Good times were had at Studio 621.
Private Moment
My friend, Tamara, having a private, creative moment at our pumpkin carving party.
My Own Back Yard
Coffee on my back porch
Writer's Block. That's something that is written about, presumably by people who can't think of anything else to write. But, it's a real thing. I'm certain that there are ways to overcome it – to write through it, or take a vacation. How effective are these things? I suppose it depends on the reason for the block on the first place.
Under the instruction of the oh-so-inspiring Kristen Lamb, I am writing in my blog more frequently. Some days I post simply a picture, but I try to keep something new going on every few days. I don't want days of pictures in a row, though, so I do want to write something worth reading at least once a week. Back when I viewed my blog as simply a place to express myself and to practice writing I could go for weeks, months or even a year without posting anything. The plus side to that was that I only posted when something moved me to write, so there is more substance in what I've written there. Now that I'm trying to write more often, I sometimes get stuck. I can't think of anything interesting or moving, or I simply don't feel like writing. (This is not very different than my simply not wanting to go into work.)
I watched an interview with Stevie Nicks once and she was talking about writer's block and her writing style. When she wrote a song, she said, she wanted to capture the emotion of a moment in her music, even if it was something as small as the look in a little girl's eye. She said that she didn't want to try to force writing, that if she didn't have that inspiration she'd rather not write at all, even if it meant ten years without creating a new song. But then, after ten years she might remember that little girl's look and it might inspire a song.
This has kind of been my approach to writing. The biggest difference is that Stevie Nicks is a hugely successful, internationally known superstar who's written God-only-knows how many songs that she and other people have sung. I've written a few blog posts. Looking at this comparison, I'm beginning to think that there might be something else I could do. I don't know exactly what would push me over the edge of success. I could keep at it the way I'm doing, but historically that has not brought me monetary reward.
One thing I could do, though, would be to get out more. I could go out into the world and see more things and then I'd have more to write about. Aside from occasional writer's block I also struggle with my weight, so this could be beneficial in more than one way. I would be walking around my town; through its streets and parks. I would not be sitting down as much and I'd be burning more calories than I consumed. On top of that, I'd have more to fodder for stories and essays.
One of my favorite contemporary writers is Tom Cox, who lives in southern England. He writes in his blog, and his books seem to be compilations of those blog posts, with a little extra for your trouble. He goes for long walks through the English countryside and wilderness, and a lot of what he writes about is that. He has the advantage of the historic English countryside with its stone walls, its castles and old houses that were around before a European ever set foot on this part of Texas. But, that's not to say that I can't get out and see what's around me. I can get to know the history of my town. I can walk the highways and roads through Lund and Kimbro and try to see where these towns were, back when the Swedish people settled them. (New Sweden is another town lost in that area.) As far as I can tell they are now just signs on a signpost, and a modern one at that – not the really cool fingerpost that Americans are convinced direct travelers through the small lanes leading from one English village to another.
I'm not sure why this table is planted (literally) in the back yard, but the tile that we put on it has become weathered in a very nice way.
With that in mind I was taking pictures in my back yard the other day. It's amazing what you can see if you look around you, particularly in an old house like this, on a couple of acres. Other people's ideas and projects sitting forgotten, falling apart. Flora that want to retake the land and require constant attention to keep it in check. Animals and evidence of them are everywhere. Textures, colors... an album full of photographs without having to walk off of my property. Stories of snakes in the woodpile and rodent skeletons. Perhaps our little house is more interesting than a lot of others in our neighborhood, but there are still things to see if I walk around. I believe that will be my focus.
Until later, I leave you with this.
One of the stray cats that lives in our back yard has a toy mouse. After a recent rain I found him under an esperanza plant, looking very much like a Velveteen Mouse.
Baubles in the Sun
Just got back from out of town. I was going to write, but this day has escaped me and I have no idea what I've done with it. So, in the meantime I'll leave you this picture that I took.
Lisa & Cecil McKenzie glasswork
Haunted New Orleans
A few years ago I finally went to New Orleans. I had wanted to go for so long, and I don't know that there was a reason per se why I hadn't; I simply hadn't taken that step. But, I finally made the arrangements. We stayed in a mansion converted into a bed & breakfast. We drove in, parked the car and didn't use it again until we drove away.
One of the things that I had on my list of things to do (about the only thing) was the tour of the Garden District. The highlight of that tour was the cemetery. It is fascinating how they bury above the ground, and how they manage to get generations of families into the same tomb. The history of the city seems to be epitomized here – with the white marble, the weathered iron gate, the various stages of decomposure of the tombs themselves. Some had been renovated; some replaced and some were little more than piles of rubble. But, the names remain, the stories remain - those of the people and the city they inhabited. Somebody really had to think outside of the box to figure out a way to keep their dead from floating away in the inevitable flooding. They went against centuries of traditional European burials and created a way to keep their citizens safe from the diseases that could be brought about by corpses floating haphazardly through the streets. But, was it only that?
As we walked through the French Quarter we noticed that places for rent or sale all indicated –on the real estate signs – whether or not the building was haunted. I suppose that in New Orleans some people might insist on a genuine haunting before shelling over money for rent, just to get the full experience. I read that basically every hotel in the city has either claimed to be haunted or has had the claim made for it. I have to wonder if, aside from keeping the dead buried, the tombs were an attempt to keep the spirits and spectres in the graveyard and away from the residents. Looking through some of my pictures from that trip I think I discovered why so much of the city is haunted.
Rows of tombs, with centuries of names written in marble.
They can't keep nature from encroaching on their structures, especially in such a tropical place as New Orleans, La
The weathered tombs were what I really came to New Orleans to see.
I'm beginning to see why there are so many ghosts in this very old city.
Is it really any surprise, after all?
They've basically left the door open for the spirits to come be with them in the streets.
It's too late to undo the damage done by allowing the their tombs to fall into disrepair. They may be able to make the city and its cemeteries more presentable with a concerted effort to fix them, but centuries of ghosts are already loose – wreaking havoc or simply reveling with the visitors. The ghosts are as much, or more, a part of New Orleans as the current residents, and they add a texture of their own to the spirit of the city, much like the architecture adds to the landscape. It's best to accept them, to incorporate them into the lore and the way of life.
There are many other places I want to visit, but I need to visit New Orleans again. I need to see the old buildings, drink the coffee, eat the food. Mostly, I need to go be with the tombs. I need to see the crumbling bricks and weather-stained marble. I need to sit with the spirits and listen to their stories. It's a world so different than my own. One trip wasn't nearly enough. There's so much left to learn.