Thinking about my mother

"...life is inherently messy, complicated, cross-wired, an endless negotiation between interior and exterior, between the environment in which a human or an animal lives and its physiological and neurological state."

My mother wrote this in one of her notebooks. She kept a record of phrases and quotes to use later when she was writing.

Born in 1917, my mother passed away in 2004 at the age of 87. For many years, she journalled every day, and wrote articles. She also completed a romance novel (never published). A few of her articles were published in local newspapers.

I am in the process of organizing and transcribing her writings into my computer. Fortunately, she printed out things she wrote on her computers, since I don't know where the disks are or if I could download the material from them. I would like to assemble her writings into an autobiography some day.

I think my mother would have loved the advent of blogs and being able to publish online. She frequently encouraged me to write, she would be glad to know I am finally following her suggestion.

Online opportunities have also allowed me to publish some of my mother's material. Shreveport, Louisiana in the 1920s and 1930s gives a vivid view of where she grew up. Reflections: Luck speaks eloquently about how we can make our own luck.

I think my favorite is Memories in a Drawer (originally entitled "Emptying the Dresser Drawers") in which she paints a picture of my father's life by examining what he had in his bureau. (Note: the "youngest daughter" is me)

I feel like my mother is talking to me as I transcribe her words, especially when I am typing from her hand-written notebooks. Although I feel sad when I remember how much I miss her, it's a joy to hear her voice and share her thoughts with others.

The New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival

Yesterday, my daughter Jen took me to the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival for Mother's Day. The one hour drive was delightfully spent chatting with my daughter, I was knitting, she was driving. Bright and sunny, it was a chilly, windy day. Many people commented about the cold, but I was much happier with a cool day than a hot and muggy one.

It was a fun event to go to as a knitter, but it also gave me a lot of ideas for my writing as The Boston Knitting Examiner. I had already written an article about the Festival before the event, actually being there gave me lots more info.

Different kinds of yarns were displayed in many varieties. Fibers included wool, alpaca and rabbit, many weights and styles of yarn, endless colors, and fibers in all stages of completion including raw fleece, roving, and undyed yarn.

It was also interesting to see all the products related to knitting. In addition to patterns, there were buttons, jewelry, spindles, spinning wheels, lotions, dyes, knitting machines and more.

Although there were lots of tempting items, I ended the day only buying a T-shirt. Jen got a drop spindle kit - something I had suggested she might enjoy. It included a simple drop spindle, some lovely dyed wool roving, and an instruction sheet. We enjoyed watching a demonstration of how to use a drop spindle. She also bought some alpaca roving in lovely multiple shades of brown.

Next week, on May 15 is the Annual Rhode Island Wool and Fiber Festival at Coggeshall Farm Museum, Rt. 114 Bristol, Rhode Island. For a list of more fiber and knitting events this summer, check out my article Summer 2010 Knitting and Fiber Events in New England.

Writing motivation

"What motivates people to write?" my daughter Heather asked me. "Why write about something other people have already written about?"

I thought about it for a moment. I talked about how writers use their own voice to express themselves. When you write, you choose what to put in and what to leave out, you organize it in a way you think makes sense. Writers infuse pieces with their own bias.

When I said those things, she looked at me and said "It's like a piano! There are 88 keys but there are infinite variations." Not only the combination of which keys to play, but rests, tempo, tone and more. When playing a piece that has been played before, each musician adds their own style to it, and each new performance will sound different.

I think it is a wonderful analogy. Putting things into your own voice - writing your own composition - helps give meaning to what you create.