Swashbuckled thru Story

Hi...I got through to the end but don’t know if the dramatic spin is too quiet, you know?

Dan is going to read it for me.

So tired. Worked most of today, 1:30 to 10 p.m., with breaks for dinner etc.

Good night.

Sandy Hook Beach

Sandy Hook Light. Per Wikipedia: The light was built in 1764 to aid mariners entering the southern end of the New York Harbor. It was originally called New York Lighthouse because it was funded through a New York Assembly lottery and a tax on all ships entering the Port of New York. The lighthouse has endured an attempt to destroy it as an aid to British navigation by Benjamin Tupper,^[5] and a subsequent occupancy of British soldiers during the Revolutionary War. 

 Dan and I drove down with Skippy and her two friends.

I instigated a beach cleanup--person who collected the most trash would win $10.

We wore disposable gloves and each had a garbage bag.

It was fun, although Skip just now said she hated it. I watched her and her friend running off, competing for the prize. It was a tie and they each got $10.

We saw:

• horseshoe crab shell with barnacles on it
• seahorse!!!!!! small, and dead, but storybook strange
• sea robin fish (dead)
• live fiddler crab
• mermaid’s purse (2)--black cases that protect skate eggs
• oldest continuosly running lighthouse in U.S. (Sandy Hook Light)

And trash (Dan helped):

• Big pair of black fisherman’s Gortex gloves.
• Broken beach umbrella.
• Car seat cover.
• Piece of yellow rope.
• Many plastic bottle caps.
• Plastic tampon applicator.
• Cigar/Cigarillo? tips.
• Half a ball.
• Balloon remnants with ribbon string.
• Candy wrappers.
• Water bottles.
• Part of a tire tread.
• Socks.
• Plastic straws.
• Starbucks plastic cup.

We brought it all home to our trash can. Good night.

Eyes Closing

I didn’t finish crafting the story....far from it. I hope sleeping on it will help.

Good night.

Keeping the “Short” in Short Story

Capote’s “A Christmas Memory,” a return to his Alabama boyhood, is my favorite short story of all time. It was first published in now defunct Mademoiselle magazine in December 1956. Book link from here.

I’ve been planning to enter a short story contest. The deadline is two days away (Saturday). I started the story, but...

Calling on the spirits of some of my favorite writers--Truman Capote, Joan Didion, Sylvia Plath, O. Henry, Flannery O’Connor, not to compare myself to their greatness, but because I admire it--to help and inspire me.

Not operating in a cloud of sugar and carbs should lend me clarity. I made myself write this latest Medium post yesterday so I could clear the air, not carry guilt and shame about overeating, or what I was trying to hide underneath it. Even though I spent the bulk of the day on Addiction Recovery writing, at least it was still writing, the craft I need to call on.

Addiction Recovery Story #27, Pink Magnolia: Sugar Addict Slips at Night

Have a good Thursday.

Until Tomorrow

Bedtime Reading: Melissa McCarthy

Heading upstairs to read this April 2021 issue. Magazines are thinner and flimsy these days, and you can find so much on the web, from pie recipes to essays, pink couches to tea towels. Truly, IDK how much longer beloved magazines can make it...a dying breed...but still they stand at the checkout line, like brave soldiers or determined 1950s housewives, apron on, wood spoon in hand. 

I have loved buying magazines at airport shops (settling in with a good read distracts you from cramped coach seating and stale cabin air), but with air travel down in the pandemic, it’s been a double whammy for the publishers.

But I invested in this one. I picked it up and put it down at Whole Foods (on a budget) but had a little more cash at Kings six days later. The issue was still on my mind, and I still wanted to hold it in my hands and read it, you know? Such a lovely cover, with the colors...have to find out what she is wearing.

Melissa must sell a lot of copies....I love her as funny, pretty chef Sookie St. James in “Gilmore Girls” and as Molly in “Mike & Molly” (they meet at an OA meeting). I’ve watched both shows in reruns. And she and the rest of the “Bridesmaids” movie cast are so good. Some bathroom humor, but hilarious, touching story. I already know a lot about her from other magazine stories but can’t wait to catch up on new details. And the truth is, it’s compelling to read about a full-figured, life-size, beautiful woman/actress/wife/mother and see where she’s at on her journey. Here I go.

Good night.

Easter Hit Parade

• Color-drenched eggs.
• Mass AT CHURCH at 7:30 a.m.
• A pot of tiny daffs.
• Lilly dress.
• Swingy pearls.
• Beautiful cards.
• Fruit salad with baby mint leaves.
• Figgy laughing over odd things in her Easter basket, like roasted cashews from the venerable candy shop (no other vegan options there).
• Skippy being vegan for 2 days but then embracing lasagna with cheese and a milk chocolate cat w yellow bow.
• Seeing Clarks Pond and farm country--birds, Shetland ponies, fertile fields.
• Salad.
• Sisters (me/Sis talking, Fig/Skippy and Al/Gab in person). Sis was here with Buttercup for a long Saturday visit.

Good night.