Lucy Maud Montgomery Tag

Thanks to my friend Rachel at The Edge of the Precipice, I learned about Eva at Coffee, Classics and Craziness’ celebration of Lucy Maud Montgomery (and see Google’s Doodles about Anne of Green Gables today (and likely in archives and blog posts)).

It looks like fun, so I decided to participate!

• How did you first discover LMM’s books?

I honestly don’t remember.  I know I didn’t read them when I was younger, so it must have been a recommendation from someone.

• What’s your favorite LMM book? 

A Tangled Web.  I like Blue Castle, but the way Valency gets treated at the beginning makes me cringe.  Tangled Web is actually kind of fun, and a lot of good people get better lives out of all the commotion over the jug.

• What’s your least favorite LMM book?

Magic for Marigold.  Just didn’t get into it.

• Who is your favorite character in allllll of LMM’s works?

Emily.  I know a lot of people don’t like the Emily books as much, but there’s something about her.

• What couple is your favorite?

Valancy and Barney. They’re more truly kindred spirits than any other couple in LMM, IMHO.

• What is your favorite quote from LMM (either a quote from one of her books, or from her personal life)?

“Don’t be led away by those howls about realism. Remember-pine woods are just as real as pigsties and a darn sight pleasanter to be in.”

• How many LMM books have you read?

All of them, I think. I found most of the story collections on either Scribd or Project Gutenberg.  And I’ve read all of Anne, Emily and Pat and the grown-up books: Tangled Web, Blue Castle and Kilmeny of the Orchard. Also the Story Girl books and Jane of Lantern Hill (another favorite). And Magic for Marigold. *sigh*

• Which LMM book would you most like to see made into a movie?

The Blue Castle.  No casting ideas, but it would just be fun.  Actually, the only casting idea is now too old, alas — I would have liked to see the actor who played “Fedora” in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Richard Young) as Barney.

• Have you found a kindred spirit?

In the books? Probably Emily (not that I have any pretense to her looks) because I know how it feels to be misunderstood and to have a passion for writing — even if that passion, at the moment is swamped by apathy and some depression.

 

 

#ThreeWordWednesday, 3/5/2014 (fiction)

Credible, Decrepit, Pensive.

It had been more than 30 years since I left my hometown.

Frankly, I never expected to return. My folks had died when I was still in my 20s, my sister left the state, and it was just me. There was little to call me back, even though I was still about an hour away from home.  Somehow, the adventure gene was one I hadn’t gotten.

Then a group of my friends found me on Facebook. I don’t even know why I signed up. Curiosity, I guess. I reconnected without any desire to come home, or do the reunion thing.  In the span of time, 30 years isn’t much, but somehow time had attenuated my memories and the feelings attached to them.  So I did a credible job of responding to the “remember whens” and “whatever happened tos” and kept my emotional distance.

Then, about 2 weeks ago, someone posted that the houses on the street where I grew up were about to be demolished.  Some developer thought the small town needed a big-box strip mall and they’d chosen that area for it.

So here I was; I sat in the driveway, pensive, with no interest in going further.  No one had bothered me – the houses were already empty – and the place I had called home for 22 years was decrepit. The owners who’d had it after my folks died hadn’t taken very good care of it, I thought.

You’re going to call me weird, but I’ve always thought that an abandoned house was one of the saddest things imaginable. When I was a little girl, my grandparents’ house in the country was a target for people who’d decided to dump their unwanted pets. More times than I can count, I remembered a bewildered pet sitting by the side of the road, waiting for a loved person who would never return.

These houses felt the same way to me – as though they wondered what they had done wrong, why their families had left, feeling cold and lonely as the days passed.

I started my car and put it in gear, backing down the driveway and pulling out onto the deserted highway.  On an impulse, I tooted the horn as I drove away; I remember, thanks for the memories. So long.

Three Word Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The first time ever I saw his face …

Ah, I always loved that song, although I admit I’ve always wished it was someone else talking about me.  The first time ever I saw his face, it was on a computer screen. A search I was doing had gone very wrong; I knew, beyond any doubt, that the picture I was searching for was out there, and in desperation, I plunked in the two keywords, all by themselves, that were the core terms of the search.

As Google whirred away and the results page started to load, I stretched and used the tips of my fingers to knead my stiff neck. Yeah, I spent too long on the computer.  So sue me. As the screen stopped dropping images in their places, I glanced at it – and stopped. Oh my gosh. The first picture in the search results was not particularly remarkable for its composition or style.  It wasn’t even in color. But the subject – oh, the subject.

It was a man about my age, with what looked like black or dark brown hair and black or dark brown eyes. Just a guy, I suppose. But that’s like saying a Rolls Royce has four wheels and  moves. Kinda like a little red wagon. Don’t sass me, girl.  If you didn’t see a little red wagon at the museum I know you’ve seen a picture.  Now where was I?  Oh, yes.

I’ve never seen eyes as beautiful as that on someone who wasn’t a celebrity. I can’t describe them, exactly, or tell you what it was about them that made my heart melt.  The only thing I remember thinking was that they were kind eyes, with humor. You had the feeling he was sharing a joke with the photographer, was resigned about having his picture taken.

And his smile! Oh, this is America, we all get the dentist treatment growing up in a way that some other countries don’t.  But it was more than perfect dental work; I can’t describe how it hit me any than I can his eyes. Taken as a whole, he was a remarkably good-looking man.  One look and I was done for. I never believed in love at first sight – until then.

That was a long time ago. There used to be a computer system called Facebook. For a while, people thought it would take over the digital world. But like Compuserve and GEnie and a lot of other web/communication systems that had their day and passed, so did Facebook.  I “met” him there, and for a time, we were friends, as it was defined in those days. But that passed, too. After the Great Viral Attack of 2021, when Facebook was wiped out (along with a lot of other things), we lost touch. I always regretted that. I tried hard to cleanse my memory and go on with my life.  Your grandfather never knew, and I’m glad.  He never understood computers, or how people could meet online and connect in the most innocent of ways, and it would have hurt him. I would have been sorry if I had caused him pain.

I know, I could build one of those holograms you kids are all so hot about. I have the picture, and I even have a video I downloaded from YouTube – another site that went away eventually. I saved our chats and messages, too. But it wouldn’t be the same.

Strange as it would sound, even though he was never really more than virtual to me, all the new technology would somehow make him more imaginary, not less. I’d rather have that first memory of him, of seeing his face, and remember the connection we did have.

Now get your padscreen over here and set up the board. Your gramma’s going to kick your butt in 3D Tetris!