Kate Collins's Blog, page 236

Escaping the Storm

by Maggie Sefton


This past Sunday afternoon, I jumped into my rental car and drove away from picturesque Charlottesville, VA and headed north on scenic highways back to Dulles airport---all the while hoping I could make it before Winter Storm Virgil arrived in Virginia.  That morning's weather report said Virgil was "on the way." And after seeing what Virgil had done when it slammed into Denver, CO, I wanted to get out of town fast.  I'd seen what happened when winter snowstorms hit airports, and I definitely didn't want to get stranded again.  Not after last December's cancelled flights in Chicago with an airport filled with sick travelers---coughing, sneezing, and spreading germs and stuff all over.  Yuck!

Travel Luck was with me, and I made it to Dulles and was airborn before Virgil made it into Virginia.  However, I had to change planes in Chicago Midway, and visions of being stranded with sick people in a closed airport re-appeared, especially when I saw white spitty snow blowing sideways with the wind outside the airport windows an hour before takeoff.  Thank goodness, the Travel Luck held, and thanks to de-icing, our Southwest flight took off a little later than planned but safely.  Of course, I had a ton of snow to scrape off my car that was parked in the shuttle lot in Fort Collins when I finally got back into town much later that evening.  Brrrrrrrrr!

For
the record, Folks---The Virginia Festival of the Book was wonderful, and I highly recommend your attending if you get the chance in the future.  It's absolutely free, and the event presents scores of fiction and non-fiction authors.  And the Onmi Hotel is right on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall which is lined with shops and cafes and bookstores and theatres.  You're guaranteed to find lots of things to entertain and delight.

Rocking Out in the Red Rocks

I don't know if you can see me in the top photo, but I'm that teeny tiny figure in the middle, and teeny tiny is how I felt as I stood surrounded by all the red rock cliffs in St. George, Utah. It's far away from my home in Indiana, and as different as it can be. At home I'm near Lake Michigan, with lots of forests and trees and deer and squirrels. Here in Utah, there are lots of rocks -- rocky mountains, rocky ground, rock gardens and walls and house foundations and even siding.  It sounds boring, but it's beautiful. The rocks are mainly red, ranging from a pale, soft red to a vivid blood red, depending on how the sun hits it.  The photo does not do it justice. The photo below does a better job.

I came to give a workshop at a writers conference and while here, decided to do some sight-seeing. Now I wish I'd taken a few more days, because there is so much more I'd like to see.

In the photos I'm hiking a trail in Snow Canyon, way, way up until I was nose-bleed high - or so it seemed to this acrophobic. I went as close as I could get to the edge of an overlook, and as I gazed down into the valley below, I realized how insignificant one tiny ant of a being is in the grand scheme of things, especially considering that those red rock cliffs have been there for millions of years, while my time on earth is shorter than the blink of an eye.

By the time you read this, I will be back home, God willing, picking up the story in mystery #15 from where I left off. I always use my experiences somehow, so somewhere along the line, you may read about Abby and Marco hunting down a killer in the red rocks of Utah.

Whether that happens or not, this has been a delightful experience. Have you ever been to the red rocks or anything similar? Did you get that feeling of being insignificant?

Another Thing They Don't Tell You

by Leann

If you have children, you may have heard from friends that nothing will ever be the same. It changes your life forever. Then you tune out anything that's said afterward. Because you are obsessed. You WANT those kids. You've dreamed about them since ... well, you dreamed. Then you have them and yes, they change everything. Most of it is good. Some of it? Not so hot. You never knew you had to become a general, an accountant, a referee, a short order cook and a BANK. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Does everything change forever. Absolutely.

My kids are grown, successful and happy. I did my job and I am proud. But now, I have come across another thing the mysterious "they" don't tell you. Yes, you've saved all your life, you're looking forward to no alarm clock, to "quality time" with your spouse. You are obsessed with retiring. Now that I am in the middle of both of us being home, I am learning retirement can be wonderful one day and it can suck the next.

I am more practiced at a less-structured life than my husband. I took early retirement from my day job and have worked as a full time writer since 2005. I've been home, I had a routine. But he worked for 40 years and was a slave to that alarm clock. He was also a manager when he retired and now, left with no one to manage except ME, things have changed.

I am a person who likes "noise" all the time. I used to turn the TV on the minute I got up and mostly ignored it. My husband, on the other hand, wants silence. Oh boy. Now, I am one to respect others wishes--most of the time. But this SILENCE IS KILLING ME. I do not turn the TV on until about 3 PM. It's sort of a compromise, but though I DVR my daytime programs, I am now faced with not being able to "catch up." Ellen and The View, two of my favorite programs, are "girly shows." When he's home, I can't watch them. Ellen makes me laugh, The View makes me think. Apparently those are no-no's!

Once we break ground on our new house, he will be gone a lot and this will improve, but "no noise" is something I never anticipated. He worked in a loud chemical plant all his life. Maybe that's why. What else have I learned? Compromise is my territory, not his. Let's hope that changes in the future.

Any of you retired folks, does this sound familiar? How did you handle it?

Book Festivals

By Ellery Adams

Four cozy Chicks (Maggie Sefton, Lorraine Bartlett, Leann Sweeney, and myself) will be in attendance at the Virginia Festival of the Book today (I'll try to post some pics on Facebook tonight so you can see us in action) and I'm thrilled.

I love a book festival! There's a wonderful energy to them. Just imagine! There's a hotel teeming with authors, tables piled high with books for sale, and a variety of other vendors selling wares for book lovers. I especially love the homemade stationary booth.

This year's festival is special because I get to moderate a panel called Who Knew This Work Could Be So Dangerous? and both Lorraine and Leann are among the panelists. The other stars are E.J. Copperman, Mollie Cox Bryan, and Olivia Stowe. How much fun are we going to have?

If you've never been to Charlottesville, Virginia, I highly recommend you add it to your travel bucket list. The college town of the University of Virginia is charming and you can go on the most beautifully scenic drives through the Blue Ridge Mountains. There's a reason so many authors set their books in the Shenandoah Valley. It's really one of the most beautiful regions of our nation.

So what I'm really saying is try to make this book festival next year (here's the link) and we can meet face-to-face.

Have you ever attended a book festival?

If yes, where?

What was it like and do you think the Cozy Chicks should attend?

Treasures

Basement, continued...
by Julie

I'm deep, really deep in a manuscript right now. I'm working on the 7th White House Chef Mystery and the story has been giving me fits from the very start. There was one plot point I knew I'd have to address... and, truth be told, the one I mostly wanted to address... but I had to wrap that in with a mystery that brought it all together.

This has been a particularly tough go.

So, I'm taking a break in my day to write my post for The Cozy Chicks and I remembered that I've been telling you about our basement project.

If there's anything that helps me relax my brain after a long week of writing, it's reorganizing. Seriously. I thoroughly am enjoying this part of the journey. And since we've been at this since November, you can tell I'm enjoying it a lot! LOL

We have all sorts of sections. We have them for Barbies, comic books, housewares that don't fit in our kitchen cabinets, cleaning supplies, old pictures (I've mentioned these before), holiday decorations (separated into seasons, of course), gift wrap, stuff from my parents I can't bear to part with, old clothes that are meaningful for one reason or another, costume pieces, art supplies, craft supplies... well, you get the picture.

One of the nicest things about cleaning out as thoroughly as we're doing is finding old treasures. You know ... the things you never use anymore, the things you'll probably never need again, but are too valuable (sentimentally) to give away. One of the ones I was particularly happy to come across was this buggy.

My mom used to tell me the story of how she and her mother took me to Marshall Field's in Chicago's Loop when I was very little - I might have been two years old. It was Christmastime, back when they devoted an entire floor to toy displays and I spied this buggy immediately. I guess I walked around the entire floor pushing it while they shopped. So much so, that my grandmother insisted on buying it for me.

Now, my parents weren't well off. Not by a long shot. And my grandmother even less so. I look at this beautiful buggy (which I used for many, many loving years) and I realize that it was probably quite pricey back in the day. Wow. I know this must have been a stretch for her. Especially since I was her ninth grandchild at that point.

I'm grateful that she got to see me enjoy it for quite a few years before she died, and it makes me feel especially good that I still have it and still cherish it.

I have a few other treasures like this one. Most of the rest don't take up quite as much space, of course.

What about you? Are you still holding onto things from your childhood?

Are there any children in your life holding onto treasures you've given them?

Spring is Finally Here!

by Deb Baker/Hannah Reed


It's arrived. Finally. This has been a long, long winter. What are your plans? Gardening? Hiking? Watching the flowers grow? Birding? Let's get out there and witness this year's rebirth. Go on, put a spring in your step. Give us some evidence that spring has arrived.

Off you go, with words from a few famous authors.



In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.  ~Margaret Atwood
It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.  ~Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.  ~Mark Twain

Book Festival in Virginia

by Maggie Sefton


Tomorrow, Wednesday, I'll be flying back to Northern VA/Washington, DC area.  But this time, instead of renting a car at Dulles airport and driving to see friends and family in Northern VA or going to a conference in Washington, DC (like Malice Domestic, coming up the first week of May), I'll be renting a car and driving southwest to Charlottesville, VA, home of the University of Virginia.

I'll be participating in the Virginia Festival of the Book, held in Charlottesville from Wednesday afternoon March 20 thru Sunday afternoon March 24.  I will be on a Thriller panel on Saturday, March 23 at 2:00pm at the Omni hotel.  Fellow Cozy Chicks--Jennifer Stanley/Ellery Adams, Leann Sweeney, and Lorna Barrett/Lorraine Bartlett will also be participating at the festival and have panels that same Saturday.

So----if any of you Mystery Reader friends live in the Charlottesvilles, VA area and want to see scores of fiction and non-fiction authors, please stop by the Festival and say "hello.". It's free and open to the public.  We'd love to meet you.  :)

Giddyup!

by Kate Collins

After my last Monday's post about my forthcoming trip to meet Magic, a people friendly, roan-colored quarter horse, some of you asked that I let you know the outcome.

As I wrote last week, I've had a passion for horses since I was a youngster, a passion many of you share, as it turned out. I'd ridden several times as a teenager, got bucked off the last time and landed on my neck, and have been a little shy of the beasts ever since. Okay, a lot shy. But after Linda, a new neighbor of mine, offered to take me with her to the stable where she boards Magic, I "manned up" and jumped at the opportunity.

We drove out to the country and turned in on a long gravel drive that led to the stables and indoor arena. The stables were just like I'd seen on TV, a long aisle with boxy wooden rooms on either side, each one holding a horse. I walked down the aisle reading the names posted on each door. Savannah was a particularly friendly black Arabian who let me stroke her forehead. There were breeds of horses that I'd never heard before, such as the Hanoverians, big German horses.

Each stable had a half door, a window in the back, a packed dirt floor with straw on it, and a feed bucket hanging from the wall beside the door. Magic's stable also had hoof marks on the end wall, and as I was soon to witness, when she doesn't get enough root beer barrels, her favorite treat, she has a slight temper tantrum. So right away I was afraid of her hooves. I also learned that Magic has a fear of plastic bags and will turn tail and run if she sees or hears one. Horses, Linda told me, are like big deer - very skittish.

Linda brought Magic into the aisle and used guide lines attached to each side of the bridle to keep Magic from wandering off. Linda handed me a brush and we both began to groom the horse. At first Magic was a little tense with someone new near her, but soon the brushing lulled her and she huffed her pleasure and half-closed her eyes. Linda even groomed her long, full tail, but other than feeling the texture of the tail (like thick human hair!!) I stayed clear of the rear end. Too close to those big powerful back hooves.

Then Linda led Magic to the arena and put her through some paces. Magic has been taught "dressage", which I learned is different from Western style training. I saw another horse being ridden in the dressage manner, and it was beautiful. Very graceful movements.

And then we were done. Linda said next time she was going to get me into the saddle.

I'm sweating already.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

by Leann

You don't have to be Irish to enjoy a fun day celebrating. But I happen to have a strong Irish heritage and married a man who's named Sweeney. Yup, we've got a lot of Irish going on in this life of ours.

I recall a lot of days when we celebrated WAY too much. When we were in school in Syracuse, there is a section of the city settled by immigrants called Tipperary Hill after the county in Ireland. In college, that was our destination for a night of celebrating every St. Paddy's day. Kids in the street drinking a lot of beer is what I am talking about. A LOT.

One thing I learned when we lived there is that at the top of the hill there is street light where the green light is on top and the red light is on the bottom. Early in the Twentieth Century, Irish youths would routinely throw rocks at a British color on top of an Irish color. Finally, the city relented and in 1928, the street light at Tompkins Street and Milton Avenue was permanently changed so the green is above the red and remains that way to this day.

What about you? Will you be celebrating? Having corned beef and cabbage, or as my dad, the Irish one called it, "boiled dinner?" It will be served in the Sweeney household, that's for sure.

The New Phrase

By Heather
It’s been about a week since the time change, and in that time my family has diagnosed a new affliction. SAAS, pronounced “sass” which is very appropriate.
It stands for Spring Ahead Adjustment Syndrome.
My whole family has it.
Waking up this week has been rough, leaving us all, well, sassy. You’d think after a week’s time that we’d be adjusted, but nope. We’re all dragging ourselves out of bed. I am very grateful that this past week was Son #2’s spring break, and my daughter had a late start all week due to scheduled testing, but still. It’s been rough.
(And you just know that I’ll just be getting adjusted when it will be time to change the clocks again...)
How are you adjusting? Are you sassy? Or have you taken the switch in stride?