tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79311918557862873962024-03-13T07:31:43.608-07:00Dandelion LunchSallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-57907699334353106172012-04-27T15:42:00.001-07:002012-04-28T06:41:56.633-07:00Another April Poem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uYA4b99B86I/T5sgrwiqmtI/AAAAAAAAApc/O5BeReEqxIA/s1600/coffeeshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uYA4b99B86I/T5sgrwiqmtI/AAAAAAAAApc/O5BeReEqxIA/s400/coffeeshop.jpg" /></a></div>
In honor of National Poetry Month here's another poem for April:
FRIENDED FACES
Here between the worlds we meet: the sister
of a man I used to work with - a former-lover
last seen in the seventies who now writes
plays in New York City - a woman in Malton,
North Yorkshire who loves a dead poet
I too adore - two cousins, one brother - a niece
who knits hats - a niece who strings glass beads -
a nephew who built his wife a sleek maple desk -
a poet from Indiana and six more from near here -
a hurdy-gurdy player, and the activist actor
who played Sulu on Star Trek - my son's friend
Shannon and my mother's caregiver Anita -
Sheila from Ocala, Florida, and Sheila from England,
and Sheila the memoir writer on the Olympic Peninsula -
writers, witches, Buddhists, Mormons, yogis
dancing in a stream of words at three a. m.
clicking LIKE, clicking SHARE - love, hate, despair,
war, politics, cute cats, wise dogs, coyotes
in the garden eating red-feathered chickens -
all fair game, all grist for our mill, all encompassing
as the white keys tap, tap, tap us toward dawn.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-52430581450120097162012-04-13T06:34:00.000-07:002012-04-13T06:34:19.229-07:00April Haiku<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oBpI7KN1Bec/T4gq5hiXr1I/AAAAAAAAAos/stS7z11T-kU/s1600/robin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oBpI7KN1Bec/T4gq5hiXr1I/AAAAAAAAAos/stS7z11T-kU/s400/robin.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Awake with the birds<br />
rattling my bedroom window<br />
with songs of Spring love.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-2266854449709461192012-04-04T10:00:00.000-07:002012-04-04T10:00:20.393-07:00CONSPIRACY THEORY!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R1hWimf7GR8/T3xqBHb-2PI/AAAAAAAAAog/jy_UR-NTu5U/s1600/1561125_c9af2403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R1hWimf7GR8/T3xqBHb-2PI/AAAAAAAAAog/jy_UR-NTu5U/s400/1561125_c9af2403.jpg" /></a></div>This is a distrustful age. That being said, most of us want to think the best of our fellow humans - even think the best of the officials we have elected to act on our behalf. I've never been overly eager to jump onto the latest conspiracy theory, no matter how close to home it comes. Still . . . <br />
<br />
Yesterday I posted a poem I had written back in 2000, prompted by a proposal to mine for coal under Newstead Abbey. Geologists speculated that the soil under the Abbey might slump an inch or two due to the drilling - and of course there would be a certain amount of vibration. Nothing to worry about if this were a modern building we were talking but Newstead was built in 1170 before re-bar! And what if the soil subsided more than the estimate? What if there were a catastrophic cave-in? There would be no saving Newstead once it was reduced to a pile of rubble. Byronists world-wide rose up to defeat the scheme - and we succeeded. Then. <br />
<br />
But the coal seams are still there, snaking under the heart of England. Coal from the Midlands fueled the Industrial Revolution. (The Byrons owned extensive mines in their Barony of Rochdale but the poet sold them off when they became unproductive. The Rochdale mines are once again producing quality coal, used in part for power generation.) The Midlands is still rich in coal that wasn't accessible during Victorian times but with modern methods could be exploited. Presently the Midlands (including Nottinghamshire) is going through a deep recession - something that wasn't the case back in 2000. The economy has done its own caving-in since we Byronists stopped the mining proposal a dozen years ago. Unemployment has sky-rocketed. Needless to say, there would be a huge financial incentive to expand coal mining in the area. Including under Newstead Abbey. Enter, the conspiracy theory.<br />
<br />
This isn't my theory. It was suggested to me yesterday when I was talking about my blog post to a friend - but when she voiced it my blood ran cold. She wondered if it were possible that the City of Nottingham might once again be positioning to sell the rights to mine under the Abbey - that behind the scenes they were deliberately running the Abbey into the ground so that when they proposed the scheme this time there would be less opposition, considering the relative value of a building already falling apart and of little commercial value balanced against the greater good of jump-starting the moribund economy of the region. Oh my God, I thought, that may indeed be what they are doing! What utter fools they must take us for if this is the case. I pray it isn't, but we've seen governments all over the world pull some pretty dirty tricks lately and by the time we call them on it, it is often to late to set things right. I'm sick to my stomach thinking that Byron's apocalyptic poem "Darkness" (upon which my poem was based) was prophetic of what is destined to befall Newstead Abbey.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-39871251223106900292012-04-03T06:16:00.002-07:002012-04-03T06:16:53.753-07:00DARK DAWN<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jXAmc--NVVA/T3r3whldcMI/AAAAAAAAAoU/fKbvnxx_GfQ/s1600/images-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="236" width="192" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-jXAmc--NVVA/T3r3whldcMI/AAAAAAAAAoU/fKbvnxx_GfQ/s320/images-2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This poem - inspired by Byron’s poem "Darkness" - was written in 2000 in response to the report that a coal mining company would shortly be excavating beneath Newstead Abbey. The very real danger that subsidence from the mining operation would seriously damage or destroy the Abbey prompted Byronists all over the world to lobby to stop the operation. We succeeded and Newstead was safe - temporarily. But we need to be mindful how shortsighted greed continues to threaten what is beautiful and valuable beyond mere monetary value. We get complaisant to our, and our descendant’s peril.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
DARK DAWN<br />
by Sallie Tierney<br />
<br />
From the peaceful slumber of Eternity<br />
I woke into a nightmare world.<br />
A century and more my weary spirit<br />
Had reposed within the healing halls<br />
Of Death’s sweet palace, prisoner<br />
No more to mortal cares and chaos.<br />
When thunder like a million planets grinding <br />
From their ordered orbits rent my sleep,<br />
<br />
And I awoke upon a silent, ravaged hill.<br />
The rotten stumps of ancient oaks<br />
Like broken tombstones slumped<br />
Beneath a shroud of brown and withered<br />
Ferns, the sky a raven’s wing, the pallid sun<br />
A corpse light rising from a vast depression<br />
Stretching far beyond the limits of my view.<br />
The only living thing a cloud of iridescent<br />
<br />
Insects whirling at the crater’s rim.<br />
The depths were sheathed in shadow, yet<br />
I knew whatever I’d been roused from death<br />
To witness waited there within the maw<br />
Of that abyss. So, as the feeble light increased,<br />
Seeping slowly like a fetid fog into the pit,<br />
I followed it. The earth was rubble underfoot<br />
As if an antique temple had been toppled<br />
<br />
By horrific quake or cataclysm, stones<br />
Like skulls upon the weed-grown path.<br />
What noble place was this, brought down<br />
To such profound destruction, as a carcass<br />
Worried by a pack of famished dogs until the bones<br />
Beneath the flashing teeth are cracked to jagged<br />
Fragments, losing all resemblance to that light hart<br />
That lately graced the forest with its bounding life.<br />
<br />
With trembling spirit I descended deeper still,<br />
A Dante into Hell without a guide to steer<br />
My course or tell what scene of horror spread<br />
Before my gaze. Alone and wary I descended<br />
Into that black wilderness. Then deep<br />
Beneath my feet I heard the ghosts of vast<br />
Machines, worm gears grinding in the stygian<br />
Streams of ancient coal seams, blind, voracious<br />
As some monster of the Earth’s primordial infancy,<br />
A mindless juggernaut devouring, devouring.<br />
<br />
My soul then knew despair. For there<br />
Upon the edge of that great gaping maw<br />
I saw a fractured slab of stone, a poem carved<br />
And but a single name. A stone I’d set a life before<br />
To mark the grave of Boatswain, faithful friend.<br />
When this forsaken piece of land was still my own,<br />
My heart, my Newstead Abbey. So beloved<br />
From when I stepped, a tender boy in rented coach,<br />
To weedy yard to be a lord of dust and devilry.<br />
<br />
It stood above a reedy lake, its gardens wild<br />
With golden gorse, the stately oaks of Sherwood<br />
Sold for Byron debts. But to the boy I was<br />
It was a fairy castle in the purity of morning<br />
Light, its broken walls enchanted battlements,<br />
A child’s fantasy realm, my kingdom. Flawed,<br />
As every human artistry is flawed, yet<br />
The dearer for a sweet fragility, a beauty<br />
<br />
In decay. To the last day of my troubled life,<br />
When exiled far from native soil, Newstead<br />
Was the lodestone of my soul, a well of peace<br />
Within the chaos of existence. In truth,<br />
The only one true home I ever knew. And now,<br />
After near a thousand years, now for the sake<br />
Of man’s base greed, for a few sad lumps of coal<br />
The lake, the house, the gardens --- gone.<br />
Gone into the abyss. Why bring me back,<br />
Thought I, to break my heart upon this stone?<br />
<br />
What had I done to bring this horror on?<br />
Or was it after all impersonal, indifference,<br />
Neglect - demons human-spawned. No <br />
God I could believe in brought such beauty down<br />
To punish faults as petty as my own. No,<br />
What I looked upon was man’s damnation<br />
Of his own best nature - a suicide of spirit,<br />
A cancer nurtured on a meal of shame.<br />
<br />
It was a dream. I stood within the welcome shade<br />
Cast by morning sun through the transept’s<br />
Filigree. The silver lake was wreathed in mist.<br />
And Newstead Abbey stood tranquil and whole,<br />
As it has ever been within my mind. A dream.<br />
And not a dream - a warning, the mind’s reminder<br />
Of how close we stand to the crumbling rim,<br />
<br />
A hell hand-crafted to our own design,<br />
Creation and destruction ever vying<br />
For the upper hand, a fragile balance<br />
In our power to defend or topple. And lacking<br />
Constant vigilance, comes real this my nightmare.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-28985151161554901012012-04-01T10:43:00.002-07:002012-04-01T10:49:14.616-07:00Newstead Abbey Tirade Part 3 - My Personal Love Story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GTLiGdEnz5g/T3XUxSjJanI/AAAAAAAAAnw/jlGSRJsv1h8/s1600/images-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="236" width="192" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GTLiGdEnz5g/T3XUxSjJanI/AAAAAAAAAnw/jlGSRJsv1h8/s400/images-2.jpg" /></a></div>"Newstead, what saddening change of scene is thine!<br />
Thy yawning arch betokens slow decay;<br />
The last and youngest of a noble line,<br />
Now holds they mouldering turrets in his sway.<br />
<br />
Deserted now, he scans thy grey worn towers;<br />
Thy vaults, where dead of feudal ages sleep;<br />
Thy cloisters, pervious to the wintry showers;<br />
These, these he views, and views them but to weep.<br />
<br />
Yet are his tears no emblem of regret:<br />
Cherish'd Affection only bids them flow;<br />
Pride, Hope, and Love, forbid him to forget,<br />
But warm his bosom with impassion'd glow."<br />
(an excerpt from "Elegy on Newstead Abbey", Lord Byron 1807 - he was 19 years old)<br />
<br />
I've said before that responses to Newstead Abbey are often intensely visceral - even spiritual - in nature. A staff member once remarked to me that, "There are only two sorts of people; those who love her at first sight and those who hate her at first sight." I point to Byron's choice of words in the excerpt above: "Cherished", "affection", "pride", "hope", "love", "impassioned" - clearly, of the two sorts of people, Byron is in the first camp. <br />
<br />
There is no accounting for the human heart. It can latch onto such a cornucopia of strange objects. When I told the professor supervising my English degree that I wanted to concentrate my studies on Lord Byron he visibly shuddered. (Those of you who knew Professor Nelson Bentley are visualizing that shudder about now.) He argued that Byron isn't read anymore precisely because by today's standards he wasn't such a great poet. Ah well, I didn't expect we'd agree on everything. I didn't attempt to explain what the attraction was, since I couldn't site a rational reason. It was a matter of the heart and what's rational about matters of the heart? I fell in love with Byron in junior high school and, though my tastes in poetry broadened and matured, Byron retained a special place in my affections.<br />
<br />
I'm going out on a limb here to say I don't believe many people come to Lord Byron because of his poetry. There are Byronists who have never read his work. People are primarily attracted to the man's personality - and he has personality by the bucket-full! After reading a bit of Byron (especially Beppo and Don Juan) I became intrigued with him as a person - that's when my true passion kicked in. Countless books have been written about this fascinating and often infuriating man. I won't go there. I'm always in danger of sailing off on a tangent where he is concerned. <br />
<br />
But within the context of this post it's important to understand Byron's own grand and irrational passion - his love for Newstead Abbey, that dear crumbling pile of stone he inherited from his great-uncle when he was only 10 years old. He and his mother traveled from Scotland in a rented carriage to claim his inheritance, which he instantly saw was an utter ruin. The roof leaked and his great-uncle had sold off nearly all of the furnishings, living in the kitchen toward the end of his life with a mistress and a racing stable of cockroaches. Byron's mother was horrified (she was probably in the camp of people who hate the Abbey at first sight). Newstead was dark, spooky and completely uninhabitable. In today's parlance, the kid would have seen it as awesomely cool!<br />
<br />
Little Lord Byron had a title - and not a penny to go with it. He and his mother were nearly destitute, Byron's father having quickly run through his wife's fortune before abandoning her and their son for the Continent. They were essentially homeless and flat broke. Byron didn't have the money to bring the Abbey up to habitable condition. He and his mother lived in rented housing - first in Nottingham, then in nearby Southwell - while Byron was forced to lease Newstead to a wealthy young nobleman who repaired the building for his own use. It must have frustrated and humiliated Byron to have a stranger living in his beloved Newstead. After he reached his majority he did live in the Abbey for five years but he didn't have the resources to maintain the property.<br />
<br />
Ultimately, he saved it from total destruction by selling it off to someone with the resources to do right by it. For the first time since 1540 the Byrons didn't own the Abbey. Byron left England, never to return. There were many reasons for his exile but I conjecture that without Newstead Abbey there was no incentive to come back - there was no "home" to come home to. Without Newstead nothing rooted him in England. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Zfno4X_yto/T3XXs9HLyOI/AAAAAAAAAn8/ITnRlwj1g1w/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="271" width="186" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_Zfno4X_yto/T3XXs9HLyOI/AAAAAAAAAn8/ITnRlwj1g1w/s400/images-1.jpg" /></a></div>Okay, that's Byron's story but what of mine? I promised a love story. My connection to Newstead truly began in 1986 when the International Byron Society announced that to celebrate Lord Byron's 200th birthday, the 1988 Conference would be held in London, followed by a guided tour of Byron-related sites in England and Scotland. Understand that I had only recently started at a rather menial job after a two-year period of unemployment. I was deeply in debt, struggling to care for myself and my son (an echo of Byron and his mum!) - at best, living paycheck to paycheck. The idea that by the Summer of '88 I'd be able to fly half way around the world for two weeks in England was as plausible as moving to Mars.<br />
<br />
Still, love causes people to do crazy things. I took a leap of faith, shorted the rent, and sent a deposit off to the B. Soc. for the conference and tour. Almost immediately things began to fall into place. (I truly believe Byron wanted me on that tour.) Soon I received a raise and my boss promised me lots of overtime when I explained I was planning a trip to England - she understood the importance of having a dream. Though I was only entitled to one week paid vacation, she authorized two additional weeks off (unpaid but that was fine with me). I found a really good deal on a round trip ticket to Heathrow on Pan Am Airlines. I read a dozen guides to cheap travel (Rick Steves' was the best). I bought a camera. When the time came for me to leave, my wonderful boss drove me to the airport and gave me $40 in English pounds sterling. Ten hours later I landed in England. A life-long anglophile, I was euphoric - and incredulous that it had all come together. <br />
<br />
The three weeks that followed were of the most amazing weeks of my life (I've chronicled the entire trip in a lengthy and goofy parody of Don Juan entitled "We'll Go Once More A'roving. Here's a link to it: <a href="http://posthumousverses.blogspot.com/2006/01/posthumous-verses-of-dubious-worth.html">We'll Go Once More</a>. I have trouble believing it's been almost 25 years since that Summer - since the big orange motor coach drove into the courtyard before Newstead Abbey and I saw her for the first time. And fell in love, as so many have before and since. At that moment I felt that I had come home. It's a hard thing to explain but I felt that my entire life had led up to that one moment. That's what love can do.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nEmvA4XtwEA/T3iUbIxWOhI/AAAAAAAAAoI/9zETL_bN1FY/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="183" width="275" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nEmvA4XtwEA/T3iUbIxWOhI/AAAAAAAAAoI/9zETL_bN1FY/s320/images.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
<br />
I thought that journey would be a once-in-a-lifetime thing but I've returned many times since the Summer of '88. I've roamed the Abbey halls, sat for hours in Byron's bedroom writing poetry (before they installed the security), ate picnic lunches in the cloister, chatted with her wonderful staff while enjoying tea and jacket potatoes in the Buttery. I've been caught in fierce storms on her grounds and been struck dumb by her beauty as the sunset turns her to a golden filigree. She is a breathtaking treasure. Just as with Byron, it is her unique spirit and personality that draws us to her, that resonates in the human soul.<br />
<br />
And now she is once again on the edge of ruin, her owners unwilling or unable to take care of her. Her staff has been sacked and she's locked up tight. There is no caretaker, no charming restaurant, no night watchman, no housekeeper. To tour the house you must have a group of 10 and book ahead. Robbers have pillaged her for the lead drain pipes. There is a big ugly chain link fence surrounding her. Is it any wonder those who love her despair? She has teetered on the edge of oblivion repeatedly since she was first constructed in 1170 yet each time she's been pulled back from the abyss by caring people. Let's hope she can survive into her second millennium. I would hate to have to write my own elegy to her.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-69606421707913431912012-03-29T11:25:00.002-07:002012-03-29T11:33:04.607-07:00Newstead Abbey - What's the big deal?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S9blE5ZPu6g/T3Sq1ZSmqOI/AAAAAAAAAnk/FttNWBhILVw/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="183" width="275" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S9blE5ZPu6g/T3Sq1ZSmqOI/AAAAAAAAAnk/FttNWBhILVw/s400/images.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TZr7y5Vs-lE/T3SpnKExYlI/AAAAAAAAAnY/rlgd8rMlwzA/s1600/newstead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="117" width="233" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TZr7y5Vs-lE/T3SpnKExYlI/AAAAAAAAAnY/rlgd8rMlwzA/s400/newstead.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bv90huboIF4/T3R4QuYZ3iI/AAAAAAAAAnM/guv0VLwUIFY/s1600/newstead_abbey1720.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="122" width="250" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Bv90huboIF4/T3R4QuYZ3iI/AAAAAAAAAnM/guv0VLwUIFY/s400/newstead_abbey1720.jpg" /></a></div>(If you haven't read the previous post please do.)<br />
<br />
It's a crumbling pile of rock out in nowhere. <br />
Okay, some weird dead poet once lived there, <br />
Nobody reads him anymore so why should I care<br />
If the roof leaks and thieves strip it bare?<br />
I'm off to the pub for a pint of beer.<br />
<br />
That's an understandable attitude - especially if the sum of what you know of Newstead Abbey is what you pulled up on the City of Nottingham's web site or read in a pamphlet you picked up at the tourist office. (That's like assuming you know someone well after reading her Facebook page.) Newstead is vastly more than a physical description, a map, a brief history and a photo or two. <br />
<br />
Of course you need those things as well to begin to comprehend her importance to those of us who care deeply for her.<br />
<br />
Notice the pronoun. Newstead is often referred to by the feminine pronoun, just as a ship is "she" to the sailors who serve on "her". I don't have any idea how long that's been going on but suspect it may harken back to the sea captains in the Byron family. The family crest sports a jaunty mermaid to reflect their history as seafarers. (Notably Admiral John Byron - known to history as "Foul weather Jack") The usage also reflects the extent to which people relate on a personal level to her. She is not a thing, not a "pile of stone". I might venture to say she has a personality. This is what Byron was referring to when he wrote that Newstead leaves "A grand impression on the mind, at least of those whose eyes are in their hearts".<br />
<br />
If you don't look with your heart you might be singularly unimpressed by what you see. She isn't and never was what might be termed a "stately home". The Abbey is not classically beautiful. She's no Downton Abbey. Architecturally, Newstead is a sort of wacky mishmash of styles with bits tacked on throughout her long history. All you have to do is glance at the picture above to see that the building has taken a beating over its 800-plus years in existence. The left side is a ruin - the right has all the charm of a shoe box. It's almost impossible to figure out where the front entryway is! "Irregular in parts," as Byron understated it. (He might have been speaking of himself as well.) <br />
<br />
Flawed. As are we all. Perhaps that's what resonates most when we see Newstead. We connect with her human quality. She's not perfect but she's ours. The Japanese (and many other cultures) believe that over time, objects can develop a living spirit from their association with people - they believe that objects lovingly crafted by careful hands take on something of the humanity of their makers. We can call this a soul if we want to. <br />
<br />
Since her construction during Europe's explosive twelfth century building boom, countless individuals have lived or visited her, leaving something of themselves behind. Royal guests have included Kings Edward I, II, and III, Edward VII, King George V and Queen Mary. American writers Washington Irving and Nathaniel Hawthorne visited (I read an article a number of years ago speculating that Edgar Allen Poe was inspired to write "The Fall of the House of Usher" after reading Irving's account of his stay at Newstead. Don't know if it's true but I like the idea!). Dr David Livingstone visited between 1864 and 1865, writing "The Zambesi and Its Tribuaries" while he was in residence. Those are the famous people but we shouldn't forget the others: the monks who lived here before Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monesteries, when Newstead was simply the Priory of St. Mary (many of whom are undoubtedly still buried on the grounds and under the stone floors) - the Byron family from the time Newstead came into their possession in 1540 - the hundreds of servants and staff who have served here over the years right up to modern times - individuals like you and me who were born, lived, laughed, cried and, died within the Abbey's walls.<br />
<br />
And yes, Newstead has her ghosts (or so I'm told). The White Lady, the Black Monk (Byron claimed to have seen him), and Lord Byron's dog Boatswain who has been frequently seen on the roof, of all places!<br />
<br />
So, "Why should I care?" You should care because each life that touched this place contributed something unique, eternal, and precious that we as fellow human beings must honor by keeping this place sacred to their memory - caring for it to the utmost of our ability and resources so that it stands well into its second millennium. There is and will ever be only one Newstead Abbey - it is irreplaceable and should we lose it we will as a people be diminished. <br />
<br />
In my next installment of this tirade I'll share with you my own personal experiences of Newstead Abbey. As you might have guessed it's a love story.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-59194872711945460022012-03-28T10:14:00.001-07:002012-03-28T16:07:59.348-07:00Newstead Abbey - A Tirade on Betrayal of Trust<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rsd3RHK1UTs/T3Mzdw2JKwI/AAAAAAAAAnA/FkAef6cG4ro/s1600/1561125_c9af2403.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rsd3RHK1UTs/T3Mzdw2JKwI/AAAAAAAAAnA/FkAef6cG4ro/s400/1561125_c9af2403.jpg" /></a></div>"Huge halls, long galleries, spacious chambers, join'd by no quite lawful marriage of the arts, might shock a connoisseur; but when combined form'd a whole which, irregular in parts, yet left a grand impression on the mind, at least of those whose eyes are in their hearts . . . (From Lord Byron's Don Juan - he was clearly speaking of Newstead Abbey, ancestral seat of the Byron family.)<br />
<br />
Where is Robin Hood when you need him? If ever we could use a champion of the underdog to go toe-to-toe and head-to-head with the Sheriff of Nottingham it is now. Oh wait, make that the City of Nottingham - because the City of Nottingham is the villain of this piece. For the city has betrayed its sacred duty of stewardship where it comes to Newstead Abbey, all but abandoning it to the ravages of weather and the plunder of unscrupulous thieves. Though this priceless treasure has survived nearly a millennium it may not survive its present owner's indifference and neglect. <br />
<br />
The powers-that-be in Nottingham will plead the dismal economy - not enough copper in the coffers to do a proper job of managing the property. Okay sure,(they may say) Newstead was given to the city with the understanding that it be preserved and cared for in keeping with its value to all humanity as an irreplaceable historic site - but hey, that was that was then, this is now. This is business - it's not personal. Ah yes, those fighting words: "It's not personal". But to those of us who love Newstead (and I don't use that word lightly) there is nothing more personal than what is happening at Newstead. It is an arrow to the heart.<br />
<br />
"That's a bit over the top, Sallie," you may say. Could be - but this is my tirade and my blog and I reserve the right to let my passion speak. A friend once commented, "Don't get Sallie going on the topic of Newstead Abbey, we'll be here all night!" I concede that on this subject I am a fanatic in the best sense of the word. And right now I'm livid with outrage.<br />
<br />
Let me share with you a recent email from Ken Purslow of the Newstead Abbey Byron Society in England (with his permission):<br />
<br />
"The City Council unashamedly said their priority is indeed Wollaton Hall and Nottingham Castle. Newstead Abbey is not within the City boundaries and that is exactly why they neglect Newstead in favour of the other two. When money is ‘tight’ they prioritize the budget - Newstead and Leisure being the big time losers.<br />
<br />
The City has never been proactive in marketing the Abbey. As I said to them on one occasion “If you take all your goods out of the shop window, you will have no customers and nothing to sell” In my Society (NABS) I have four Ladies all of whom worked at Newstead as guides, one of them for nineteen years. They were all made redundant at the start of the summer last year. They are also part of a group calling themselves M.O.N.K.S. Members of Newstead Kindred Spirits.(All former guides to the Abbey) Like us they meet regularly, we are fortunate to have them; they keep me in touch with the latest developments.<br />
<br />
In my archive file I have found some photographs taken last year after the lead down pipes had been stolen from outside the Abbey, you will see the plastic pipes they have put in their place to catch the water. Others have just been left. I will send them separately to this email – try not to fall in your coffee when you see them!"<br />
<br />
<br />
I viewed the photos Ken sent me and they broke my heart. Certainly there are so many things that legitimately inspire outrage in the world today - war, terrorism, poverty, the destruction of the environment yet (if we are to retain a shred of humanity) somewhere near the top of the list had better be outrage when something of priceless beauty is trampled in the dust as not worth our time or money. <br />
<br />
(More to come after I've taken a few deep breaths . . .)Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-21398899963731256262012-03-19T18:12:00.000-07:002012-03-19T18:12:51.451-07:00Photos from St Patrick's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KMKhrhLCr6o/T2fXQGdjgaI/AAAAAAAAAmc/WBrJMXb_cJw/s1600/kittyprints.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KMKhrhLCr6o/T2fXQGdjgaI/AAAAAAAAAmc/WBrJMXb_cJw/s400/kittyprints.jpg" /></a></div>Yes, it's officially weird in the weather department. Shadow took a brief stroll across the deck before scooting back in for a day-long nap.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1AaXZIs2vw4/T2fYXFtERsI/AAAAAAAAAmo/w8qLZ8LGX4o/s1600/stpatsnow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1AaXZIs2vw4/T2fYXFtERsI/AAAAAAAAAmo/w8qLZ8LGX4o/s400/stpatsnow.jpg" /></a></div>Blobby wet snow obscures the flowering juniper tree (raspberry-pink on the tree are the flowers).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VTqufwb4NJw/T2fY-S0k-MI/AAAAAAAAAm0/sbDt7WTiAZY/s1600/chard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VTqufwb4NJw/T2fY-S0k-MI/AAAAAAAAAm0/sbDt7WTiAZY/s400/chard.jpg" /></a></div>But the very next day I harvested my first crop of Swiss Chard this year! Tomorrow is Spring. Or is it? I'm so confused.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-62690145395100559722012-03-07T09:15:00.000-08:002012-03-07T09:15:11.850-08:00War poem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N8CDG9DNS0U/T1eW7ky_TNI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/oq88NH2DVCQ/s1600/road.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-N8CDG9DNS0U/T1eW7ky_TNI/AAAAAAAAAmQ/oq88NH2DVCQ/s400/road.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Wrote a war poem this morning (probably prompted by all this talk of Iran's possible nukes). Here ya go:<br />
<br />
Small grey bird<br />
pecking at crumbs<br />
left by the roadside<br />
bombs.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-51150956758845656972012-02-29T08:23:00.000-08:002012-02-29T08:23:17.101-08:00Leap Day Poem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QjHE82BvEx0/T05OFJNG7QI/AAAAAAAAAls/AakNB4Gfsek/s1600/violets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QjHE82BvEx0/T05OFJNG7QI/AAAAAAAAAls/AakNB4Gfsek/s400/violets.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Too early this year<br />
the wild violets open<br />
into snow filled air.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T2dYxXvYspc/T05PVdx6eEI/AAAAAAAAAl4/YZIms1ZHL1M/s1600/heather.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T2dYxXvYspc/T05PVdx6eEI/AAAAAAAAAl4/YZIms1ZHL1M/s400/heather.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A drift of pale pink<br />
under the rhododendron -<br />
earth welcoming dawn.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BcA0V2isuQo/T05QXkSx2NI/AAAAAAAAAmE/knRqm2KozbU/s1600/pinktree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BcA0V2isuQo/T05QXkSx2NI/AAAAAAAAAmE/knRqm2KozbU/s400/pinktree.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Every Spring morning<br />
is the first and last morning<br />
we will ever know.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-71367048542033894822012-01-31T07:51:00.000-08:002012-01-31T07:51:46.534-08:00January Poem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JH2UlxD0Diw/Tyf8ic6fZzI/AAAAAAAAAlg/1m67RbKhF-8/s1600/dandelion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JH2UlxD0Diw/Tyf8ic6fZzI/AAAAAAAAAlg/1m67RbKhF-8/s400/dandelion.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The new year's resolution made a mere<br />
four weeks ago: compose one tiny<br />
unambitious poem each month this year.<br />
<br />
I figured I would manage easily<br />
to come across the finish line, grinning<br />
ear to ear the last day of January.<br />
<br />
Unlike a goal of shifting twenty pounds,<br />
this was supposed to be fun and easy -<br />
then the power went out and snow came down.<br />
<br />
Dishes piled up and there was laundry,<br />
I caught a really nasty head cold<br />
(thus adding insult to my injury).<br />
<br />
So here it is the thirty-first and this<br />
is all I have to show for the month.<br />
February looms. Into the abyss!Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-12670547196826448542012-01-30T09:24:00.000-08:002012-01-30T09:24:19.858-08:00Brunch with the Bunch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c7432d1iW0U/TybPmUYxxkI/AAAAAAAAAk8/FOF5_JVC0CI/s1600/workshop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-c7432d1iW0U/TybPmUYxxkI/AAAAAAAAAk8/FOF5_JVC0CI/s400/workshop.jpg" /></a></div>Ice and snow having released them from their winter captivity, the Burien Senior Writer's Workshop stumbled into Li'l Pat's Cafe famished as bears coming out of hibernation.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6tKMavPVCv8/TybQfegBI-I/AAAAAAAAAlI/eRYWN3Zj1t8/s1600/coffeecup.MOV" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-6tKMavPVCv8/TybQfegBI-I/AAAAAAAAAlI/eRYWN3Zj1t8/s320/coffeecup.MOV" /></a></div>It was Occupy Pat's fueled by endless cups of coffee and Tabasco-laced hash browns.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yvd-Jg2IQXQ/TybRTPlaOUI/AAAAAAAAAlU/mFsRvJlNeU0/s1600/smile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Yvd-Jg2IQXQ/TybRTPlaOUI/AAAAAAAAAlU/mFsRvJlNeU0/s320/smile.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Scintillating conversation and good eats! What could be finer than to sit around a diner with writer friends? (Two of which discovered they had been in the same high schoolgraduating class! Go figure?) We must do this again soon.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-71022989431878574392012-01-20T09:14:00.000-08:002012-01-20T09:14:31.653-08:00CABIN FEVERSnowed in all week. Only now the melt begins, icicles drip, drip, dripping from the eaves.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTBHozrNFX8/Txmf1nHqMSI/AAAAAAAAAkY/Gvb-NIXz0qU/s1600/ice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VTBHozrNFX8/Txmf1nHqMSI/AAAAAAAAAkY/Gvb-NIXz0qU/s400/ice.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A week of missed appointments but rare beauty. Dug the Subaru out several times with no real intention of going anyplace. Made a huge pot of vegetable soup.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jkl7A9y1Exw/TxmgIHBgv5I/AAAAAAAAAkk/scBBNord68k/s1600/soup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jkl7A9y1Exw/TxmgIHBgv5I/AAAAAAAAAkk/scBBNord68k/s400/soup.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Came down with a head cold that couldn't have come at a better time - didn't want to stir from the couch anyway!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KlJSMEuxt_4/TxmgcRffqtI/AAAAAAAAAkw/-v-L_zBKLzc/s1600/iceplant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KlJSMEuxt_4/TxmgcRffqtI/AAAAAAAAAkw/-v-L_zBKLzc/s320/iceplant.jpg" /></a></div><br />
But with the warmer temperatures comes the realization that soon I'll be able to stir from my den once more - get up to the store to replenish supplies. And I'm more than ready to get out and around. I'm running out of tissues - and good humor.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eDzEL3ePmiA/TxmffLEg7PI/AAAAAAAAAkM/w78NDun2Jac/s1600/courtyard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eDzEL3ePmiA/TxmffLEg7PI/AAAAAAAAAkM/w78NDun2Jac/s400/courtyard.jpg" /></a></div>Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-22894374990339439092012-01-07T15:25:00.000-08:002012-01-07T15:25:40.374-08:00POEMS FOR 2012<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lyCbHatMw6o/TwjRjqIo5hI/AAAAAAAAAkA/oK5tRDlyuFw/s1600/palmwindow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lyCbHatMw6o/TwjRjqIo5hI/AAAAAAAAAkA/oK5tRDlyuFw/s400/palmwindow.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Resolved: Write a poem for each month this year. The collection is called Twelve Occasional Poems for the End of the World. I'll publish it on 12/21/2012! Once it's out there in the universe the universe can go ahead and implode for all I care. I will have done my job.<br />
<br />
I love the whole idea of the end of the world. Change is the only constant after all. Every day is the end of the world as we know it. Half the fun is seeing what's coming at us over the eastern horizon. The other half? Seeing what we can make out of whatever it is before we lose the light.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-67184284180957654232011-12-26T08:19:00.000-08:002011-12-26T08:19:15.395-08:00Boxing Day Delights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZQiK5TPSrg/TvicqN7_0NI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/8nFDtdMGe9E/s1600/birthdaycheese.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8ZQiK5TPSrg/TvicqN7_0NI/AAAAAAAAAjQ/8nFDtdMGe9E/s400/birthdaycheese.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Turkey soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2PwGx9QMERQ/Tvic-PgkZ0I/AAAAAAAAAjc/OClxtpyOLWc/s1600/knife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2PwGx9QMERQ/Tvic-PgkZ0I/AAAAAAAAAjc/OClxtpyOLWc/s400/knife.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Fresh baked gluten-free fruitcake cut with my gloriously lovely new knife (Thank you, Victoria and Eric!).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqpCs-Ol69U/Tvid4I7ldvI/AAAAAAAAAjo/pa-jkBvmwcY/s1600/cats.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZqpCs-Ol69U/Tvid4I7ldvI/AAAAAAAAAjo/pa-jkBvmwcY/s400/cats.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Two sleepy tabby cats on the daybed.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_WxBQtN4AY8/TvieKmV668I/AAAAAAAAAj0/1IPrytES9iU/s1600/wrappings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_WxBQtN4AY8/TvieKmV668I/AAAAAAAAAj0/1IPrytES9iU/s400/wrappings.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Ahhh - all the simple pleasures of the day after.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-83089445012206194172011-12-19T08:27:00.000-08:002011-12-19T08:27:27.618-08:00Happy Solstice!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4gnZQk7Wea8/Tu9iy_zbpVI/AAAAAAAAAi4/of1NL9Kw4a8/s1600/candletree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4gnZQk7Wea8/Tu9iy_zbpVI/AAAAAAAAAi4/of1NL9Kw4a8/s400/candletree.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This will be such a quiet Solstice this year. No rushing around, no stressing over cards and shopping. We have chosen to give ourselves the gift of peace this year. We aren't even planning a big dinner. I have a 20lb turkey I got for free up at Fred Meyer at Thanksgiving. Today I'll throw it in the oven and forget about it until it falls off the bone, at which time I'll dismantle it, divide it into packages for the freezer and set the stock pot to work for a massive turkey soup. If anyone drops by I'll greet them with steaming bowls of soup and gluten-free bread.<br />
<br />
There is no snow forecast but I love this photo from Christmas a few years ago. It sets the proper mood. May your holidays be filled with love and laughter (and fragrant soup)!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w0DuDLFMebw/Tu9lylTpYdI/AAAAAAAAAjE/mHejOuRbnXw/s1600/snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-w0DuDLFMebw/Tu9lylTpYdI/AAAAAAAAAjE/mHejOuRbnXw/s400/snow.jpg" /></a></div>Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-78629666367651190272011-11-30T06:21:00.000-08:002011-11-30T06:21:49.096-08:00Sunset on this November novel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wmu2PFw2gGg/TtY6BDE_LtI/AAAAAAAAAis/gmSbN8EqiFE/s1600/sunset.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Wmu2PFw2gGg/TtY6BDE_LtI/AAAAAAAAAis/gmSbN8EqiFE/s400/sunset.jpg" /></a></div>Here it comes! Still have about 3000 words to go to the 50k mark. This is always the hardest slog there is. The mental muscles are burning, the breath comes in ragged gasps. Will I make it before midnight? Will I actually manage to come up with a PLOT???? The jury is still out.<br />
<br />
Have to admit I despair of this year's novel. Sad to say, it is a disappointing child. It is unruly and unfocused. I catch her daydreaming in the back of the class. If anything comes of her I shall be the first one to be surprised. Ah well, the value is in the journey. See you in December when I'm sane again.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-31576118471353020102011-11-01T09:36:00.000-07:002011-11-01T09:36:39.358-07:00HERE WE GO!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Y2WDteYLUI/TrAeu31LMOI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/ylbvS-nyySU/s1600/Participant2_180_180_white.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="180" width="180" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6Y2WDteYLUI/TrAeu31LMOI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/ylbvS-nyySU/s400/Participant2_180_180_white.png" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zfIGnz72oPM/TrAe7E-x3GI/AAAAAAAAAic/Dol7ryRw4xc/s1600/bridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zfIGnz72oPM/TrAe7E-x3GI/AAAAAAAAAic/Dol7ryRw4xc/s400/bridge.jpg" /></a></div>Okay, it's the first day of November which means that I'm writing a new novel. This one is number seven. The working title is Foggy Night, City Bridge and for the first time I'm writing a fantasy. Here's a brief synopsis of the story (What do you think?):<br />
Fog enshrouds the First Avenue drawbridge. It is stuck in raised position to allow a tug to push a barge up the Duwamish River. Homeless Vietnam Era veteran Dee Dee O'Neil stands at the rail waiting for the bridge to lower so that she may pass to the other side. She is late for check-in at the Pioneer Square shelter. Once the doors are locked she will have to sleep in a cold doorway as she has done countless times before. She won't make it to the shelter that night or any other. Instead she will be transported back to the war years where her life twisted out of control. A mysterious young woman offers her the opportunity of editing her past choices, thus changing her fate. But will she take the chance?Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-15914061838258125932011-10-10T07:42:00.000-07:002011-10-10T08:09:18.104-07:00Ghost Story Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FE0qjIw9Itk/TpMAH5GWPoI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/rYhera26ZN0/s1600/redhouse4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="291" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FE0qjIw9Itk/TpMAH5GWPoI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/rYhera26ZN0/s400/redhouse4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
October is a month made for reading ghost stories! (hint, hint - Red House Blues is a ghost story. Read it and review it PLEASE! Thanks a bunch.: <a href="http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/85176">Red House Blues</a>) <br />
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My cozy mystery set in Westport, High Tide and Low Expectations, is on its final revision. Have to have it off and away by the end of the month because (wait for it) next month is National Novel Writing Month - AGAIN! And I'm so far from having a plot for this one that I'm already panicking.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yS_tloSocT8/TpMHpMebBXI/AAAAAAAAAhY/6BK0swO-f7o/s1600/punkin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yS_tloSocT8/TpMHpMebBXI/AAAAAAAAAhY/6BK0swO-f7o/s400/punkin.jpg" /></a></div>(photo: Inn of the West Wind looking toward the Maritime Museum at Westport - key scene in High Tide and Low Expectations. Hint: the widow's walk plays a role in the murder.)<br />
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Want to do something completely different with the new NaNoNovel. Considering writing a fantasy set in the years 1963 to 1967 - Kennedy to war protests but with a twist (not sure what that is yet - time travel? It's been done but it's fun.). This Spring I transcribed a packet of letters I wrote during those years - surprised they were so content-thin and self-involved considering how momentous the period in our history. Ironically that was the only decade I didn't keep a journal. So since I have little to check my memory against I can give free rein to the imagination . . . I'm welcoming all ideas. What do you think?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1uWtnwExE1I/TpMIHIanwYI/AAAAAAAAAhg/ahYo6Wa_jVs/s1600/fogbridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1uWtnwExE1I/TpMIHIanwYI/AAAAAAAAAhg/ahYo6Wa_jVs/s400/fogbridge.jpg" /></a></div>Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-42692171437023454882011-10-06T07:13:00.000-07:002011-10-06T07:13:30.122-07:00RIPMy Macs are in deepest mourning this morning - rest in peace Steve Jobs - and thanks! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wGoC33UjTCI/To23gcZKhaI/AAAAAAAAAhI/x3CEwElBi6E/s1600/computerbeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wGoC33UjTCI/To23gcZKhaI/AAAAAAAAAhI/x3CEwElBi6E/s400/computerbeach.jpg" /></a></div>Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-29034452773407468932011-10-05T07:09:00.000-07:002011-10-05T07:09:45.923-07:00Minding my own business<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FDgbQ3ogA3k/ToxWQt5Fa2I/AAAAAAAAAhA/jVJlUvkNEt4/s1600/yellowleaves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FDgbQ3ogA3k/ToxWQt5Fa2I/AAAAAAAAAhA/jVJlUvkNEt4/s400/yellowleaves.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Well, it's finally happened - I've become a meddling old busy-body. Who woulda thunk it? Here's the situation: on our street there are three elderly women living in horrible conditions in what I would characterize as a shack not fit for habitation. It has a warped slab of plywood for a roof and a window that was broken out last year and never replaced. (What they are going to do when the weather turns is anybody's guess.Freeze to death probably.) They have no garbage pick-up, burying their garbage in their yard when they are able. When they can't dig they leave the black garbage bags in piles all over their property. As you can imagine this has resulted in an impressive population of rats overrunning our neighborhood. <br />
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Thinking that these women had somehow fallen through the cracks in the system, I sent an email to the City of Burien outlining the problem.<br />
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Turns out I am the "problem". A gentleman from city hall called me yesterday. Since he didn't give me his name I'll call him Nameless Official. He told me that he was well aware of the women's plight. His points were:<br />
1. People are entitled to live any way they want. (I thought the exception was if they were endangering themselves and others - apparently I was mistaken.)<br />
2. Rats range for miles. Who knows where they are coming from? (Actually I don't care where they are from - the point I was making was that they ended up on our street drawn by the heaps of trash.)<br />
3. The women don't want any help.<br />
4. The problem will resolve itself as soon as the older woman dies since her two mentally disabled daughters are living on her Social Security check. Since they have no income of their own . . . (Not sure what his point was here.)<br />
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Gee, I sure got told. He didn't actually say "mind your own business, lady" but that was the gist. And here I always thought (to quote Dickens) "mankind was my business"! Whatever happened to the concept that communities must look out for the welfare of their most vulnerable citizens? I must have missed the memo that that concept had been repealed. It took Nameless Official to remind me to butt out. And to think that I pay taxes for him to do so. Live and learn. I hope he sleeps well tonight. That will make one of us.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-6287041733093656602011-09-20T08:33:00.000-07:002011-12-25T06:58:40.130-08:00Dead in the Water<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N_uGBpVDCyM/TnirjNHqGsI/AAAAAAAAAg4/3S1JMcQbWyA/s1600/boatnose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N_uGBpVDCyM/TnirjNHqGsI/AAAAAAAAAg4/3S1JMcQbWyA/s400/boatnose.jpg" /></a></div>Stalled out on the rewrite of "High Tide and Low Expectations" until I had a sudden inspiration! Came up with the perfect way to kick a case of writer's block. I'm calling it the S. O. S method (which stands for Sallie's One Star method). See, what you do is search amazon.com for your favorite author's most highly rated book - then read every one star review of that book - ONLY the one star reviews. Knowing that even the finest writer out there gets buckets of crappy reviews removes all the pressure to reach for an imagined state of excellence. The poet William Stafford once told me that when you get stuck on a poem the best way to move things ahead is to lower your standards. That was perhaps the wisest advice I've ever received. By letting yourself off the hook you open up a world of endless possibilities you otherwise would have rejected out of hand. Give it a try.<br />
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And yes, "High Tide and Low Expectations" is chugging along again at a healthy clip. Should have it finished by the end of this month.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-60860976002390767762011-09-17T07:32:00.000-07:002011-09-17T07:32:49.526-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LttWS50IMDQ/TnSjyvw8QGI/AAAAAAAAAgw/nN7u-Ja6GDY/s1600/sunflower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LttWS50IMDQ/TnSjyvw8QGI/AAAAAAAAAgw/nN7u-Ja6GDY/s400/sunflower.jpg" /></a></div><br />
This was the summer that never was. I borrowed a sunflower from years ago to bring color to this post. My present garden is a slumping disappointment draped with dew-spangled spider webs. It's given up. I'll be lucky to harvest a few green tomatoes. The cukes were stunted nubbins, the green beans made one meal, a single zucchini struggled into existence. (I gave it to our neighbor thinking surely there would be more appearing soon - nope.) Slim pickin's indeed. <br />
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This week I put away the deck furniture and cleaned up the front courtyard. There is little chance anyone will be sitting in the sun before next year. Of course we in the upper left hand corner should count our blessings - compared to the rest of the country the season was blissfully benign. No hurricanes, no triple-digit temperatures, no floods or fires. Basically, no nuthin'! And here we are, ready for winter. I'm hauling out the trappings of Samhain already and before I know it I'll be clipping strings of lights on the gutters to celebrate Yule. Happy New Year! <br />
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It's almost a year since our big family reunion. Already it has slipped into memory as a watershed year - the year Mom took her fall - the year I became a full-time caregiver. I have to look at it as a learning experience. The best we can do in life is roll with the punches - do the best we can with what we have. Though I know I'm pretty inept I just keep plugging away. Even the worst garden imaginable will sometimes produce a lone zucchini you can gift to a hungry neighbor.Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-14728273146605557492011-09-01T08:41:00.001-07:002011-09-01T08:47:54.779-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-txr7XXaauFg/Tl-ntWjuL7I/AAAAAAAAAgo/6czI7kk1Ecg/s1600/coffee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-txr7XXaauFg/Tl-ntWjuL7I/AAAAAAAAAgo/6czI7kk1Ecg/s400/coffee.jpg" /></a></div><br />
When I announced I was publishing Red House Blues in e-book format people were asking me "how come?" - why an e-book? So I thought I'd take a minute to talk about my thoughts on the subject.<br />
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The other day I read an interview with one of my favorite mystery/thriller writers, <a href="http://www.earlemerson.com/">Earl Emerson</a>. (If you don't know his work, it's worth your time to check him out. He's utterly brilliant. He's also a Seattle author, and I'm all for supporting the locals!) In the interview he points to the radical change in the publishing industry in the last few years, what with the growth of print-on-demand and e-books - quite an understatement, I'd say. He wonders why writers continue to play the silly antiquated games foisted on us by the New York publishing industry. He's ready to bail and start publishing his books as e-books. He's not alone. (He also says nobody is reading anymore - a statement I don't agree with, but more on that later.) <br />
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It's a disillusionment I've been hearing quite a lot lately from traditionally published writers. Why on earth would anyone these days put up with the idiocy of submitting a manuscript to a couple of dozen publishers without getting so much as a howdy-do? Then - should a miracle occur and you get your novel accepted - you're looking at a lag time of a few years before your work actually sees print! That's outrageous. A friend of mine who has been publishing romance novels with some of the top houses in the industry for over 20 years can't get a reading anymore. Why? Because the purse strings are in permanent spasm back east. Publishers are terrified of committing the bucks unless they're guaranteed they have a bestseller on their hands. And even then there are no guarantees they'll sell enough to pay for printing, distribution and marketing - even if your novel is up to its jugular in vampires and teenage witches. That means if you aren't writing what has already sold, you aren't going to be selling a darn thing.<br />
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Now, Earl Emerson says he doesn't see people reading anymore. I do think that's true of print media. We can blame our lousy economy in part. When you have to choose between supper and an $8 paperback . . . well, it's a no-brainer you'll opt for a pizza (gluten-free of course). Which you will eat while reading a dollar version of the novel on your Kindle! (You don't even have to buy a Kindle device - just put Kindle on your laptop and you're good to go. Who knew?)<br />
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The sea change came to the music industry years ago. We can all remember the days when bands used to cut demos and pray they get signed by a record label. Now all they have to do is throw their work out there on the Internet and sell per download. Maybe we writers are a tad behind the curve but we're catching up. Check out smashwords.com and you'll see a boggling number of free or cheap-cheap-cheap books available for download. Clearly, people are still writing and they're reading - and saving trees while they are at it.<br />
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Technology is freeing our creativity, opening channels of expression unheard of a decade ago. No longer is writing and publishing reserved for the elite and favored few. We all have our stories and now that it's so easy to share them we have an obligation to do so. Fly, be free! <br />
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Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7931191855786287396.post-83993195638353074632011-08-30T14:56:00.000-07:002011-08-30T14:58:40.051-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FLQuyOYxqK0/Tl1bcyvRqTI/AAAAAAAAAgg/L3a26f7-FnI/s1600/redhouse4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="291" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FLQuyOYxqK0/Tl1bcyvRqTI/AAAAAAAAAgg/L3a26f7-FnI/s400/redhouse4.jpg" /></a></div><br />
I'm still trudging through Camp NaNo-land trying to reach 30k on "Washed up on Barnacle Beach" - but I have managed to publish "Red House Blues" as an ebook on smashwords.com this morning. Really not as hard as I had imagined! I should do a few more. Here ya go with a link: <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/85176">Red House Blues</a>Sallie Tierneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17561374477772045778noreply@blogger.com0