Feile Samhna - Happy Halloween!

In honor of that day of the year when the door between this world and the next creeeaaaks open, I’m sharing a post I wrote on this day way back in 2008. Forgive the references to snow. It used to snow in my mountains. Also, I used the word "freaking." I was in my 20s and didn't have kids.

Happy Hallowe’en and Feile Samhna to you all!

Without further ado, a repost from my past:

Snow in October, Hallowe’en in My Head

On Tuesday morning, it snowed in Brevard. And not just a few, miserly flakes: the stuff came down–so thick it hid the mountains from view, and made my drive to work feel like inching through a blizzard. But, because it is the South and only October, it melted by 9 a.m.
I am a fool for snow. If it had stuck around long enough, I would’ve tromped my students outside to stand in it, and somehow managed to make the weather relate to writing… just so I could get my time in before it melted. I come by this snowmadness honestly: When I was growing up in South Carolina, my parents–especially my Dad–made snow days more magical than Christmas. (And Christmas was pretty freaking magical in my house.)

The year of the Big Snow, something everyone who grew up in the ’80s in Greenville, S.C. still talks about, it snowed well over a foot, and school was out for nearly two weeks. My father took buckets of water and washed down our driveway and road, so it’d be perfectly slick for sledding. He and his friends tied our sleds with old ski ropes to the back of someone’s Waggoneer, and they tugged us around our neighborhood for hours, the moms in the way back with the hatch open, giggling and hanging on. We sledded for hours down the hill near a local Baptist church, a gang of StayPuff marshmellow kids in our snowskiing gear (bibs, jackets, gloves, boots, hats)–which the nearest house with the nearest mom would dump into her dryer, filling us with hot chocolate before sending us out again.

My neighbors, formerly of the coast, pulled out their surfboards and removed the fins, and we surfed down the hill in front of my house. My black lab, Magic, raced circles around the house in a blur of white. Each morning, my sister and I woke up, raced to our parents’ bedroom where they had the radio on by their bed, to wait anxiously to hear whether My 102.5 would announce that school was cancelled again in Greenville County. My God, it was magic.

It doesn’t snow much any more. And even though I’ve moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina, a much higher elevation than my hometown, I’ve only seen a few inches each year–mostly ice–that melts in a day, leaves me sad and a little slushy. I long for those preternatural sunrises, pressing my face to my cold bedroom window and praying that my world would still be white. I miss the igloo my Dad and his friends built us, the real fires in the fireplaces, the way my neighborhood became a festival of friends for two straight weeks, the fun never-ending.


But now, there’s Hallowe’en in my head. Feile Samhna to all!  Happiest of All Souls’ Days, All Hallow’s Eves, the night just before Samhain, the night when the door supposedly creaks open between this world and the next, and the spirits roam. No matter what anyone says, or how much we’ve ‘roided Hallowe’en up with commercialism, it is a preternatural night: a night our ancestors (just about all of them, no matter what your DNA looks like) recognized as different. If you stand outside in the chilly dark tonight, away from the squealing kids and orange lights and ringing doorbells, you might feel it brush your face, give you a little shiver. If you do, I say you’re lucky. Hallowe’en has many faces, many traditions, many legends associated with it… and not all are scary.
 

My husband and I have been debating for a week about what to do with ourselves tonight. Our neighborhood, which is not even a half mile from downtown, will become swamped with trick-or-treating children at about 6 p.m., and will not cease until after 10 p.m.  They are mini-vanned in from all corners of the county… and sometimes the street up from us is blocked off by police cars so the kids can wander freely. It’s not anything out of the ordinary for folks in our neighborhood to spend $400 on candy each year.

Suffice to say, we cannot afford this. And so, we flee after a time… and I think that’s what we’ll do tonight. But first, we’ll buy a couple of bags of candy from the dollar store–if they’ve any left–and pass it out to the first little ghouls, the cutest ones of the entire night, and then we’ll walk downtown to eat, maybe to a movie. We’ll leave Scout, our dog, to guard the dark house.

For the Scottish poet Rabbie Burns’s famous poem about Hallowe’en, click here.

For an interesting article on the Celtic origins of Hallwe’en, click here.

New Interview at Appalachian History

Hi, all.

I’m truly excited to share this interview with me over at Appalachianhistory.net, a fantastic web site for all you history and mountain-lovers. I’d not known about the site until I received an interview request from one of its contributers, and I immediately popped on over to check it out.

Three hours later, I was hooked. The site says that it’s filled with “stories, quotes and anecdotes from Appalachia, with an emphasis on the Depression era.” This is absolutely true, but there’s so much more to see there. It’s a fabulous resource for anyone researching the Appalachian region–and the stories (which include some of the coolest old photographs) that I’ve read there make my writer’s brain twitch … I can see all sorts of characters emerging from real life.

I hope you’ll check out the interview. It was conducted over several weeks via email, as Joshua Salmans, the interviewer, is living in Brazil with his wife. He asked some evocative questions, about Keowee Valley colonial South Carolina, gender roles in the Revolutionary-era, sexuality in fiction, the Cherokee, my personal background, and more. I had a great time answering them!

Show & Tell Friday: Fall Festivities & Quotes to Ponder On

I still look like I did last week. But I’m powering through.

Some good stuff to share on this cold October weekend:

1.) Halloweenfest & Osktoberfest in Transylvania County

I live in Transylvania County, North Carolina, and if you haven’t guessed from the name, we are serious about Halloween. This Saturday (Oct. 26th) is the annual Halloween festival. Downtown will be blocked off for food and craft vendors, stages filled with live, local music; there’ll be the annual Pumpkin Roll down the hill from the Courthouse, a hay ride, costume parade and more. After hours Oskar Blues Brewery will kick off Osktoberfest with food, music, and good beer. There truly is something for the whole family here!

The festival will also feature Mountain Mash, an old-time bluegrass competition, to be held at various times during the day.

For more info about Osktoberfest, and all the beers and bands, click here.

2.) Stingy Jack’s Pumpkin Patch

My family and I have been trying to get out to this quirky little blast of a Halloween event for

a couple of years now.  We plan to make it happen before Halloween! Located on a farm in Pisgah Forest, NC, Stingy Jack’s only opens on the weekends and in the evenings, and has a pumpkin carving contest, a spooky trail, enchanted hayride, and something called Stingy’s Ultimate Pumpkin Chunker, which is sure to appeal to the kids and the dads in the crowd, especially.
 

3.) Quotes on my bulletin board

Yes, this is random, and has nothing to do with Fall festivities. Humor me.

This is my bulletin board. It hangs on the wall to the left of my neat-as-a-pin writing desk. Why are you laughing? It’s not my story board–that’s different, and contains all kinds of notes on scrap paper, photographs, and anything inspiring me or having to do with my work-in-progress. The bulletin board holds my calendar, photos, the little reminder cards from the doctor’s office, etc. It also has stuck to it whatever quotes are speaking to me, my life, and my current (often crazy) state of mind.


Here are a few that I’ve lately found to be relevant. Basically, they shout to me from the bulletin board.

“Your purpose in life is to find your purpose, and then give your whole heart and soul to it.”
~ attributed to the Buddha

“Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Wherever you go, go with all your heart.”
~ Confucius

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world.”
~ John Le Carre

Photos from the Cataloochee Valley, North Carolina

Happy Hump Day, everyone!

It finally feels like Fall here in Western North Carolina. We woke up to 38 degrees this morning, which isn’t so unusual at all this time of year in the mountains, but hadn’t happened yet. If you’re planning to travel to see the leaves, especially on the Blue Ridge Parkway, this is definitely the time to do it.

Last week I posted about getting ready to head to the Cataloochee Valley of North Carolina to see the elk. Well, we went, we saw, and we had an incredible time. There were six of us: two of my best friends, one with her 2 year-old son, and me and my girls (ages 4 years-old and 5 1/2 months). We met in Waynesville, NC, which is about midway between all our towns and the Cataloochee Valley, regrouped, and caravanned into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We’d waited for two weeks for the government to reopen so we could go, so we were psyched to be there among the gold, red, and orange trees, the other visitors, and of course the elk.

Driving through the Valley this time of year is a little like driving through a less-crowded

version of Yellowstone.

People stop their cars, hop out to take pictures, and get much closer to the wildlife than they should. This year there were signs near the road warning cars to stay out of the fields. You’d be surprised–or maybe you wouldn’t–at what some folks will do around wildlife.

Cough. Including us. We unfurled our picnic blankets in the middle of a meadow where a turn of the century (the 20th century) church sat, pulled out our PBJs, yogurts, Goldfish and hot chocolate (can you tell we were with kids?), and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My 4 year-old and my friend’s 2 year-old ran around squealing like little happy banshees. (Yes, I know banshees are NOT happy. But that’s what they sounded like.)

During all this, my friends and I–all of whom have been outdoor educators and worked in the field–kept wondering aloud if it was really smart to picnic in the middle of the meadow during rutting season. But then we shrugged, since we’d done it before. About that time an enormous young male elk wandered across the creek from another meadow near by and walked right past our blankets. We gathered the kiddos close and stayed still. A park ranger with a big ol’ stun gun slung over his shoulder wandered our way and chatted with us while we watched it walk by.

Yep, we were THOSE people. We felt like idiots. But boy was it fun to see the elk up close!



The ranger told us that though the elk are doing fairly well, they’ve had a few die lately due to various causes, including being hit by a car, caught and tangled in underbrush, and shot by idiots. I mean people. One man apparently drove into the Cataloochee Valley, walked right up and shot one of the elk.

Eventually, of course, there’s hope that the elk will do so well that there’ll be a hunting season for them, especially since their ancient natural predators–mainly wolves and panthers–no longer roam the Southern Appalachians. But that’s a long time coming.

At the end of the evening, when the sun had set below the ridges and the clouded sky grew dark, we loaded up our cars and headed out of the Valley. One friend (sans kids) decided to camp. The other and I had to get our children home to bed. It was a 10-mile drive down a pitch dirt road to reach highway again. We all agreed we’d do it again in a heartbeat.

Elk Tailgating in the Cataloochee Valley & A Few Thoughts on Motherhood

Hi, all.

Apologies, but I've got to postpone my usual Show & Tell Friday until next week. I am an exceptionally busy and important woman.

KIDDING. I'm postponing because I look like this:



Yep, that's me at my desk moments ago. What you can't hear in the background are the soothing tones of a teething baby trying to go down for her nap.

I love my baby. Both my babies! I love it when they're like this:



Aren't they sweet? I'd set Willa (the baby) on our bed while I threw on regular clothes to take Wylie (my 4 year-old) to preschool. Sometimes I go in partial pajamas. Not that day, boy howdy! I was wearing jeans!

I love motherhood. It's been the most transporting, the most spiritual, the toughest, the hardest, the most incandescent experience of my life. I think, when you're a parent, the act of parenting--and the weighty, unimaginable love of your kids--takes your ego and drop-kicks it. Have you ever watched Australian football? Well, it's nuts. Awesomely nuts. Those guys can take the football and drop-kick it from, I swear, anywhere on the dang field, and it sails through the uprights. And then they try to murder each other.

This, my friends, is what has happened to my ego. And that's a good thing. If you don't get the schnike kicked out of you by your babies, if your ego is unaffected, you're not really parenting.

That's my take. Hey, remember the first photo, above? That's what I look like today.

Some days I look like this, though:



Ha ha! I had showered! And Willa's exceptionally interested in her knee.

But, seriously, most days I look like I do today:



Moving on.

* * *

ELK TAILGATING IN THE CATALOOCHEE VALLEY!

This afternoon I'm packing up the aforementioned babies and heading North (Northwest?) to the Cataloochee Valley. We're going to go elk tailgating. That's right, you didn't read it wrong. Elk used to roam these here parts up until the turn of the 19th century, but in 2001 they were reintroduced to a gorgeous part of Western North Carolina called the Cataloochee Valley, in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.



The Fall, and mainly October, is the best time to view the elk because it's time for the rut. This is mating season, y'all. And you're likely to hear the male elk "bugling" to warn away other males. It's AWESOME.

For a 2011 article in the Macon County News about the elk reintroduction, click here.

A few years ago, when my oldest daughter, Wylie, was a 1 year-old, we went elk tailgating for the first time with one of my best friends. We packed a picnic, some blankets, a thermos of hot chocolate and bundled up because it was darn cold. Wylie was in heaven, and so was I. I can't wait to take her back today, and I feel so thankful that these elk and this incredible place are there for her to see.



No kidding, it's worth the drive to be a part of this place. It will feel and look like a National Geographic Moment. You will think you've stepped back in time 200+ years. The scene will sink into your soul. But more than that, it'll feel right.

Because it is.

Show & Tell Friday: All Things Fall

So, barring the fact that my eyes are so swollen from being up late with a screaming 5 month-old I can barely see out of them to type, I. am. determined. to. be. positive. Especially in this post.

Or, as Meg Ryan says in French Kiss: I will triumph!

Moving on.

Fall.
Autumn.
The harvest season.
Or, as I like to refer to it: the most wonderful time of the year.

I adore Fall. Maybe it’s its incandescence–its fleeting nature–that makes it so special. It’s only here for a heartbeat–the falling leaves, the crisp air, the crystalline blue skies, the silver morning fog, the vibrant colors laid like a wizard’s cloak over the mountains. The football.

But I love it. I’m swept up when it’s here and sad when it’s gone. If you ask my husband, he’d tell you that I like to over-commit to Fall. I plan an abundance of activities, including–but not limited to–hot chocolate and S’Mores in the backyard fire pit with friends, hiking above the Blue Ridge Parkway with friends, walking to the Farmer’s Market every Saturday morning, popping by the bakery, going to the pumpkin patch, taking mini road trip through the mountains to tiny mountain towns nearby, piling up leaves and letting the kids and their friends (and our dog, Scout) jump in them, watching “Fall movies,” decorating our house for Halloween and then Thanksgiving, and oh so many more. Oops. I forgot football.

I sort of have a Fall fetish. But Fall and I understand each other. We’re there for each other. We are kindred spirits, the Fall and I.

So, in celebration of my favorite time of year, here are 7 Things to Share/Love/Do this Fall:

1.) Hike up along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

If you don’t live near enough to get to the Blue Ridge Parkway, I am terribly sorry. It’s an incredible place, especially in the Pisgah National Forest section of North Carolina. Just last Saturday we headed out with friends and hiked with our kids up to the Fryingpan Mountain Lookout Tower, then picnicked afterward at the Shut-In Trail overlook. Fryingpan is a great little hike to do with kids (ours were 4 years-old, 3 years-old and 5 months old, respectively) that ends with a big bonus. You can hike up to the tower, but the trap door to get up to the big viewing area is currently latched–due, I’m guessing, to the government shutdown. That being said, you can still hike up almost to the top and see out of the gorgeous Blue Ridge.

The leaves weren’t changing too much yet, but it’s already been a week and the leaf-changing moves fast at this elevation. I’m guessing there’ll be a lot more color this weekend, and certainly by next weekend.

Here are some shots of the view from the lookout tower:

Our hiking crew, at the Shut-In Trail overlook in Pisgah National Forest

 

There are hundreds of miles of trails in the Pisgah National Forest, with a variety of elevations, and many are still open despite the shutdown. Just Google “Fall hikes in Pisgah National Forest, NC” and see what happens.

 

2.) Head to the local Farmer’s Market

We’re lucky: we’ve got a farmer’s market we can walk to right in our town–the Transylvania Farmer’s Market. Packed with wares from local farms including hormone-free beef and chicken, honey, eggs, vegetables, fruit (apples!), goods made by local artisans (jewelry, wood art, furniture, fabric arts and more), and serenaded by local pickers, it’s the place to be on Saturday mornings. At least until it gets too cold to do anything round these parts. (Psst: lots of farmers and tailgate markets are open past the harvest season–ours is open through December.)

3.) Pick up a new book

Chilly Fall nights are the perfect time to snuggle in bed with a good book. Lately, I’ve been rereading some old favorites. But here are a few on my radar to checkout:

The Outcasts by Kathleen Kent (historical fiction set on the 19th century Gulf coast)
A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver (poems by the Pulizter Prize-winner about life on the Massachusetts coast)
Strong Enough to Die by Jon Landis (a thriller starring 5th generation female Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong)
Shake Down the Stars by Renee Swindle (a tale of love, loss and the human spirit)
The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler (debut novel about a woman who finds answers in a quirky little bookstore)
And anything by Alice Munro, who just won the Nobel Prize in Literature!



4.) Watch an Autumn-themed movie or TV show; or heck, anything that makes you think about Fall

cast of the Gilmore Girls

My favorites, the stuff I watch over and over each year, are the movie Runaway Bride with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere, and the TV series Gilmore Girls. Runaway Bride is set in a small town in rural Maryland, and the scenery is gorgeous–Fall colors and small-town charm everywhere you look. Gilmore Girls is set in small-town Connecticut (the town, Stars Hollow, hosts a festival every chance it gets) and is filled with a quirky bunch of townsfolk with whom you’ll fall quickly in love. Pour yourself a cup of hot cider, grab a warm quilt and prepare to stay awhile.

5.) Speaking of cider …

Any hot Fall drink will do. Around football season, we like to spike ours with Bourbon. Every general store is selling cider right now, and the spicier the better. If you like hot chocolate, try whipping up some of your own. My Grandmama Scottie used to make the most mouth-wateringly delicious homemade hot chocolate in a pan on her stove. Nothing’s better than homemade.

Here are a couple of my favorite recipes:

WARM CITRUS CIDER (from Southern Living magazine)

Ingredients:
1 gallon apple cider
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
1 1/2 tsp whole cloves
3 cinnamon sticks

Bring the above to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes.
Discard solids.
Garnish with an apple slice and serve hot!

Makes 4 1/2 qt.
Total time: 25 minutes

DELICIOUS HOT CHOCOLATE (from The Pioneer Woman)

Ingredients
 2 cups milk
2 cups half & half
1 cup Good Semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp sugar (optional)

Combine milk and half & half in small saucepan.
Warm over medium-low, then stir in chocolate chips.
Stir until melted.
Add more milk and chocolate chips as needed to taste.
Add sugar if you need more shugah.
The Pioneer Woman suggested dropping a couple of peppermint patties into each mug for an extra special kick.

Serve with whipped cream!

6.) Listen to live music

There’s all kinds of live music around Western North Carolina any night of the week, and I bet if you check, it’s available in your town, too! Tonight, my family’s headed to Oskar Blues Brewery in Brevard to listen to our friend Bradley Carter of Sanctum Sully pick and sing!

Thomas Wolfe once wrote, ”All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken.” So wherever you are this Fall, enjoy your home. Find a pretty spot and share it with the ones you love. I know I will.
 

Channeling Alexander AND My Time at a Military College

Me, yesterday. Yes, I'm wearing sunglasses
inside my house. I had a migraine. It was that kind
of a day.

So. Today should be an edition of Show & Tell Friday.

But.

It was a helluva parenting week, let me tell you. My 4 year-old has decided to wake up at 4 a.m. each night and to defy our every parenting request–from as simple as “take off your shoes” to “Go use the potty” to “For the love of Pete would you please eat your yogurt.” My just-turned 5 month-old is STILL wailing at night and fighting sleep during the day. So that even when my husband gives her a bottle–which should be her last meal of the night and should mean I get a break–about 30 minutes later she’s wailing, and the only thing she wants is me. Or, if I’m completely honest, the boobs.

Yes, I said “boobs.” On my author blog. It’s just been that kind of week.
 
So I’m channeling Alexander. Remember him? From Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst? “I went to sleep with gum in my mouth and now there’s gum in my hair….” He’s my go-to guy this week. My compadre. My kindred spirit. My muse. We’re gonna go live in Australia together.

Hey. That’s another great childrens’ book to add to the Christmas list of the kids you know.

See, I shared something. There.

 






* * *

In other, better news. Here’s something I completely forgot about: I was the featured alum in The Citadel Graduate College Spring 2013 newsletter. I forgot about it because I had a baby in the Spring.

Have I mentioned that I have a new baby? (sarcasm)

I earned my Master of Arts in English from a wonderful joint program between the College of Charleston and The Citadel a few (cough) years ago. It was a heavenly two years of living on a sea island in Charleston, SC, raising my puppy, and reading, writing and learning all about great literature. I truly loved my time at The Citadel, which for those of you who don’t know, is the military college of South Carolina. My professors were fantastic–true teachers and scholars who inspired my creative writing.

A while back someone in The Citadel Graduate College office contacted me for an interview, and I happily complied. I’m a bit embarrassed that I completely forgot about it. But, then again: BABY.

To read the interview, click here.

Happy Weekend to all, and to all a good night. Especially in my house. Because, good gravy, we need it.