Where Worlds Collide

It's not Cynosure, but.... that's a good thing, I think. Here is where I exist, created by my characters and creating the stories they live in.

Friday, March 30, 2012

We Come From Inspiration

Marcus and Nanny

My grandmother says "Everything has a story."

In lieu of a post about me (you may find links to my blogs and photography pages at the end of the post), may I introduce you to two of the most inspiring people I know? Nanny, my grandmother and Marcus, my son.

Nanny will be 89 this May. A product of her time, the Great Depression, World War II--the 20th Century helped mold her but not define her. So let me tell you about a book, breast cancer and 300 home-baked pies.

Women in every generation have had a lot to overcome, and often it seems as if obstacles arrive daily. Twenty years ago, diagnosed with breast cancer she called up the hospital on the day of her radical mastectomy to demand they reschedule. The extra hours of intake and anesthesia testing conflicted with her fund-raising luncheon to "build an elevator for the old people" (her words, not mine) at her church, and she still had another ten pies to bake (out of 300) before 11am. "In no way" she told them could she make it to the hospital before 2:30. She went in for surgery at 3pm and has been breast cancer-free since.

Dan, Nanny & Eden on June 22, 2002 cred Paulsen Photography
Our Wedding --cred Paulsen Photography

Just last December, she finished her book, an in-depth study of the Keck windows (Mr. Keck apprenticed with Tiffany) of her church and the history Cicero NY. She's spoken with the Syracuse University (where she also set up a scholarship for two students who participate in their Environmental Studies program) Press, and hopefully it will be released within the year.

How could I not be inspired by this woman?

Or my son, who at five years-old already creates his own roller coasters, writes his own stories (here is an example of one from 2009)... Yesterday he came down from designing a pinball game on his computer to ask me how to spell Einstein. And he's known more about our solar system and space exploration than me for years now.

Having them in my life reminds me of the song Harry Belafonte made famous: Turn the World Around. For truly we come from the fire. (And coincidentally this was Marcus's favorite song for a long time, especially this version done with Jim Henson's Muppets.)
"We come from the fire
Livin' in the fire
Go back to the fire
Turn the world around

We come from the water
Livin' in the water
Go back to the water
Turn the world around

We come from the mountain
Livin' on the mountain
Go back to the mountain
Turn the world around"
Marcus Building a Ferris Wheel from K'Nex
Nimble Fingers

I see a continuity to life where our part is a small one, a moment of time. Many are probably familiar with the poem by Linda Ellis called The Dash where she compares our lives to that "dash" between the dates of our birth and death on a tombstone. It's true. But there is another, in my opinion, greater point that this poem doesn't address. When you put a lot of dashes together, you make a line. Actually, you get a multitude of lines, because there is not a one of us who does not touch many others in our time. And with a multitude of lines, you beget tapestries and art and panoramas. You beget worlds. And such is the way of print, as writers and story tellers. We beget worlds from a multitude of dashes all connected to each other.

We come from inspiration; we go back to inspiration. We turn the world around.

(While still learning daily about life, Eden Mabee writes science fantasy stories, teaches herself photography and enjoys the wonderful company of her husband and son. She collects feral cats, odd do-dads, and historical trivia, all of which find homes in prose eventually. In her blog A Garden of Delights, she explores those things that inspire creativity. While Many Worlds From Many Minds follows her writing journey with all its twists and turns. You can find her pictures on Imgur and Flickr under her Twitter name @Kymele. She spends far too much time in front of her computer screen.)

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Cold winds

Outside, the wind is blowing so hard I can feel it passing through the walls and gnawing at my feet. Sometimes I swear we live in a wind tunnel. We may, given that we live on a north-south road, on a hill in the Heldebergs. Simply put, the strip of road that is cleared for the trees funnels all the wind here, and it pours down from the peak with a vengeance.


I also live in a beautiful area however. For the inconvenience of a half-hour drive, I'm near enough to our state capitol, I can walk to a lovely reservoir and enjoy cheery sunrises and sunsets over the water, and for a little less driving, there are several wildlife preserves nearby.

It really is a nice place all in all. Which of course, doesn't explain why I would like to leave it. Though I do. Mostly I dream of traveling; other times, I would love to move to the UK, maybe live near Solihul or just outside Wolverhampton; and if not those, I think I'd like to take up the family home out by Syracuse, where I can enjoy fifteen acres of land with fruit trees and memories yet still be able to comfortably ride a bike to the nearest Barnes & Noble.

I really don't know what my actual plans are, except that I want something different. And how this ties in with me posting here today after so very long, is that here as well, I want something different. No,I need something different, but I don't know what yet. So, I'll keep this place on the back burner until I know more, and I will ponder and consider what it might be.