WWQP Bulletin Board Chat

SHAKES

I get the shakes just thinking about it. When my DD drove to CA from FL to go to grad school at USC she stayed with a friend from Tampa with whom she had worked and who had migrated west. He was sharing an apartment with a gay couple whom he knew (he too was gay). The first night there she woke up to a loud rumble and rattling glass. She was thinking "why is Chris running the vacuum cleaner in the middle of the night?" when she realized that her bed was shaking. She ran to the bedroom door and opened it to see three naked men standing in doorways shouting "stand in the doorway, stand in the doorway!!!" to her. That was her introduction to Los Angeles. A number of years later the North Ridge quake hit and her apartment then suffered some scary cracks in the wall and pictures shattered on the floor. The after shocks really got to her and she said everyone in the city was a wreck.

My ex son in law, a geologist, tells me that here in the southern Appalachian chain we are sitting on a very significant fault that is bound to erupt some time or other. I think the islands in the Carribean are part of the Appalachian chain so we already know how bad it can be.

On the subject of writers I'd like to recommend a local writer of this area. He teaches writing here at Western Carolina University and has won two O. Henry prizes for short stories and was a 2009 PEN/Faulkner finalist for the novel Serena which was a NY Times best seller. I downloaded Serena onto my IPod and listened to it. It was a gripping tale of good and evil taking place right here in this area in the days leading up to the founding of the Great Smoky Mtn. Nat'l Park and the vicious conflict between those who would strip the whole area of the hard wood forests and those who would save what was left at that time. He is also a poet. His work is always, as far as I know, set in the southern Appalachians which I have come to love so much. Right now I'm reading his newest collection of short stories, Burning Bright.

Got to get the dogs out. Rocky has taken up living part time with neighbors down the hill. They swear to me they are not feeding him but twice this week he's been gone overnight. Betty says he's made himself a nest in their back yard. He sure is not losing any weight and showed no interest in eating when he showed up here this morning. He just loves their dogs. If I drop dead tomorrow I don't think he'll miss me very much. He is much beloved by all the neighbors. Maybe they'd like to pay for his food and vet bills. Oh well, I love him too and he's been very good for Kit. She actually plays with him.

Jane

posted by Jane in NC @ 1:01 PM