Dog Lover or Cat Lover? Do You Love Both?

Are you a dog or cat lover? Do you love both? Most people seem to be either one or the other. We have had cats and dogs throughout the years of our marriage.

Our present cat, Tiger, a Manx cat

In our early marriage years, we got our first cat when we found mice in the house. After a few failed rat traps, a smelly, smelly incident when a mouse died in the innards of the sofa, we gave in and found us a pretty kitty at the dairy barn where cats multiplied faster than the rats and kept the barn yard free of vermin.

The little tabby, long-haired with a snub nose like a Persian, reminded me of a fancy feline I had seen in a magazine. She had never been handled by human hands, but she sat quietly in my lap as we drove the short distance home. In that short time I found my arms crawling with fleas. I hate fleas! I detest fleas! And here I was bringing fleas to my house.

Barry brought the flea powder, and I dusted it over the cat’s coat, rubbing it into and under her fur. She took that treatment for only a few minutes, and then she scrambled out of my grasp. She ran a short way and stopped. She began licking her coat and soon bubbles frothed from her mouth.

“Oh, God,” I yelled to Barry. “I’ve poisoned her.”

The flea powder was meant for a dog, not a cat. I panicked. What was I to do? I filled a bucket with water from the outside hose, it was cold, and plunged the foaming cat into its depths. She screeched and all four paws extended claws that climbed my bare arms. With blood running in the water, I let her fly.

“She’s gone back to the barn,” I said, disappointed. She had been given a rude and frightening welcome to our house.
But a short time later, I saw her curled on the grass out front as the sun dried and warmed her coat. I was a big fan of Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s so I named our new family member  - Cat - like the stray she had in the movie.

Cat gave us a second chance and I’m glad she did. She birthed five kittens before we were aware we needed to spay her. We kept one of her litter and the mother and daughter, Queenie, lived long lives at our house.
Are you a cat person or a dog person? Why do you prefer one over the other?

Writers Talking About Writing

Today I learned the details of the event to be held at Moss Memorial Library on Saturday, November 20, at 2:00 p.m. Writers Talking About Writing will be a panel discussion with the writers and poets of Clay County, NC talking about their writing and answering questions from those who sit in the audience.

Nancy Simpson and Mary Fonda, who caretakes our wonderful library in Hayesville, NC, put this reading together, and they are giving us something a little different from most readings.

We will discuss and read from our own books as well as from Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, the outstanding anthology, edited by Nancy Simpson and published by Winding Path Publishing and sponsored by NCWN West.

This event promises aspiring writers and those who are more accomplished an interesting afternoon and possibly one in which they might glean the answer to a problem they have been pondering.

Refreshments will be served and, I promise you, they will be delicious.

I hope to see my students, my former students and anyone who is interested in writing, at Moss Library, 26 Anderson St., Hayesville, NC on November 20.

Contact Mary Fonda, mfonda@nantahalalibrary.org or 828-389-8401

for more information.

January Writing Classes at JCCFS

I'd like to sign up for every single writing class at John C. Campbell Folk School in the month of January. Google these instructors and you will find out why I expect each class to be fun, fun, fun!


January 7-9 (Weekend $308)
What is Memoir Anyway?
Instructor: Dana Wildsmith
Ready to embark on writing the story of your life? Before you start, it’s
helpful to learn the difference between memoir, autobiography, and
family history. Our focus will be on memoir methods as we delve into
contemporary examples and classic memoirs for direction. Explore how to work parts of your life into very readable prose. All levels are welcome.


January 16-22 (Advanced Week $596)
Creating the World that Isn’t There
Instructor: Patricia Sprinkle
In good fiction, the imaginary world is so real that the readers feel
they’ve been there and know those people. Learn to create such
characters and settings. Bring the first chapter of a novel or one short
story on which you want to focus. Class consists of instruction, writing,
group critique, and revision, with pauses for laughter and learning
exercises. Designed for intermediate to advanced fiction writers, but
writers of memoirs, biography, and history can benefit.

January 30-February 5 ($546)
Sing and Paint with Words: A week of writing inspiration
Instructor: Karen Paul Holmes
Come get inspired. Through music and other arts, we’ll stir the creative
juices. We might listen to Beethoven or Elvis, look at paintings by Monet
or Finster, read literary masters or contemporary writers—all to generate
ideas for our poems, fiction, or essays. You’ll receive editing tips and
one-on-one critiques to make your work stronger and more readable.
Open to anyone who needs inspiration and help perfecting the art of
writing.

(Karen is volunteer editor and publisher of Netwest News. She has published in top literary journals and has a successful business.)

Let's talk - Thursday evening at JCCFS, 7:00 p.m.

If you are in the neighborhood, please come to John Campbell Folk School on Thursday, November, 18, the Keith House - where Jennifer McGaha and I will read and chat and sign books at Poets and Writers Reading Poems and Stories. The fun starts at 7:00 p.m. and lasts for one hour. You don't want to be late.

We will have copies of Echoes Across the Blue Ridge and I'll bring copies of Now Might as Well be Then, (if my order arrives in time).
Be sure to pick up a book for a Christmas gift. I'll discount my poetry book for that evening only.
I look forward to seeing you there.