Susan's Hill Country Journal

November 2. Yesterday, we drove down to Brenham to the Antique Rose Emporium, where I gave a talk about herbs and mysteries and Bill and I sold books. There was a good crowd for the talk—standing room only!—and a lively period of questions afterward. The Rose Emporium (www.antiqueroseemporium.com) is the work of Mike Shoop, who has been working with old roses since the 70s. "Old" or "antique" roses are plants whose pedigree goes back 100 years or longer, many of them brought to Texas by early settlers and re-discovered growing wild. These roses are hardy (most of them resist black spot) and easy to grow. I love to go to the Emporium—the roses are drop-dead gorgeous and I always come back with a bushel basket of ideas (not to mention a truckload of plants!).

November 8. Last night was Story Circle’s first benefit play, Paullette MacDougal’s "Waiting For MacArthur." We had a champagne-and-chocolates reception, then the play (which was simply wonderful), and then a talk-back session afterward with the four women of the cast and Paullette, who is a Story Circle member. The performance was a sell-out, and the play reminded all of us (as if we needed any reminder!) of the importance of women’s stories. It was about an Army nurse marooned on Corregidor after MacArthur abandoned the fortress, and three women with whom she corresponded, back home. We have to remember that women have war stories, too. Paullette’s play is an important reminder.

November 12. There’s more cold weather on the way, so I moved the last of the tender perennials into their winter greenhouse shelter. It’s full of green plants now, dug and potted and trimmed where necessary--the scented geraniums, bays, aloes (too many of them, but I hate to abandon them in the garden), lemon verbena, several varieties of sweet potato vine, some basil I couldn’t part with, a few especially pretty coleus, and a half-dozen spider plants with dozens of little babies each. And over in the corner, the lion’s ear is blooming a vibrant orange.

November 19. The sandhill cranes flew over again today, on their way to the South Texas coast near Corpus Christi, where they winter. Those that follow the central Texas flyway have come from Alaska and the northern reaches of Canada, and have spent several days on the Platte River in Nebraska before heading south. Visiting them there during their spring migration is on my list of life-time things to do. Today, I was working at the computer when Bill came in to tell me that a flock was just overhead. I ran outdoors and heard them calling--that wild, wonderful, primitive call that is unmistakably theirs—then saw them circling, riding upward on their great wings in a rising thermal overhead, breaking at the top to turn southward. I think of their long, long flight, the strong wings that carry them, the warm shallow waters that draw them, and wish I could fly with them, could soar as they soar, see what they see. So very, very lovely--an event I look forward to each autumn. The picture here is borrowed from a website with lots more information about these wonderful birds: www.ngpc.state.ne.us/wildlife/cranes.html.

November 21. I’m leaving today for a visit to Woodland Park, CO, to see my daughter Robin and her family. The holiday visitors will also include my granddaughter Amy, visiting from Alaska, and my great-grandson Coby! It will be my first visit with Coby, and I’m looking forward to it eagerly. It will also be good to get away from the Robin Paige project for a little while. Bill and I have been working on it steadily—Death in Hyde Park is the name of this one—and we’re within about 10,000 words of the end of the book. But as usual, there are some tangles in earlier sections, and we have to go back and sort out several problems. As we write, we’re so caught up in the immediate section we’re working on that we don’t always see inconsistencies and "disconnects." By the time I get back from Robin’s, Bill will have reread the entire book and marked all the scenes that need fixing. When I get home, I’ll start from the beginning with the rewrite, and then we can go on to the last few chapters.

November 27.

Just got back from visiting Robin. What a joy it was to see little Coby! Here he is, wearing a sweater I knitted for him. Amy is a great mom, and Robin is obviously enjoying being a grandmother. But I haven’t gotten used to the idea of being a great-grandmother. Somehow, that just doesn’t seem possible. But Robin was born when I was just 20, so yes, it’s possible. I’ve always been glad that I had my children when I was young, before I started college and got involved with an academic career. I somehow feel as if we all grew up together, sometimes the hard way. But perhaps that has made us closer.

November 30. Back at work on Death at Hyde Park. Bill seems to have fixed most of the problems, and it reads pretty well. But there are always lots of little things to tinker with. I always feel that I don’t quite finish any of the books, I just run out of time to work! There are probably two more weeks on this project (it’s due December 16), but I’m already beginning to think about the upcoming Beatrix Potter mystery. I’ve got the chapters I sent with the series proposal and will work on them in December. I’ll have to get a head start on it, because January will be taken up with book signings and the book tour. I’m going west this year, to Arizona, California, Oregon, Washington, and Colorado.