Susan's Hill Country Journal

January 2. My birthday. Cold today, with a clear bright blue sky that might ring like a bell if a bird struck it. In the pre-dawn light, the grass is frosted. silver, draped with gossamer webs. I am definitely a grass person, especially in the winter, when the bunch grasses in the pastures and along the road stand out in variegated browns and reds and golds. I wonder what differences there are (besides the obvious) between grass and tree people.

January 6. When we walked to the lake this morning, just as the sun came up, the Heron Tree was crowded with sleepy cormorants, perching shoulder to shoulder, maybe fifty or sixty of them. When we walked along the shore, they startled awake and took flight, the whole flock of them, circling to the west over the hill, then back to the lake, where they skittered into the water and began feeding. These are large, web-footed birds, about the size of a small goose, and they made quite a commotion. Our geese weren't quite sure what to make of them and stood on the shore, gawking. There's information here: www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/i1200id.html, some pictures and distribution maps and even an unmusical song.

January 9.

Last night was the first book-signing of the Indigo Dying tour, at Book People in Austin. We had a good crowd, many of them from the Austin Herb Society. Since Indigo is about the fiber arts, I took my spindle and some fiber and did a bit of spinning, just to show how its done. Fun! I should mention that Bill made my spindles and the carved walnut dough bowl in which the yarns and fiber are displayed.

January 12. We had a great turnout at Murder by the Book in Houston on Saturday, especially when you consider that it was raining and cold. David, Dean, and Martha did a wonderful job setting things up-that store is beginning to feel like a second home, since I go there so often. But it's a seven-hour round trip in the car, and by the time I was headed home, I was really tired. Discretion being the better part of something-or-other, I stopped at a motel in Brenham and stayed all night.

January 22. Whew! That was a looong tour, with more to-ing and fro-ing than I've had in quite a while. Most of it is a blurred memory, but there are some wonderful standouts. (The great thing about a book tour is that it lets me talk to China's and Ruby's far-flung friends!) In Scottsdale, AZ, the women of the Arizona Herb Association treated me to a luscious lunch and a tour of their demonstration garden-large and impressive, with both familiar plants and some I'd never seen before. Members of the group also came to the signing, which Barbara Peters managed with her usual fine showmanship. I also taped an interview for "Book Talk" on TV-7-lots of fun!

In LA, I'm glad to say that the signing at Mystery Bookstore was not upstaged by a world premier just up the street and a filming across the street. In fact, some of China's San Diego friends managed to wend their way through the traffic. Joan Kief brought me a strand of her hand-made rose beads, a perfect match for my blue jacket. I wore them throughout the tour, and thought of Joan whenever I caught that lovely rose scent.

In San Mateo, Ed Kaufman assembled a nice crowd of China's friends, but I have to say that the high point of the visit was dinner with my old friend Jack and his new (well, new to me, and delightful) friend, Linda. My friendship with Jack dates back to my UC Berkeley days, in the turbulent 60s and early 70s. It's both fascinating and a little frightening to contemplate that span of years and reflect on the changes in our lives and in the world.

In Portland, I enjoyed a radio interview with fellow mystery-writer Ed Goldberg, of KBOO-FM. We discovered plenty of mutual interests, and the half-hour went by like a flash. Jill, at Murder by the Book in Portland, hosted a great signing, with some delicious munchies. Thanks, Jill!

From Portland to Seattle to Denver, all in one day--and that's about all I remember of that! Except that at the Mystery Book Shop in Seattle, I got to meet Patricia Broom and her daughter Pam, who had driven all the way from Winlock WA to come to the signing. Patricia is a long-time China friend, a long-time subscriber to the print version of "China's Garden". It was good to meet her, and even nicer when she won the raffled copy of Thyme of Death!

In Denver, I was delighted by the turnout at Murder by the Book (no, this is not a chain, but independent bookstores with the same delightful name). The store was jammed, thanks to the bookstore newsletter and the newspaper notice. Also in the crowd: my daughter Robin Wittig and her husband Jeff Duncan, from nearby Woodland Park (yes, that Woodland Park, which came close to burning down during the last Colorado fire season!). Jeff and Robin and I had lunch and a long, leisurely visit. The next day, another treat: lunch at the lovely home of Byron and Rita Roderick, before a visit to High Crimes in Boulder. Rita served a scrumptious tomato-basil soup, I admired the views of lakes and mountains, and Byron and I exchanged memories. Our friendship goes back to high school, and since we hadn't seen each other for four decades, we had plenty of catching up to do. Byron used to play the tuba, while I played the baritone horn, so we sat close to one another in Band class and marched in the same section-oh, gosh, what a distant memory.

Finally, Austin and home, lovely, peaceful home, where the daffodils are already blooming! A great many miles, a great many memories, some fine old friends and wonderful new friends-altogether, I think this was the best tour yet!

January 26. The momentous decision has been made-talking animals in the Beatrix Potter books! This crazy notion came to me before I left on the tour, and I sent a couple of sample chapters to my editor, who likes the idea. Seems to me that this is a natural for Beatrix Potter, since her own books are full of talking animals and she herself was a devoted animal-lover. I've never done anything like this, but I can already see that it's going to be wonderful, imaginative fun!

January 30. Peggy, our webmistress, has been working hard on the new bulletin board for the website, and has it ready to go at last! There were lots of technical problems to solve, since it is a large board, with a great many options. To take a look, click here: www.mysterypartners.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi.