The Hawk, the Squirrel, the Fox, and the Deer

I was on the phone when I glanced out the window and watched a hawk land on a tree across the way. Next thing I knew, the hawk was chasing a squirrel, its wings flapping, head bobbing as the bird tried to grab the furry little thing in its talons. The squirrel ran in circles around the tree, it's fluffy tail wagging behind it like a flag. It raced to the back of the tree, and I lost sight of it.

So did the hawk. With its prey gone, it flew off, and I turned my attention back to my conversation.

Then I looked out the window again and saw a fox trotting across the pasture, not far from where the hawk had just been defeated by the squirrel. A mother fox with kits, I guessed, since she was out in the middle of the day. She didn't look rabid or anything. She was just going about her business, doing fox things in a fox way. 

I had to tell the person on the phone what I was seeing, because I don't see foxes very often and this was rather exciting. Fortunately, my caller is a nature lover, too, and understood my enthusiasm. But not enough for me to hang up the phone and find a camera. The fox would have been long gone, anyway.

Not long after the fox went by, I saw a small herd of deer wandering up from the creek, heading into the same pasture the fox has just vacated.

The deer were in no hurry, and I watched them simply flop down beneath the oak trees, sunning themselves in the warmth of the day.

They were still there when I ended my call. I grabbed the camera. They weren't a fox or a hawk, but they remained, still resting and soaking in the sun, and the other animals had vanished.

This is what I love about my life. Where else could I have such a view, and see such things on a warm spring day?

Deer just hanging out in the sunshine.

Local Author Signing

On Saturday, March 23, I went to the Fincastle Library to hear a local author talk about her book, West of Santillane.

The book is about Julia Hancock Clark, who is from here, and in 1807 or thereabouts married William Clark, of the Lewis and Clark expeditions.

The author is about my age, and she teaches music at Greenfield. Her book uses the pen name of Brook Allen.

She talked about Santillane, which I wrote articles about when I worked for the paper, and about Julia Hancock and her relationship to William. She has fictionalized the story, and it sounds interesting. She did a lot of research to get the history correct, including going to St. Louis to the Lewis and Clark Museum there.

An old photo I took of Santillane, around 2006, maybe?

The meeting room at the library was packed, and I sat at the back where the door was cracked open. The local historical society sponsored the event, so there were a lot of those folks in attendance.

The room reeked of perfume and cologne, and at one point I thought I might have an asthma attack from it. Fortunately, about that time a nice breeze blew in and the fresh air saved me.

I'm looking forward to reading the book. I thought about writing fiction about Julia Clark once, but I was going to make her a vampire hunter!

People lined up before and after the lecture to get a signed copy of the book.

The executive director of the local historical society (right), introduced
the author (left) and gave a glowing account of her efforts.

 

Local Book Authors Sale

On March 16, my husband and I went to Salem to visit a sale of local book authors. I knew several of them and I like to support the local writers.

The event did not look to me to be well attended by the general public. Mostly I saw the authors standing around talking to one another. The event only ran for two hours, from 11 to 1, which I thought were strange hours anyway.

I didn't take a camera, but I did snap a few cellphone photos. (I still have an iPhone 5 (SE). Still works, I don't care if it's old.)

This is Dan Smith. He sold me a book called, "News,"
which is about a news reporter.

This is Bill, who teaches journalism at Radford, and a woman who 
writes true crime. You may have seen her on shows like 20/20 that
delve into these true crime things. I don't read true crime.

The author on the left, Jane Fenton, has a best-selling novel on Amazon called Repo Girl,
which I didn't buy there but I did purchase a copy for my Kindle. The woman on the
right had a book called, "42 Things to Do Before You Go," which is sort of
a bucket list of things to attempt before you off yourself. I bought that book.

Ken Conklin lives not far from me and wrote a book called "Norvel," which is about
a Black Olympic Medal winner from our county.

I didn't speak to this person, I don't know why. I just had the phone out
snapping pictures and this was one of them.

This is Ken Conklin and Amanda Cockrell. Amanda was one of my professors
at Hollins University when I was working on my masters degree. We have
been friends on Facebook a long time, too. She recognized me but I didn't
think she remembered much about me. That made me a little sad. But it has
been 10 years since I saw her, so that's ok.

 

Sunday Stealing

1. If you could witness any event from history, what would it be?

A. I would like see Queen Victoria take the throne.

2. What do you think about conspiracy theories?

A. Everyone is out to get me! How dare you ask such questions! Don't you know the government sees everything? I think they're silly and sad at the same time. This meme sums it up fairly well:

3. Do you like cartoons? Do you have /had a favorite one?

A. I used to like cartoons, but I haven't watched any in a long time. I liked Bugs Bunny when I was a youngster. What's up, Doc?

4. What did you most dislike in school?

A. I disliked the cliques that formed in the schools. Seems to be the way social groups evolve, though.

5. What sounds are in your opinion relaxing? The sound of the sea? Traffic? Vacuum cleaner? Combine harvester on the field? Some kind of music? Birds singing?

A. Music is more relaxing than most of those. Bird song can be relaxing sometimes, unless it's a murder of crows cawing. I sleep with white noise - the hum of an air purifier - because I hear the refrigerator and other appliances turning off and on if I don't. 

6. What was the last thing you read?

A. The last thing I read, besides these questions, was an article about the GOP budget proposal that would raise the retirement age to 69 and it would gut Medicare, too. It also makes it federal law that life begins at conception and does away with IVF. So, if you want to work until you drop dead and not be able to pay for your medical care while you're doing that, and you want your granddaughter with fertility issues to never have a baby, vote Republican.

7. What is one thing that has stumped you so hard you won't ever forget it?

A. How Hillary Clinton lost the election in 2016.

8. What are you interested in that most people aren’t?

A. Local government. The real local government, not the craziness that some people are trying to pass off as the local government.

9. What’s something you really resent paying for?

A. Electricity. I don't mind paying something for it, but it has bloomed in price in the last 10 years and nothing I do seems to bring the usage down. I think it should not be shareholder owned, as that runs up the prices. They worry more about paying their shareholders than keeping the trees cut back so you don't have outages. 

10. If you could choose a different time period and place to be born, when and where would it be?

A. I am happy with where I am now, although if I get to come back in the future, that's ok, too.

11. What's one question you would ask Superman?

A. If he has to use deodorant. I don't know if Kreptonians sweat while they're on Earth.

12. What's your favorite smell? What's your least favorite smell?

A. My favorite smell is my husband's chest after he has had a shower. My least favorite smell is a skunk.

13. How do you feel about cars becoming fully autonomous and having no steering wheel, breaks, or accelerators?

A. I don't think I will be driving one. I do not like the idea of something without a human mind behind it driving me around.

14. What are your favorite books and authors?

A. I read all sorts of things, so I don't really have favorites. Looking back over my "books I have read" list, which I started in 2006, I see a lot of Janet Evanovich, Debbie Macomber, Sue Grafton, Stuart Woods, David Sedaris, Neil Gaiman, Nora Roberts, David Baldacci, Louise Penny, Fanny Flagg, Naomi Novik, Kate DiCamillo, Juliet Marillier, Richard Paul Evans, Lois McMaster Bujold, Tamora Pierce, etc. Tolkien's books are the only ones I reread, although I have put Heather Cox Richardson's book back in my "to read" pile to reread because I think it deserves a second look.

15. Have you had a reading or palm reading done?

A. Yes. But it was a long time ago.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

AITA?

Generally, I do not post much on Facebook. I don't interact with many people even though I have hundreds of friends. I "like" things sometimes, and sometimes I put up a photo (usually one that also ends up on my blog), but I seldom comment.

This morning, an author I follow asked a question that went something like this: If you don't buy my book, would you mind telling me why?

A few people had answered, most having to do with money.

This author writes self-help books about a particularly traumatizing topic. I have never bought her book, but I have read articles she's written. I have followed her page for a long time (years), and never commented.

I thought about her question and decided to give an honest answer, and I admit this was hard for me to write, but it was the truth. "I haven't bought your book because I don't want to relive the things I have gone through."

The rest of this is paraphrased; you'll see why at the end.

A little later, I saw that she had responded thusly: "That's a false assessment."

This irritated me and I felt it was, well, cruel and certainly not empathetic. Who is she to tell me what may or may not trigger me when I'm dealing with something traumatic? I noted that one person had given my comment the little "cares" thing on Facebook and on the author's response, someone had put the little "wow" emoji.

I wrote back. "That's a really crappy answer to give to someone who is trying to be helpful to you. And don't bother blocking me because I'm unfollowing you."

I immediately unfollowed her, but because she responded back with my name, it popped up as something I could see if I clicked on the notice. I didn't realize that would happen. I don't have confrontations like this enough to know.

Anyway, I clicked to see what she'd written.

She wrote back: "A little touchy, aren't we? My book would teach you something. It's still a false assessment."

I wrote back: "You shouldn't ask questions if you don't want to know the answer."

She wrote back: "You sound just like the mean people I write about."

I wrote back: "Oh wow, good job! Insult and name calling all at the same time. Nice of you to let your readers see what you're really like. I'm done here. Peace to you."

And then I blocked her, so I wouldn't see if she responded anymore, and later I went back into my archives and deleted everything I'd commented, because I couldn't go to her page since I'd blocked her.

Which is why I had to paraphrase this entire conversation, because I blocked her and then deleted my comments.

Was I in the wrong here, to take offense at her lack of sensitivity, when she's a self-help author writing about a sensitive topic?

Saturday 9: Got the Money

Saturday 9: If You've Got the Money (1950)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this week's song, Lefty Frizzell is eager to go out on the town and hit all the night spots. What are your plans for the weekend?

A. I may go listen to an author talk at the library, but it depends on the weather. We have lots of rain and wind in the forecast. Also, if Virginia Tech wins in the women's basketball game today, then I will watch their next game.

2) He tells his girl he'd rather ride in her Cadillac than his old car. Back in the 1950s, Caddys were quite the status symbol. Lefty bought a white one with the profits from this record. Elvis also had a fondness for Cadillacs and preferred pink. Have you ever owned a Cadillac?

A. I have never owned a Cadillac. My father has, though.

3) Lefty was a big deal in Big Spring, TX. He was a popular attraction at local bars, a favorite among oil workers who liked to unwind by listening to live music. How do you relax after a tough day?

A. I take a hot shower and read a book.

4) This was Lefty's first hit. He wrote "If You've Got the Money" and recorded a demo for producer Jim Beck to play for established singers. When no one else wanted to record it, Beck decided to give Lefty a shot. The result was a million seller that spent 22 weeks on the country charts. Tell us about someone who took a chance on you.

A. In 1984, the owner of the local weekly hired a new editor. I popped in and asked if I could write stories for him. In October 1984, my very first article, "Making Shiloh Apple Butter," appeared in the paper, and I've been writing stuff since. If the new editor hadn't agreed to let me write, I wonder what would have happened to me? 

5) After this record became a hit, success came quickly to Lefty, perhaps too fast. He signed conflicting contracts with promoters and managers which resulted in lawsuits. Have you recently consulted a lawyer or had a document notarized?

A. Not recently, no.

6) This song hit number one on the country charts twice: first this version and then in 1976 by Willie Nelson. Do you have a favorite Willie Nelson song?

A. Not really. He wrote "Crazy" which is a good song.

7) In 1950, when this song was popular, Americans began using credit cards. Do you pay with a credit card to get rewards? If yes, what rewards are you accumulating (cash back, airline miles, etc.)? 

A. I accumulate cash back. I usually let it build up and then use it over the holidays.

8) Also in 1950, Sears Roebuck and Co. acknowledged a major spike in catalog sales and took the unusual move of devoting the cover of their Spring/Summer catalog to their "satisfaction guarantee." This was meant to allay the fear of customers uncomfortable with ordering by mail instead of buying in person. 74 years later, Amazon delivers more than 3 million packages every day. Would you rather check out a product yourself in a store, or do you prefer the convenience of ordering from home?

A. It depends on the product. I would rather see furniture in person, for example. I'd also rather try on clothes before I buy them. Things like books or pots and pans and such I don't mind ordering online.

9) Random question -- You're singing along with the car radio to your favorite song when you reach your destination. Do you wait until your song is over to get out of the car?

A. I generally wait until the song finishes. I do the same thing with an audiobook. I used to sit in the garage until the end of the chapter, back when I was using CDs to listen to audiobooks instead of my cellphone.

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I encourage you to visit the posts of other participants in Saturday 9 and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.