Writing – Page 16 – Costa Jill

Dogs, Dogs, Dogs

Yes, three dogs lost in three months.

First it was Matu on Xmas Eve – a quick growing cancer. I was having a crappy holiday to start with.

Then Buck did himself in. Those damn black labs are the biggest chow hounds they lose all sense of reason. Ate a content-filled plastic bag that got stuck and damaged his organs beyond repair.

My damn burst on the last one, Foxy, who was run down on the road and flung over the cliff.

The news was too much, especially when added to the recent loss of other friends of the human kind. I cried. I grieved.
I’d been putting off editing my story “Puppy Love” for the last month to post on my blog costajill.com. Such a procrastinator. I worked through my grief and got it posted.
I offer it as a memorial to these wonderful friends – both dog and human.

Slithery creeping age. Live it. Love it.

With the arrival of Medicare, this my 65th year is slithering over me. If I could, I’d lose myself in drink or drugs, but the former gives me migraines and the latter, senility. I’m alternately freaking out by or blithely accepting my certain death, and thanking god (just an expression) there’s no eternity. Just contemplate it. Existing forever. Now that scares the shit out of me. I may not believe in god, but I believe in the instinct for survival. I believe in the spark of life that never goes out as it transfers from one life to another. It’s all in the interpretation, right?

I’ve learned that living my life, not as an earth mover, but doing one small act of kindness at a time, amongst all the other acts of living, is good enough, though infinitesimal.

One day I struggle on, sitting in the same little corner day after day, phone silent, inertia keeping from action. I sigh and do another Sudoku, read another newspaper, check for email, listen to NPR, eat crap.

Then something snaps and everything’s easy again. I’m back to feeling vivacious, vital, vigorous. I’m writing, doing yoga, communing with friends, eating good, and happy.

And that’s life, good, bad and indifferent. I’m living in the moment as long as it lasts.

Solar in Florida

I’m excited. Florida is finally a first. Really Gainesville. My son’s town. It is the first city in No. America to put into place, through the city-owned power plant, a feed-in tariff. Anyone can produce energy from renewable sources (mostly solar in Florida) and make a profit by selling it back to the power company. They would be paid a premium for doing so.
Our very own Fl. senator from Sarasota, and my neighbor, Keith Fitzgerald is co-authoring this bi-partisan bill with P. Kreegel to make it statewide. This would be a great step in the direction of achieving the goal Gov. Crist has made of getting 20% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020.
This will only raise bills a few cents, and depending on the amount of solar energy produced, it can become a profitable business. One man, according to the Sarasota Herald Tribune, can make $14K with 100 solar panels.
Hey California watch out. Florida might sneak on past you on energy saving issues. I’d love some feedback on feed-in tariffs.

I’m Back

Looks like one of those Costa Rican bugs has bitten me again – some internal one. Will have the tests back next week. I’m finally feeling good enough to drag myself off the couch and aah! that fresh Florida February air feels fabulous. Should have a story posted next week. In the next few days will give you some background material. Don’t give up.

How do you like my background? It’s called the Whale’s Tail – a part of the Costa Rican Pacific coastline that I see from my balcony everyday. I’m so lucky!

Are You Somebody?

After reading Nuala O”Faolain’s memoir Are You Somebody? I shed a few tears:

for the pain and the beauty in this little treasure of a book I found at Goodwill.
for how it relates to me (we’re so egotistical aren’t we) and all women.
for the memory of my mother, whose birthday is today.
for my close friend’s mother’s dying, her funeral being today.
for my ill health. My stomach hurts from some undiagnosed what?
for my inability to settle my unruly thoughts, sort through them into a coherent view of my life and its relationships.

She tells her story with such honesty, power and frankness from a horrendous Irish childhood into her 50’s as she begins to deal with aging. This American edition includes her Afterwords – the letters and stories she received. She just needed to tell her story having no idea that the instant best seller it became meant so much to so many people, especially women.

I was ready to write to her too, but found I was too late. She died late in 2008. I’ll write here instead. Hope to be posting some short stories soon.

And I thought I was going to write something funny and smart. Next time. I’ll be back to my old optimistic self tomorrow.

Favorite Books/Writers

I’m back to Pat Vaughn’s writing group. Back to editing, critiquing, writing. Of course I never left reading. So here’s a list of some of my favorite books/writers from mostly the present in no particular order.

Barbara Kingsolver – Poisonwood Bible
Shirley Hazzard – Transit of Venus
Mary Gaitskill – Veronica
Jeanette Winterson – The Passion
Jonathan Franzen – The Corrections
Michael Pollen – The Botany of Desire
Elizabeth Berg – Pull of the Moon
Don DeLillo – The Body Artist
Margaret Atwood – The Handmaid’s Tale
Marilyn Robinson – Housekeeping
Nuala O’Faolain – I Dream of You

Try them or comment. What are your favorites? Always looking for new reads, though I have 2 stacks on my table ready to go.

Hello world!

Gotta start somewhere. I’m sending this out to my meager email list. If you access my blog please reply and tell all your friends. I am also on Facebook. My son Ray is helping me get started. My blog name is CostaJill.com or do you already know that? I’m interested in learning how this whole internet writing world works. I understand that works on paper are almost obsolete. I’ll be posting my thoughts and writings – political, personal, whatever is entertaining or interesting at the moment. Hope you join in. Got any questions, hints, suggestions? Let me know. Hello world. Jill