Monday Musings – 8 January

“Whenever an elder dies, a library burns down.” African proverb.

One of the reasons I like to write is that I have stories I want to pass on before my library burns down.  I wish my parents and grandparents had written some of their stories. Their histories are relegated to faded memories and tattered photos in cardboard boxes. Their libraries are now ashes. This was brought home to me this past weekend when I attended the memorial service for my sister-in-law’s mother, Dottie Row. She was the last surviving member of our parents’ generation. I shall miss ‘Mama Row’. I wonder what her stories were.

And so, I write—long stories (novels) and short stories (newspaper articles); fiction (made-up stuff) and nonfiction (mostly true). I write about animals, nature, and the world as I see it.  I have a collection of essays that I will publish as a book this spring. I have a novel that is being reviewed by my editor and should be ready for an agent later this year. And I have an idea for a nonfiction book on the history and evolution of the American zoo. These aren’t exactly urgent projects, but at my age, I need to keep writing. My library’s not burning yet, but I think I smell smoke.