January 13, 2014

Vignettes


                                                                                                                 
Tucked in bed writing on a cold winter morning.  1974, maybe,

I think of myself as an artist first and writer second.  Franklly, I’m a very poor mother and housekeeper, but I do color and an occasional word well.  Yes, I am laughing at myself. 

I was called on my writing the other night by an engineer poet who wondered what I was doing. 

“Doggerel,” I told him.  The truth is, I’ve been doing not one bit of serious writing.

Having just finished Pat Conroy’s “My Reading Life,” which isn’t just about books, I was inspired to write a short essay about something in my own life.  To keep the one topic essay reasonably short, I not only need to truncate the sentences, but I need to edit far more severely than I have so far.  Slash and burn is me today.

There are readers, like the wonderful Tabor, who always sound surprised when I mention something I did.  They ask for more. I need to learn to write well enough to provide more, or I need to provide more of these vignettes however they are written.


  • Keeping those on the east coast in my thoughts.
  • Himself:  No heat again today.  The workman is in LA.  G is dragging out space heaters to cut the chill of 59F.
  • Herself:  Domesticities.  Menus.  Writing.
  • Reading:  Back to Franklin and Winston from which I keep getting distracted.
  • Balance:  Focus.


  • 9 comments:

    1. i LOVE your drawing! Oh, Mage, put up more, please please pretty please!!

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    2. You are a woman of many talents....and I enjoy seeing them on your blog.

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    3. Your sketches are delightful, I look forward to seeing them. Sorry about the lack of heat. Getting someone to fix things can be a trial.

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    4. I agree with Tabor…does that make me special? Yes writing. You have a way of making small things wonderful.

      Mothering, Cooking, Housework…not my specialty. Dianne

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    5. It is just that all these little pieces of the puzzle that up your life are so colorful and fun. They are so varied as well. Your life with all its hiccups is still pretty exciting and exotic.

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    6. Dianne and Tabor say it so well. In addition to wonderful, colorful and fun, I must add encouraging and inspiring. And to me there is a difference in the two words.

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    7. I agree with everybody. I love seeing your artwork. I hope you'll show us more. You are so very talented.

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    8. I tune in every day for the charm of your work, be it a photo, a drawing, a painting, an interior redecorating, a deep thought, a sweet, sorry or humorous musing, a history lesson, or the daily doings of the most interesting couple I know. I tune in every day because your life story, your family and your friends are fascinating. I tune in every day because you are a person loves to learn, has learned to serve and who is wise enough to read Conroy's Reading Life...which I loved.

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    9. Lonely Rivers has just said for me why I too read you every day. Thank you for being here.

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