Old Town - Albuquerque, New Mexico III

Here is the final edition in my Old Town photography series. I hope this inspired you to write or creat some art of your own. For other creative blog posts, hop by The Weekend Creation Blog Hop.



Night Thinking

Night Thinking

by Nora B. Peevy

Up there in the Appalachian Mountains you see things are they truly are. Once you leave the mountain people the memory of their stories slowly vanishes as summer turns to fall and fall to winter. Blank spots develop like air bubbles on a photo negative, and unless you struggle every day to remember these people and their stories they will pass by you like fog on a fall night. I am as susceptible to this virus of forgetfulness as the others that traveled with me up the narrow and winding mountain roads. Remembering is not a conscious act, but an unconscious act like our breathing. We know that we must breathe to live, but we don't concentrate on it physically. Our bodies inhale and exhale sending oxygen through our blood vessels to our heart simultaneously while our mind wanders to mundane thoughts of the dry-cleaning we need to send out on Wednesday and the appointment we need to keep on Friday with the dentist. Sometimes I find myself trying hard in quiet moments, when I cannot sleep and the ticking of the grandfather clock in the room beside me invites thoughts of my childhood, to remember the mountain people's stories, how someday Ted's mountains across the way would be given to his little boy and then someday to his little boy's child and so on, so that the mountains would always be in his family's blood. And someday he would be buried on the smallest mountain far over to the left, he said. His father and his father's father were all buried in the small family graveyard marked with white wooden crosses. I looked at where Ted pointed across the horizon to the misty mountains purple in the afternoon sunlight, and I remember saying to myself, Nora, you must remember the mountain people and their homeland, the way the mountains cradle you in their bosom, the way they rise like giant humpback whales in the morning sunlight swirled in oceans of mist, and when you walk to the edge of the holler in the afternoon you can look down on the city spread out before you like tiny dollhouses.


I wrote this poem as part of my portfolio for entrance into the Creative Writing Masters program at UWM-Milwaukee in the late 90s. As I mentioned before in another post, I originally intended to focus on poetry, but found I loved fiction writing more.

Throughout high school and college, I volunteered with a group called The Appalachian Service Project. I traveled to Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky to repair homes for people in the mountains. It is one of the greatest experiences of my life and I learned so much about the culture of the Appalachian people and about myself. Those experiences made me the person I am today and I'd like to thank the people of the Appalachian Mountains and the other volunteers for giving me such a wonderful opportunity and teaching me so much. I am forever humbled by the experience.

While The Appalachian Service Project is a mission funded by the Methodist Church, the group  accepted my nonreligious friends and me as we were. I had the privilege of serving both as a youth volunteer and then as a youth leader.

If you enjoyed this entry, you might like to check out some other bloggers participating in The Weekend Creation Blog Hop, a hop supporting all forms of creativity.

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!

Every Writer Needs a Cat

Any good writer knows they need a cat to complete their air of mystery. Why do they need a cat? Well, it's simple really.

1) Cats are nocturnal a good part of the time and you may find yourself working into the dark hours. They make great companions.

2) Cats also aren't afraid to give you the criticism you need. They have been known to walk across your keyboard, erasing your sentences and thereby saving you great embarrassment amongst your peers. This also prompts you to save your document repeatedly, to avoid such pitfalls and computer crashes.

3) They also remind us not to take ourselves too seriously, which is a blessing when it comes to writer's block. Often, the best ideas seem the most ridiculous when you first think about them. Take cheese in a can, for instance. I'm not a fan, but a lot of Americans are. I'm sure the inventor of cheese in a can had a cat. Only a cat would not laugh at that idea.

4) Cats are very good at appearing to be busy, when really they're not. This is something we writers can mimic to get out of annoying social calls you wish to avoid or housework. If you look busy, you're family might leave you alone. Thus, giving you time to solve that pesky plot problem before you go to bed; then you'll be sure to get some sleep.

5) Cats also really don't care what you think about them. If you like them that's fine and if you don't, that's okay too. A writer can learn a lot from a cat's approach to publicity. Not everyone will like you or your work, but that's okay. Just act like you don't care and are quite busy, when bad press comes calling.

6) Above all things, cats are very independent, something you as a writer will need to be too. There will be many days you will spend by yourself, holed up with a cup of tea at your computer screen away from humanity. And there will be many days you will have to make bold decisions by yourself like what markets to submit to or which dress your beautiful young murderous will wear when she runs over her husband in your latest novel.

 7) Most importantly, cats know when it is time to take a well-deserved catnap. Something all writers should learn. It's good to take a break now and then. Good stories need to marinate too.

8) If you own a cat, you're in good company. The Bronte sisters, Emily, Charlotte, and Anne, all loved cats. Charles Dickens owned a cat called "Master's Cat" that kept him company while he wrote in his study. Alexandre Dumas, the author of The Man in the Iron Mask and other classics, owned a cat named "Mysouff". Even good ole H.G. Wells owned a cat named "Mr. Peter Wells", who was known for keeping his visitors's appointments short.

9) Cats also don't mind a little clutter on your desk. They blend right in, in fact. They're not very picky about housecleaning, so you won't need to worry about having a spotless place for them to plop while you write away.

10) Cats also find lots of ways to entertain themselves. Never fret, fearless writer! If you are busy finishing Chapter Eleven, they can definitely find something to amuse themselves with like unraveling the toilet paper roll or raiding the garbage for a new toy.

11) And finally, cats are very good groomers. Well, usually. Sometimes they need a little help, but only if they got into something they shouldn't. You will not need to waste time very often giving them a bath like their nemesis, the dog.  You'll have more time to write!

Note: All of the cats featured in this essay are my own furry friends. In order of appearance in the first three photographs are Houdini, Toshio, and Tiggyr. You can read more about their stories and the rest of my zoo here:

http://norabpeevy.blogspot.com/2011/07/reading-authors-pet-mysteries-and.html

As always, happy writing and happy reading!

And if you're thinking of getting a cat, adopt one today from your local animal shelter. There are plenty in need of good homes and they make the best pets ever.

Also, check out The Weekend Creation Blog Hop for more creative blog selections this weekend.

The Weekend Creation Blog Hop

I finally joined a blog hop. This one is easy. There's no weekly posting involved and you don't have to paste lots of links/garbage on your blog. It's simple -- just go to the blog hosting The Weekend Creation Blog Hop and browse the blogs posted on the weekend. If you like them, you can become a follower. If you don't want to, you don't have to become a follower. No pressure. Of course, you have to post the image to the left somewhere on your blog, but that's not a big deal.

The Weekend Creation Blog Hop supports anyone with a creative blog or a creative blog post. It can be music related, art related, dance related. It just has to be creative.

Go here to join: http://wordsinsync.blogspot.com/

As always, happy writing and happy reading to all!