Walking yesterday, up near Frazier's sugar shack here in Vermont, I heard an animal rustle in the underbrush edging the woods by the gravel road. Though I stood stock-still and watched, I couldn't see what it was. Too large for a chipmunk or a squirrel, smaller by far than a deer, I was left only with the sudden sound of… Read More
the deer’s ears: Mose, me, misery & moments
Today, coming down to the hill towards the pond, beginning my morning walk, two animals — one large, one small — standing in the middle of the gravel road. I caught my breath, stood stock-still, blinked and waited, blinking a few times to clear my not-so-good vision so I could identify them. Ah. A white-tailed deer, and – what was… Read More
Part Two, at last! “the rare hare of hope” bounds back in: with guest appearances by Letterman, Aunt Dot, Chou-Chou, Joseph Campbell, Konrad Stanislavski & Sir Francis
I began writing these words on Easter Sunday, as Christians celebrated the triumphant arc of their spiritual year, when Christ rises from death. But resurrection itself belongs to everyone, regardless of belief, or non-belief. Here in much of America, Easter-time coincides with the year's resurrection. The alarm clock set by the spin and wobble of this particular planet on which… Read More
build your writing practice
Crescent’s new one-day workshop What’s a writing practice? Practice makes practice. No calling or enterprise worthy of the name is ever perfected or learned just once.“A writing practice” means that you make writing a regular part of your life. That simple; that complex. Whether you are just beginning to write or undertaking your first (or fifteenth) novel, whether you write… Read More
Redecoration, Part One: Aunt Dot contemplates the living room of the future
"I suppose you'll live here one day?" Aunt Dot said. A statement; a question. She gave a quick, birdlike glance at me, then looked away. Waiting, I naturally assumed, for an answer. But how could I answer when I wasn't sure what the question was? She was sitting, that night, on the wooden chair with the woven seat, near the… Read More
CALENDAR
JANUARY, 2012 Saturday, January 14: 1 p.m. – 5:00 p.m./ Westminster West, Vermont Ongoing Works-in-Progress group, at Crescent’s home. Email cdragonwagon@gmail.com, with “2nd Saturday” in subject line, for more information. SECOND WEEK OF JANUARY: Publication of Bean by Bean, Crescent’s first new cookbook in three years. “I dare you to browse… Read More
“Is that your real name?”
“Many people do dumb things in their teenage years, but most have the sense not to cast them in concrete, which they then have to drag around for the rest of their lives… “At sixteen, I got married for the first time. My then-husband-to-be and I thought that the woman should not take the man’s last name, so we decided… Read More
