. Eddy dropped the watch carefully and it made a tiny “clink.” Toby looked up and screeched happily!
“Hah!” he saw Eddy standing there next to the watch, and he said, “Did you find this for me, bird? Thank you!!! This watch means so much to me! Here you go!”
Toby grabbed the plate of leftover French fries and set it in front of Eddy. Eddy very happily ate his fill, feeling like a tiny hero.
This rooftop was indeed the happiest place Eddie knew!
The End
July 18, 2020
The Goldfish and the Bell
Thank you for visiting my blog! I’m excited this morning to try something new with my short stories. If you haven’t been following my short stories for kids at home due to the Covid shutdowns, check them out on my podcast: https://anchor.fm/alison-hendrix2/episodes/Rain-Deer-efhrhc
Today, I used a beautiful song by the incredibly talented Adam Foote, he goes by Ethereal in E, and he plays handpan. Check out his Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Ethereal.in.E This is peaceful, soulful, simply beautiful music. This morning, I listened to this song, and then wrote a quick short story. Please listen to his song here:
Now that you’ve listened to this lovely piece of music, I hope you will enjoy this super short story I wrote. You can hear the bell at 1:50!
The Goldfish and the Bell
A brilliantly colored goldfish raced along a sparkling stream, his golden scales glittering as he rushed gleefully above rounded pebbles and brush on the bottom of the streambed. He loved this time of day; golden morning sun poured across a meadow, filling his rushing stream with glittering light. He loved swimming along as fast as he could every golden morning, a smile on his face, and a friendly, though fast, good morning greeting for his friends.
Today he rushed along, as every day, gliding in and out, in and out. But, he suddenly slowed, tilting his head. “What was that?” he wondered, then slowed his swimming even more and listened intently. The sweet sound of a bell ringing could be barely heard above the happy chirp of the creek and the bubbles whooshing past. He wriggled close to the surface and hid behind some leaves that had become wedged against a rock.
He could hear the bell clearly now, what a lovely sound! He listened to it play for a while, melodically, rhythmically, as if to match the tempo of the stream. He didn’t know how long he’d been there, enchanted by the smooth new tones, when he just couldn’t help himself. He had to swim around the leaves that hid him and see that lovely bell.
He swam from his hiding place and his fishy eyes opened wide in surprise. A beautiful young maiden with hair as red as a spring tulip was sitting on the grass beside the stream. She was wearing a pale blue, flowing dress that shimmered in the morning sun. In her hands, she held a tiny silver bell. She was striking it softly with a tiny mallet. It looked like a stick with a red rubber ball on the end, but the goldfish thought it must be a magic wand, as it made that tiny bell give such a lovely musical tone!
The maiden noticed the sparkling goldfish watching her from the stream. It startled her to see him there, so much that she dropped that lovely little bell right into the stream! It rushed away, carried by the waters, tinking here and there on a stone or stick.
Without hesitation, the goldfish took off after it, dipping and swirling and gliding to catch up. The bell was hurried along by the waters, who seemed to want to make it a game for the goldfish, then tucked the bell away into a small eddy pool just as the goldfish was catching up. He swam right past it in his haste, but he heard the bell clinking a bit against a few stones that lined the pool. He rushed back and was relieved to find it there, safe and sound.
He grabbed the silver treasure in his mouth and swam back up the stream to where the maiden still sat. He lifted his head, and the bell, above the water, and the pretty girl reached out and took it, a smile on her face.
She said, “Lovely goldfish, thank you for returning this to me! It was a precious gift from my father, the King, and I should have been so very sad to lose it!” She hugged the bell to her freckled face and asked, “Would you like to come live with me, in my palace? You will be well cared for there! I will give you the largest crystal bowl we have to live in, and I’ll feed you myself three times a day! Oh the fun we’ll have!”
The goldfish shook his head. He replied, “Dear lady, I thank you for your kind offer, but there is no place like this stream of mine, where I can rush along feeling the bubbles go past, and where the sunlight makes everything golden in the mornings, golden like I am.”
The maiden said, “Of course. But you and I shall be friends forever!”
And she was true to her word. Nearly every morning, the red-haired princess would come to the stream, and the goldfish would swim to see her and hear her play the silver bell, softly, softly, softly, until it was time for her to go.
The End.
July 6, 2020
I love it here
I told Bruce that this is one of those mornings, where, had we been in Edenton, the air would smell strongly of peanuts, and maybe dirt. The cool of the evening and the dawn hovers over the hot ground of the day before in calm mists that dance in the wakening sunlight. I love it here. I love the mornings most, I think, although every hour of every day has a kind of magic out here. It’s lovely when it rains, storms, or shines. We can watch as a crop is planted, grows, and is harvested across the street; we watch the horses come and go, but mostly loiter, behind the growing crop; we watch a neighbor haul in interesting old cars, some with very loud engines that rev, and sometimes we see him test drive them after hours, days, weeks of work. Another neighbor loves the Lord and makes a point of showing kindness to us. He brings us sweet potatoes every Fall, and last year, when we replaced our roof ourselves, he came over everyday and climbed up on the roof to help. Another neighbor has lived an enchanting life of racing cars and growing trees up North. He’s been here for many years, though, so we call him a transplant. He loves to talk about racing and fishing and growing things, and he is very kind. He once tried to help me break into my house when my then-two-year-old locked me outside one day. He was also there for us when my husband shot a nail through his thumb and we rushed to the hospital, our neighbor put all our machines/tools away into our shed while we were gone. Still another neighbor has become even more friendly recently, since we’ve gotten a swimming pool. She popped over and gave us two swim toys for our little girl, and arranged to have all the excess dirt removed after we had some yard work done. We are more than blessed here in this lovely place. It’s magical here. Like the mornings, like a small southern town, like warm and cheerful summer, like home.
July 2, 2020
Discovering Anxiety
I’ve been trying to write a blog post about this for the past few days. I never knew what was wrong, and when I ever dared mention it, people would tell me, “Everyone gets nervous,” and so I just grew up knowing that I was somehow intrinsically less worthy than everyone else. If everyone feels this way, than why can they cope and have normal lives? In college I lost a lot of weight because it was easier for me to stay hungry than face the cafeteria. I only ate when I had money to buy food outside of the cafeteria meal plan. That’s messed up right? I didn’t know what this was until recent years, until I started seeing memes people would post that felt like me. Once I found out what it was, it was, not a relief exactly, but an “I knew it” moment. I used to daydream that someday a Dr would tell me that I’d been suffering from some sort of disease my whole life and that he/she was impressed that I’d accomplished as much as I have (which is next to nothing, really), and that I could feel a kind of peace about why I have such a horrible time around people. Ha. This moment actually sort of happened, but it did not being peace. Sort of the opposite. It let me know what was wrong, yes, but now I wanted to share this with my loved ones, with my friends (all two of them). I couldn’t. When I tried, they let me know that they don’t believe in such a thing, that I just needed to handle my emotions better, grow up. The ones who acknowledged it did not listen, they’d cut me off spouting stories of their own. I learned to be silent in my suffering again, taking solace in memes and in the fact that this was not my fault. I stopped fighting it bc I discovered it’s what it is. And then I tanked. I had the weight of many things on my plate and had to quit them all. There were days I could not function and could not stop crying. My thoughts went places I never dreamed they would. I thought my husband and child would be better off with someone else who could take care of our family, someone who wanted to hang out with all his friends, someone who wanted to have Mom friends, someone who could be involved in every church activity. I could imagine my family happier if they weren’t weighed down by me. Those thoughts scared me. I think that’s what started my turn around. I decided it was up to me to deal with the information, deal with the diagnosis, do something. I want to give up every single day. But I am soley responsible for the well being of my kid, and she is too magical for me to stop. I fail on the regular, but I am fighting to strengthen my faith, to cling to the promises of Jesus, because those are what always got me through before. They will get me through the rest of this life, though many days I wonder how. I know they will.
June 24, 2020
Life’s greatest blessing
Maybe there is another occupation as emotionally out of control as SAHM, but I can’t imagine what it would be. I’m tired. I want a vacation. Sometimes I want to quit. More often than not, I feel like I can’t do it, like I’m failing. The loneliness is the kind that leaves you devastatingly alone, though you never are alone, are you, because you have zero privacy. I’m overwhelmed today, because of the never-ending-ness of it all and because of my resentment for my poor husband, who, though he works 12 hours a day swapping from days to nights, still seems, in my eyes, to have days off, to have hours to sit and watch any show he wants while I have to continue to care for entertain, and teach my child. I literally don’t get breaks or weekends days off or nights off. Some days I just want to cry. And let’s not forget, no, we can never forget the crippling agonizing heavy weight of guilt. I feel guilty for not taking her to more playdates, guilty for not having her in church more, guilty for letting her watch two hours of TV strait, guilty for still not being able to cook, guilty for having a dirty house, guilty for not having the energy or desire to sleep with my husband, guilty for not keeping in contact with friends and family, ohhhhh the list goes on and on until your thoughts go places you don’t dare talk about. Then, as you’re washing dishes or doing laundry or sneeking to the sink for a quick glass of water, you look over and see your kid dancing. That’s all. Nothing earthshaking, but it changes your day. It touches your soul in a way you can’t explain. Something about that adorable, sunshiny innocence makes you check your desire for one moment of time for yourself, once again, and you dive back in. Her magical smile makes you swallow and forget yourself again for a few more days. Somewhere, somehow, an energy forms within. Not an energy, really, more of a will. Guilt hits again, because you’ve been frustrated all morning, but this time it’s mixed with sunshine. You take her hand and dance with her, you hug her close. You once again start planning activities, something that you were unable to do 5 minutes ago. You realize there’s nothing in this world you want more than to be there with her for the rest of her life, but knowing it won’t be that long, only a few short years more. That thought lingers long enough to pull you through her tantrums and spitting when you tell her to put on shoes and brush her teeth. You move through the day in a kind of fog of love and exhaustion and you know the deepest, purest, sweetest blessing that there is in this life. And you think, “I want another one.”
June 17, 2020
Rain Deer
Rain Deer
[image error] Photo by VisionPic .net on Pexels.com
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Candace laughed at the lightning and roared at the thunder, her blue eyes dancing as she dashed beneath the overhang to escape the latest downpour Soaking wet, she didn’t mind, it was the middle of June after all, and she was at her favorite place in the world: her grandparents’ cabin. Every summer, she came here with her Mommy to find a little adventure.
Today she’d decided to explore the creek that ran in front of the cabin, and she did. She splashed and played for a while, and found a really lovely red rock underneath an ugly old gray one. She pocketed it and glanced up, her eyes following the creek up through the field by the neighbor’s house, and disappearing round a bend. She decided to explore that, too, and began heading that way just as the huge storm hit.
She stood now, beneath the extra bit of tin roof that Papa had let extend beyond the cabins’ front porch, creating a bit of shelter. It overlooked the bit of creek she was intending to explore.
A movement caught her eye. What was that? Something picked its way out into the rocks in the middle of the creek across the field. At first, Candace though it was a gray doggy, but the head was shaped like, she couldn’t tell at first, but yes, it looked a bit like a moose! The thing had long legs, and was moving around out there in the storm. She watched it and saw, to her great surprise, that it opened its mouth and a rainbow formed. The lovely bright colors went up and up all the way to the gray clouds above! How was this possible?
Candace ran, she had to get a closer look at the magical creature! The rain pelted her face and soaked her clothes, but she was only vaguely aware of it. Her eyes remained steady on the creature and the lovely rainbow pouring from it.
When she got close to the creek bank, the thing snapped its mouth closed and looked at her. Candace held out her hand to it, like you would to see if a doggy will let you pet it, and said, “Hi there, rainbow moose thingy. My name is Candace. I think you’re amazing!”
The gray animal nodded its head, as if it understood her, and nuzzled her hand. Then, quick as lightning, it shot up the creek, jumping from rock to rock and sending up spray. It was gone in an instant and Candace could never run quickly enough to catch it.
Her Mommy called from the screen door, “Candace, come in from that rain!” and she did. She ran immediately to her drawing supplies and drew the creature she’d seen, then blurted out her story to her Grandparents and Mommy.
Her Papa said, “Oh yes, I’ve heard of those things, Mr. Wayne said he saw one years and years ago, but I thought maybe he was just teasing.” Mr. Wayne was an old man with flowing white hair, and was their neighbor across the creek from their cabin.
“What is it, Papa?” asked Candace.
“Well,” answered Papa, “I believe Wayne called it a rain-deer.”
“Like Santa Clause’s reindeer?! Wow!”
Papa laughed and said, “Maybe. But these rain deer only come out in the rain and they hang around the creek. Another funny thing, they only come out in the spring, summer, and fall. They are never seen the whole month of December.
Candace found all this very strange and she stayed up late that night thinking about it. The next day, she saw neighbor Wayne walking in his yard. Staring at him, she thought he really did look a lot like Santa Clause.
Suddenly, her eyes widened and she just knew it! She knew he must be Santa Clause and the reindeer was one of his and that’s why you never see them in December. They would be at the North Pole, wouldn’t they?!
Just as she thought these things, Mr. Wayne turned and winked at her, as if he knew what she was thinking. Her Grandparents’ cabin was ever after even more full of magic and adventure for her.
The End
June 12, 2020
An event
We went to the beach yesterday. The first thing we noticed were the crashing waves, they were quite raucous, like the ocean was angry. No sooner had we walked upon the sand and found our spot, had only just begun spreading down towel and chairs, than I heard the whistle of the lifeguard. I’d noticed the tower as we walked up, there in front of the public access. I glanced toward him and saw him skip down the ladder, walking at first, then sprinting. He ran into the waves, then dove into them. We looked beyond him to a boy, who looked to be between 10-15, it was hard to tell from the shore, who was too far out into the crazily tearing waves. Another person was trying to pull the boy in, but couldn’t, the waves were too strong.
The lifeguard quickly, calmly, grabbed him, then I watched, terrified, as he struggled against that strong force of nature. He and the kid went under, then came up, again and again, moving parallel to the beach like they tell you to. I found it surreal that hundreds of people were just watching, no one tried to help. I wanted to and said as much, but knew that if I tried, there’d be one more person for him to have to save. After a few minutes, we saw him stand, carrying the boy. He brought him all the way to the shore, then stood there talking with the Mother. Why weren’t people clapping and cheering? Why were there no cell phones recording this sacrificial act that saved a life? Why in God’s name was the Mother standing there talking to the lifeguard easy as can be as if they were discussing the weather?
My husband asked me if I was ok. I wasn’t. I don’t know why this affected me so deeply, but it did, it shook me. That could’ve been my child. Or my husband, my God, what would I have done, then? I glanced around. No one pulled their child away from the water, no one’s eyes stung with tears as mine did, no eyes followed the lifeguard back to his stand. Why? Hadn’t everyone just seen what I saw? This young man didn’t know that boy who had wondered too far, didn’t know his mother. He knew there was a terrible pulling current in the waves, and that there could be sharks, but he did not hesitate. Not even a little. He dove in. He risked his life. He was given no praise, no cheers, not even the gratification of a mother’s thankful tears. But he did it. He did his job.
I can’t tell you how this affected me. A few moments later, the red flags were put up, no more swimming. I sat and held my little one close in the sand, so that the tips of the waves would wash our feet. I thanked God for those who do their job with no thanks, no recognition, at great risk to their personal safety. What a monumental, amazing, thing happened on that beach yesterday, and yet, the fact that Michael Jordan was in the local fishing tournament was much bigger news. How sad is our media-manipulated world.
June 9, 2020
Pastor Rising Part 5
Pastor Rising
Part 5
Tuck kneeled on the floor by his bunk, praying fervently. It was just after 3 am and he felt burdened. His friend Will, he heard, had made it to the hospital and was in critical condition, and meanwhile Tuck was being closely watched by the guards after what they’d found in his things. There was a blackness, a weight, surrounding him the past few weeks. This weighed heavily on his mind and pulled him from a restless sleep.
As he prayed, he thought of the Bible study he’d been leading in the Rec Room every Monday evening, thought about how lives were changing. Especially in a place like this, men were starving for peace, ravenous for something that could bring them comfort and meaning. Tuck understood that desperation, and patiently spoke with them all. He had lead up to 50 men, maybe more, into a relationship with Jesus, and not the kind you see on t.v. No, this wasn’t a feel-good crutch to get them through their days, although it did help. It was a gritty, rugged, and wholesome faith that turned hardened hearts into helping hands. The transformations were truly a blessing to Tuck. This Bible study of his had grown occasionally and got smaller again, as the men served their sentences and left. For the past several weeks, there were usually 5-10 guys there.
Will had been in that group, and a few others. The guards, Domonique and Michael, would occasionally join them, too, and recently, there were two newer inmates who’d begun coming around. One was tall and muscular with dark hair, the other was medium build with light brown hair. Their names were Mason and Jinx. Tuck felt something dark about them, though that feeling wasn’t unusual in here. Whenever they came around, he felt his senses sharpen, as if he were suddenly in fight or flight mode.
Yesterday was Monday, and as always, Tuck had opened the Bible study with prayer. There were some heartfelt prayer requests, those men were dealing with deep pain, and the Pastor thought he should lighten the mood. He suggested, “Alright, before we dive back into Galatians, I was wondering if you all think we should name our Bible study group? We could be ‘Men of God,’ or ‘Jailbirds for Jesus,’” This one earned a snort or two and he smiled. He said, “Or we could use an acronym of all our names or something. What do you guys think?”
A few suggestions were offered, but it seemed like they actually were going to settle on Jailbirds for Jesus, and call themselves “The J’s.” This made Tuck laugh and the others were all starting to cheer up, too.
But then, Jinx, the new inmate with light brown hair, said, “We could call ourselves The Light Group.”
He said this quietly, but Tuck’s blood turned to ice. This had been the name of the small group he and Cindy had gone to see in the woods on that terrible night. He jumped to his feet, his Bible falling loudly to the floor, his folding metal chair shrieking backward. He took a step toward Jinx, who rose slowly to his feet.
“What. Did. You. Just. Say?” The Pastor spoke through clenched teeth. Jinx eyed him up and down and that creeping dark feeling prickled down Tuck’s spine.
After a moment where Jinx seemed to weigh his options, he just said, “I ain’t say nothin’,” and he shuffled back to his seat, a crooked sort of almost-smile on his face. Tuck glared at him, he needed to know why Jinx had said that, but Dominique had already stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder, “Everything ok, Tuck?”
Tuck blinked and picked his Bible up off the floor. Then, without a word, he went to his cell.
He had remained there for the rest of the evening, and now was up early, praying for strength, wisdom, and answers. How had Jinx known about the Light Group? That could be no coincidence, and who had hidden that stuff in his things? Why did they do it, and why make Cando think it was Will? That’s assuming that whoever had whispered at his door the other night was telling the truth. And who was the whisperer? So. Many. Questions.
As he prayed this morning, Jason Hart came into his thoughts. For some reason, Tuck felt that he should contact him and have him come visit again. Was this the leading of the Holy Spirit, or was he desperate for an ally of some sort? Either way, he resolved to do it, and, when he’d finished praying, he got up and wrote a quick note. He felt better, then, and lay back down for a few more hours sleep.
June 7, 2020
I’m in the Sunday Spotlight!!
[image error]My sweet friend, Jen Lowry, is an amazing writer and blessed me by featuring me and my new book on her blog! Give it a quick read, and while you’re there, check out some of her work. If you’re a fan of children’s spooky (not too spooky) stories, and fantasy, you’ll love her work! https://jenlowrywrites.wordpress.com/2020/06/07/sunday-spotlight-author-and-podcast-host-alison-hendrix/[image error]
June 2, 2020
New Book Release!!
[image error]I am absolutely THRILLED to share my new picture book, Lenny the Last Lightning Bug!! This is a project that I have dearly loved working on and am over the moon now that it is available on Amazon!!! Inspired entirely by my daughter and by my love of lightning bugs, my hope is that this story can bring some light into this dark world.
