I don’t write for this website much. I plead several knee surgeries in the last few years. Recuperation from surgery is taxing. Mentally it’s just exhausting. I’m about fourteen weeks out of the last knee replacement and have just begun to turn a corner in the last few weeks. I discovered Reiki helps. Who knew?
Enough of the organ recital. Thankfully, my surgeon informs me I’ve run out of knees to operate on. And thank you, I’m feeling and walking much better now.
Also, just to keep the idly curious informed, I’ve been working on a massive project with about fifteen other writers to create a history book on Bethesda Episcopal Church in Saratoga Springs, NY, a significantly lush Gilded Age building designed by Richard Upjohn, the architect for Trinity Church in Wall Street. With so many authors, it’s been a massive undertaking, but the end is in sight. For a home-spun effort representing both professionals, academics and a doughty bunch of parishioners, it has been a hugely rewarding effort and fascinating research. But perhaps I should wait ‘til I can actually hold a copy in my hand. At least now, after three years, that seems possible.
People who know me, and especially fans of The Truth and Legend of Lily Martindale, keep asking me when the next book is coming out. Aside from the vast church history and two older fiction manuscripts of mine which need to find a publisher or agent, I have two other projects underway. One is about an elephant, a stuffed one, in the Adirondacks (obviously fiction). The other (also fiction) is about a woman in a witness protection program in Saratoga Springs who becomes interested in the history of the house where she’s kept under guard. I’m flying blind on both.
There’s a great poem from Jay Rogoff’s poetry collection How We Came to Stand on This Shore (River City Publishing, 2003) called “Driving in Fog” which aptly describes so much of what I feel when I write. He says “The road emerges out of nowhere/all ten yards of it—and runs straight nowhere,/the white lines stuttering. . .”
Like many of us, I write, or try to write, every day on whatever project comes to hand whether it’s my journal or a serious project like the church history or my own fiction. Poetry has not risen to the surface since The Three Poets did a reading last fall at the Saratoga Springs Public Library. Here’s a poem I read that night that is an apt sense of how I’ve been feeling about poetry and the writing life:
POET FOUND DEAD IN RIPPED STOCKINGS
The Poet is found dead, road
kill it appears, her stockings
laddered out to here, up to there.
A great violence done, not all
by vehicle. She had not shaved
in some time.
Her bra, of cheap manufacture,
was so worn in places
the wires and padding poked through.
Her underwear—likely bought in bulk—
stained and over worn
in the posterior.
She carried to the last
an old leather briefcase, heavy
with books and papers.
The impact had split the seams,
sent pages and pages
out upon the wind.
No one could say if she’d been
known, published.
Those men and women
who attended the body
cannot be said to be interested
in the flying papers.
No one seemed inclined to
gather to her the pages that strayed
into the neighboring corn field
which, had she lived, she would note
the way the stubble, broken, bent and tattered
still gave sustenance to the crows.
How the crows were set off against
the darkening sky
the dusting of snow.
maryazoy said:
I’m glad you’re on the mend. Was this last surgery tougher than all the previous, rehab-wise? How has Reiki factored into it? (I fantasize about getting trained in it.)
I’m also excited to hear about the two new books you’re working on. Write on, woman!
The Jay Ripoff quote reminds me of an old favorite by E.L. Doctorow:
“Writing is like driving a car at night in the fog. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
I use it often in counseling in reference to so many other life challenges.
And your poem’s just fab! Especially the ladder stockings and that drop-dead final stanza.
I’ve just applied for a PT job as a manuscript reader for The Sun. If I get it, it will help me finally understand why the hell we moved down here! Keep your fingers and toes firmly crossed for me please..
XOM On Jan 30, 2016 2:50 PM, “Mary Sanders Shartle” wrote:
> msshartle posted: “I don’t write for this website much. I plead several > knee surgeries in the last few years. Recuperation from surgery is taxing. > Mentally it’s just exhausting. I’m about fourteen weeks out of the last > knee replacement and have just begun to turn a corner ” >
msshartle said:
Hey there!
Actually this surgery went much better, largely because of the super duper cocktail they gave me for the surgery, which included an long-lasting injection to the site during or just after which gave me an additional 12 hours of comfortable recovery in hospital without the dicey opioids.
Reiki reminds me of cranial sacral therapy, which I have had before and is more like laying on of hands rather than massage. Reiki is cheaper and a little more woo woo.
I love that spell changer twisted Jay’s name to “Ripoff” instead of “Rogoff.” He was my advisor at Skidmore. And I have seen the Doctorow quote somewhere before.
The Sun, which I now subscribe to, is something I love to read. I also use it in my memoir workshops for seniors. That would be a terrific PT job for you. Dutifully crossing fingers and toes!
Thanks for being a loyal follower.
Kathleen Casey said:
Went to your pp presentation tonight at the LL library. Thank you for taking the time to come.
I enjoyed it and have since read your blogs…especially enjoyed your Chipmunk story…I tend to sing to the birds, fish, frogs in my yard and have regular conversations with my next door neighbors, Chubs, a golden retriever and screwy Louie, the craziest ass Pug on the planet. I have been writing in my head for two decades now, ever since i took English comp I and Ii in college and found myself to be a semi-gifted writer. Maybe one day , I could attend one of your writing classes. As of now, I am too busy failing at retirement for the 7th year..
KATHY CASEY
msshartle said:
Thank you for coming last night! Glad you liked the Hermit presentation. I’ll try to be more diligent about posting my upcoming workshops. I also do one-shot deals for groups, if you have a group. Matter of fact, the Hadley-Luzerne Historical society has me signed up for September 28th. Not sure what time or where it’s going to be. (Usually it’s at the Hadley Town Hall.) This is for memoir writing: how to get started, keep going. So keep that in mind. Maybe it will be the jump start you need. Thanks again! Mary SS