Category Archives: writing

All I Want is to Crochet this Chicken, OK?

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chickensWe’ve all had ’em – those days when it seems like brushing your hair is too much effort. When all you want in the world is to sit quietly in the corner with Netflix and a skein of yarn, crocheting a chicken.

This morning I ordered 12 patterns off Etsy (thanks for the gift card, dear) and sat contemplating the delights of a cat scarf versus a chicken trivet. Chicken won. Scarf is next.

Because when you don’t have books (see last post about Between Books Blue Funk) you still have yarn. And sometimes, that’s enough. I’m between books and I’ve hit rough water in my current writing project. Tomorrow, I’ll get back to writing. Today’s it’s just me, two cones of 100% cotton thread, and an I-hook.

Sure, I’m getting the three loads of laundry done between circular rows. We have to do laundry on Sundays and Mondays because the bookstore is closed then and we don’t own a dryer. We always check REAAAAAAALLLY carefully for errant foundational garments on the rungs of the mystery room chairs, before reopening Tuesday. People point at what they don’t understand. You’d think they’d never seen a size XL thong before.

But what I’m really doing is recharging. Sometimes your brain, like good farmland, needs to go fallow for a day. Leftover pizza for lunch, Chef Kelley’s bowls of good soup for supper, and me and the chicken are gettin’ on like a house afire.

Go by, mad world.

If you want to order the chicken pattern, it’s from Ken-Sarah Moss on Facebook. Here’s the link to her ETSY site. https://www.etsy.com/listing/158723591/crochet-pattern-for-the-swanky-chicken?ref=shop_home_active Only costs $3.50 and is quite fun to work up. No, I don’t get a commission – don’t even know the lady! But I’m having fun dating her chicken. Sometimes, ya gotta smooth those ruffled feathers, y’know?

The Monday Book: AGE OF MIRACLES by Karen Thompson Walker

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miracles I got this out of the library as a recorded book, not really knowing any more than the back blurb. (Our library is wonderful, but recorded books run heavily to thrillers, so anything that wasn’t one, I was interested in.)

Happy occasion, that, because I might not have picked this book up had I realized its vague science fiction premise. Jack and I listened to it together down in our cabin away from civilization, as a break from cutting wood and working on some writing and generally chilling out for Christmas.

The book has two main threads tied together as its theme: what if the Earth simply slowed down in its rotations, what would happen to all the ordinary people living ordinary lives? And what’s it like to be a sixth grader with a crush on a boy while the Earth is dying?

Jack commented more than once that he thought this was two separate books pulled together on the advice of a writing teacher – not that he was complaining, because he loved it. But the odd juxtaposition of sixth grade angst and “well, crap, this is the Apocalypse” works well in the way someone occasionally pairs orange and purple on the catwalk, and that works. It’s a compelling read, perhaps reminiscent of How I Live Now, but more carefully constructed. It’s also not really a teen book, but an adult one using a child’s innocence to tone down horror and fear.

It rushes to an ending that you think isn’t going to work, and that is actually pulled back from disaster by a symbolism so lovely, Jack and I cried. If you like “what happens now” books that aren’t driven by heavy action, if you like thoughtful stories about the inner workings of teenagers, if you are interested in the science of disaster, you’ll like this book.

We loved it.