Nature

Endless Fall: Tea on the Patio on November 19

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This afternoon, it was actually warm enough to have tea on the patio after we came home from doing errands.  If this isn’t an example of “wicked weird,” as we Mainers would say, then I don’t know what is. Sixty degrees in mid-November in Maine? In what multiverse has that ever happened?

In the old days, when I was young—heck even ten years ago—November in Maine was what might called pre-winter. The ground was hard and frozen, but usually there was no snow or slush. This pleased my mother’s Franco-American heart, and it pleased mine as well. Sometimes we got snow by Thanksgiving. Sometimes we didn’t.

But we definitely didn’t have green grass, soft ground, and tea on the patio. I must admit, with a touch of sheepishness, that I do enjoy the milder falls we are having.

As we sat on the patio, Clif and I watched the birds swoop and flutter from the trees to the feeders. What a blessing to have these winged visitors come to the backyard in all seasons—winter, spring, summer, and fall—and in all weather.

Surely, today will be the last day for tea on the patio, and we will bring the two patio chairs inside. Tea on the patio in Maine in December is just too absurd to consider.

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Books

Fun with Author Photo and Bio

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As we get ready for the publication of Maya and the Book of Everything, I’ve had to come up with a number of extras, including an author photo and bio for Amazon. After looking at other YA fantasy author photos and bios, I decided it would be all right to have fun with mine, and that is just what I did.

Here is the bio:

Laurie Graves likes to say she was born in County Tolkien, but really she was born in Kennebec County—in Waterville, Maine—and is a fifth-generation Mainer and a Franco-American. Nevertheless, from the time she was young, she loved fantasy, fairy tales, and other folderol. When she was eleven, her father gave her The Lord of the Rings trilogy and that is when she discovered her true county of origin.

Laurie Graves writes essays and fiction from her home in the Maine hinterlands. For seven years, she and her husband, Clif, published and edited Wolf Moon Journal: A Maine Magazine of Art and Opinion. She has a blog called Notes from the Hinterland (www.hinterlands.me ), which features posts about nature, rural life, food, books, and people.

Maya and the Book of Everything is her first book. You can follow Laurie’s fiction writing and get information about upcoming books at her author website www.lauriegraves.me.

And the picture? Well, it had to include a book written by J. R. R. Tolkien, whom I’ve loved longer than I’ve loved Clif and my daughters. (I didn’t know them when I was eleven years old 😉 )

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Onward, onward, and upward!

Books

Fourteen Days Until Maya and the Book of Everything Is Published!

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Clif and I are coming down the homestretch with my YA fantasy novel, Maya and the Book of Everything. Fourteen days left until publication on Monday, November 28.  Maya will be available either as a quality paperback or as an e-book on Amazon. (Soon after, the book will also be available through other outlets.)

Such a lot of hard work but very exciting, too. As I’ve written in previous posts, I am so thrilled by the cover, designed by James T. Egan of Bookfly Design. I’ve come to describe the color as “Maya blue,” no matter where I see it. Not surprisingly, blue is my favorite color. However, blue is not Maya’s favorite color—red is—and I mention this as an example of the differences between author and character.

But the mysterious Book of Everything, which is literally dropped into Maya’s messenger bag, is blue—beautiful blue, Earth blue, the color of our water planet.

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Food for Thought

Will I Lose My Health Insurance?

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For some people, the Affordable Care Act is this:  The. Worst. Thing. Ever.  It represents all that’s wrong with this country and is a prime example of government overreach.  For other people, who saw their rates rise because of the Affordable Care Act, it has indeed been a burden. But for many, many people it has been a blessing, allowing them to have affordable health care and to get the treatment they need to stay healthy.

I fall into the third category. My husband retired a year ago, and the only reason he did so was because of the Affordable Care Act. Knowing we could get good insurance at a decent price, we both decided that it would be all right for Clif to retire. And so he did.

For the past year, the Affordable Care Act did exactly what it was supposed to do. It allowed us to purchase insurance at a reasonable rate. It covered my mammogram—very important as I have had breast cancer—our yearly exams, and our medication. We felt secure in the knowledge that if either of us had a stroke or a heart attack, then we could get the care we needed, and we wouldn’t have to worry about going into bankruptcy or losing our house.

This year, Clif turned sixty-five and went on Medicare, which turned out to be a little more expensive than what were paying through the Affordable Care Act. But it was still within what our modest budget could afford.

Oh, what a difference a day can make! On Tuesday, Donald J. Trump was elected president, and during the long campaign, he repeatedly stated that repealing the Affordable Care Act was his number one priority. Whenever he proclaimed this, the crowds cheered in approval.

If Trump is to be taken at his word, then I just might lose my current health insurance.  For an extra five or six hundred dollars a month, I could probably purchase catastrophic health insurance that would cover nothing but hospital costs should I have the aforementioned stroke or heart attack. However, simply put, we cannot afford the extra five or six hundred a month, no matter how frugal we are. Then there would be the extra cost of mammograms, physicals, etc.

Am I worried? You bet I am. Will President Trump  effectively end affordable health insurance for millions of people? Time will tell.

Sigh.

Animals - especially dogs, Food for Thought

The Day Before the Election

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I normally don’t write about politics—the focus of this blog is on nature, community, family, books, and food—but on this day before the election, I can hardly think of anything else. To say that I am anxious about the outcome is a big, big understatement.

In walking around my yard this morning, I took some pictures to cheer myself up.

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And finally I took one of my garden Buddha, a serene reminder to extend compassion to everyone.

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May we be filled with loving kindness,
May we be well.
May we be peaceful and at ease,
May we be happy.

Animals - especially dogs, Nature

Looking Up

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On our daily walks, Liam, in his blindness, is the perfect companion for me, with my creaky knees.  We both go at about the same slow pace, and we are never impatient with each other. Liam frequently stops to sniff, and I wait for him. I frequently stop to take pictures, and he waits for me.

On our walk the other day, my eyes were drawn upwards. (Some days, I like to look down.) I saw red berries against a cerulean sky,

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little brown cones,

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and a tangle of yellow and brown leaves.

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As always, there is something to notice and admire on our little stretch of country road.

Animals - especially dogs, Food for Thought

Puppy Magic

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Two days ago, I went to visit Magic, the new puppy in the neighborhood. Although he has indeed grown in a week, he is still at that adorable, plump puppy stage. So cute, so sweet!

The day was sunny and warm, which meant we could go outside and watch him play in the backyard. It wasn’t easy to get a picture of romping Magic, but I snapped away and even got a few good ones.

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I have always loved babies of all sorts, but somehow as I get older, I find it especially heartening to see new life.  On the cycle goes—spring, summer, fall, winter, and back to spring. We are all a part of it, whatever stage we are in.

 

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