Clay County Writers Medalists in Senior Games

Raven Chiong, Sandy Benson, Lorraine Bennett, and in front, Brenda Kay Ledford

Every year, the Cherokee/Clay County Silver Arts Literary Contest is held in our area. Those participating must be of a certain age to qualify. 

Click here to read more about these writers and their awards. 

I am so proud of each of them. All are members of NCWN-West. 

Christmas Season, joyful, festive, sad and sorrowful

"I’ve found that this time of year requires a delicate dance. You may be feeling festive, joyful, or celebratory one moment, and then all of a sudden feel flooded with emotions from holidays of the past. You may find yourself missing people who are no longer part of your life, longing for traditions you no longer have, or struggling to implement new traditions. You may find yourself caught up in the madness and then find yourself trying to do your part to do less and keep it simple."  Maria Shriver's latest I've Been Thinking column.

Maria Shriver seems to write about exactly what is going on with me and in my life. I subscribe to her newsletter which comes to my Inbox each Sunday.

This is the most unusual Christmas ever in my life.

First, I have no holiday decor in my house or outside of my house. In fact, a small Thanksgiving plaque is hanging near my door. I do plan to take it down before I leave for Christmas.

I have been busy ordering gifts for Gay and Stu and a couple of close friends. I don't go out to shop in the stores now. Health issues that cause lots of pain, keep me from enjoying the stores as I once did. I loved going to the malls where Christmas music met me at the door and filled my heart with happiness. Amazon and other online shopping stores make my life easier, but this year I had most of the gifts mailed to my sister's house in Roswell, GA because I was afraid they would not arrive in Hayesville before I leave. 

I will be wrapping boxes on Christmas Eve. Due to a recent bout with unrelenting pain, I accomplished nothing at all for the past few days. Just tried to sleep as much as possible because when I am sleeping I am not hurting. 

My friend, Raven, came over Saturday to help me with some things like loading a chair in my car. 

She is unbelievably generous and caring. She brought Buddy, her little dog who is about the size of Lexie, so they could play in the backyard. Lexie was more interested in Raven, her new best friend, and followed her when she took Buddy out of the gate. In a split second, Lexie realized she was free and took off down the street. Luckily, Lexie came when Raven drove her truck nearby and dropped some treats on the ground. I was in my car going after my little escape artist when I saw Raven coming with Lexie on a leash.

After the bad week I had, I was not ready to face losing my little cuddle buddy. I am so glad Lexie came to Raven and did not continue running as she often does with me.

As I might have said before, I deal with several health issues that torment me at times. In recent weeks, I have had two relapses of TN, a nerve disorder that is often brought on by a reaction to chemicals such as perfume, scented products or cleaning supplies. Now I am having sharp pains in my face and neck, but I think my mouth is involved. This time it seems to be a Temporomandibular joint dysfunction and has been very hard to get over.

So those are some of the negative issues for me this Christmas, but I look forward to going down to my sister's beautifully decorated house for Christmas. I will not be making the cornbread dressing for Christmas dinner this year. Just not up to it. But we will have a wonderful dinner at the home of Lee, my niece, and her husband Dave. Dave is an excellent cook and he does the bulk of the cooking. Stu, my BIL, makes the sausage stuffing like his dad made. 

My Cornbread dressing usually made at holiday times

I hope to move into my apartment at the Morings' house when I go down there this time. The only thing holding us up, I'm told, is the stairlift that waits to be installed when the installer can get to it. 

I am excited to see what has been done since I was last in Roswell. I love the paint on the walls, the cabinets in the kitchen, and the vanity. I saw them when I was there at Thanksgiving. But now the floors are in and I know that makes a big difference. 

So, Christmas will be a happy time when I can be with family and when I can get into my new home away from home. Send me positive vibes for a pain-free and drive down south this week. 

I hope your holidays are fun and healthy and that you spend some time, face to face or virtual with loved ones.

Banana pudding made by Gay for holidays. This is Mother's recipe

We always remember our loved ones when we gather for meals, especially Barry, June, and Mother. As long as we remember and speak of them, they will be with us.
. . 

Festival time in western North Carolina

Glenda Beall with writer Raven Chiong, new member of NCWN-West

This past weekend The Festival on the Square was held on the historic square of Hayesville, NC. Thousands of people attend this event each year, but everything was cancelled in 2020. The NC Writers' Network-West registered for a booth this year. Carroll S. Taylor and her husband, Hugh, volunteered to staff the booth, put up the tent and tables and take it all down on Sunday afternoon. They had a long, tiring weekend, but Carroll said she sold more books than at any other place she has signed books.

Carroll is a novelist with two young adult novels published. She recently published a picture book. Feannag, the Crow is filled with colorful illustrations by Doreyl Ammons Cain.

See more about Carroll at www.chinaberrysummer.com

Brenda Kay Ledford sits with Carroll in front of our banner. Visitors seem to take notice of the Books by Local Authors sign and wanted to take home one of our books. Brenda Kay also published a picture book recently and it, too, had colorful illustrations by Doreyl Ammons Cain

A larger photo of the booth with Brenda and Carroll at the front table.

I sat at the side table on Saturday and Sunday and enjoyed meeting people who stopped by. We wanted to show our presence in the community and encourage novice writers to join us and become a part of our group in western NC. We handed out our brochure with all our contact information and a form for joining NCWN. I expect to hear from folks who want to write and learn more about publishing.

We gave away a number of books and our anthology, Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, was popular with visitors from other states. They wanted to take home a book by western NC writers. This book is still for sale by contacting me.   www.pcncwnw@gmail.com 

I signed up to teach another writing class in September on Zoom. I will give more details later.
Hope you all had a great weekend. I am suffering a bit from sitting in that hard chair for hours, but tomorrow I will be fine again.