Christmas Pig

Christmas Pig hanging out in his yard.

Christmas Pig appears in our neighborhood every year. My son, my husband, and I cheer when Christmas Pig’s owners set him in their yard. “Yea! It’s Christmas Pig! Let the holiday season begin!”

Christmas Pig lives on a street not far from us, but we have to go out of our way a couple blocks to see him, and in early December we start going that slightly longer way home just to for him. Then for a few weeks, we go that way almost every day to say hi.

“Yea! Christmas Pig!”

We acknowledge the season is over when Christmas Pig is no longer on the lawn. “Aww. Christmas Pig is gone. Bye-bye Christmas Pig.”

His owners are completely clueless of our love for Christmas Pig. We don’t know the people in that house. I don’t think they even have kids.

Well, now it is December 20th and Christmas Pig hasn’t shown up. No sign of him. He’s never been this late before, and as far as I know, the same people live in that house. We’ve been driving by the house every single day for two weeks. “Christmas Pig?”

My son and I have discussed the fate of Christmas Pig. Moved? Injured? Forgotten? “What if he’s still in his box waiting for his few weeks of freedom?” And to think that Christmas Pig’s family has no idea the amount of time we spend speculating.

We considered shouting out the car window. “Set out Christmas Pig!” But we’re not really the kind of people that shout out windows.

We’ve also debated leaving a note on the door. “We miss Christmas Pig. Love, The Bacons.” What would the family think about that?

My son and I have gone on to talk about how small things that we do, that we don’t think much about, can have some great significance to someone else. These people have no idea how we wait for their lawn ornament. Maybe they were like, “Meh. It’s too much trouble. Let’s not bother with decorating the yard this year.” It’s nothing to them.

No one else in the neighborhood has a Christmas Pig with wings. Someone one year had a Christmas Pig with a Santa suit. It wasn’t the same, and they moved anyway.

I looked for a Christmas Pig online. If Christmas Pig is gone, we may buy our own when we can afford it. He’s not cheap (of course) and I can’t spring for my own Christmas Pig this year. And buying one of our own is okay. That would be fun. But it won’t be the same.

The Questions

My son found the CNN page with profiles and photos of the victims in Newtown. He read every single one, and several he went back to. One little girl, for some reason, struck him more than the others.

An hour later he told me he was thinking about that particular girl a lot. I asked him why he thought that was. He wasn’t sure, but he said, “She seems so alive.” It was her photograph that made her seem that way.

My son is 9, by the way.

He’s had a lot of questions. Many you probably expect.

“Why did he do that to little kids?”
“Why did he hurt his mother?”
“What were the kids doing in class when he got there?”
“What do you think they were thinking when it happened?”
“Do you think any kids were absent that day?”
“One of the teachers killed was a substitute. How do you think the regular teacher feels cause she wasn’t there?”
“How did the parents feel when they were told?”
“I think if he came to my school, my classroom is too far away from the front door. He wouldn’t have time to get to our room. Don’t you think?”

Granted, he didn’t ask them in any rapid fire way. Just every so often as they occurred to him and as we talked about the shooting.

I still remember when I was a kid and heard about the shooting in a San Ysidro McDonald’s. For years and years after that, I never went into a place without checking the exits and possible hiding places. Just in case. Sometimes I still check for these things.

What news event do you remember from your childhood? Any story from the news ever have any lasting effects?

Presents and Ungiven Things

My mind keeps coming around to the Christmas presents. Many parents have bought presents for their children and hidden them away somewhere in the house. Maybe these presents are already wrapped. Maybe not.

It’s hard to think of the parents who will, eventually, take those presents from their hiding places but who will no longer have their child.

12 Days of Writermas!

After reading about what vampires get for Christmas, I was inspired to write my own holiday verse (something ink rather than blood inspired).

On the first day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
A contract with a publishing house.

On the second day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Two coffee gift cards and a contract with a publishing house.

On the third day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the fourth day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the fifth day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Five Star Amazon Reviews! Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the sixth day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Six radio/tv interviews (including Terry Gross and Oprah). Five Star Amazon Reviews! Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the seventh day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Seven calls from Hollywood, six radio/tv interviews (including Terry Gross and Oprah). Five Star Amazon Reviews! Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the eighth day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Eight days of solitude, seven calls from Hollywood, six radio/tv interviews (including Terry Gross and Oprah). Five Star Amazon Reviews! Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the ninth day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Nine writing awards-a-given, eight days of solitude, seven calls from Hollywood, six radio/tv interviews (including Terry Gross and Oprah). Five Star Amazon Reviews! Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the tenth day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Ten fans-a-leaping, nine writing awards-a-given, eight days of solitude, seven calls from Hollywood, six radio/tv interviews (including Terry Gross and Oprah). Five Star Amazon Reviews! Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the eleventh day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Eleven editors cheering, ten fans-a-leaping, nine writing awards-a-given, eight days of solitude, seven calls from Hollywood, six radio/tv interviews (including Terry Gross and Oprah). Five Star Amazon Reviews! Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

On the twelfth day of Writermas, my true love gave to me
Twelve bestseller weeks, eleven editors cheering, ten fans-a-leaping, nine writing awards-a-given, eight days of solitude, seven calls from Hollywood, six radio/tv interviews (including Terry Gross and Oprah). Five Star Amazon Reviews! Four reams of paper, three good massages, two coffee gift cards, and a contract with a publishing house.

*

May all the gifts you receive suit you. Happy Holidays.

(And you know, you can find me on facebook.)

And this and this and this…

an effort to draw a horse

A person is supposed to try new things, right? Like a year and a half ago I began speed quad skating. I thought it was a crazy thing to do, but now I love it.

In art, I’ve drawn a few things I didn’t think I could. Like a whale and a tiger. (Not together, mind you.) But I’m taking a break from art shows. I need something different to justify another show.

I want to try a comic. Or graphic novel. Whatever you prefer to call it. I have these two characters–Ink and Mirabelle–who are bunnies. Maybe I loved Watership Down too much as a kid. The story lines wouldn’t be about action, just their relationship. Maybe that’s boring? But Ink loves Mirabelle but Mirabelle being up on the moon more than she loves being on the earth with Ink. He tries so hard to persuade her to come back to him.

Ink and Mirabelle

And I want to write a series, but I’m not sure about that. Mostly I like the idea of being able to follow a character for more than one book. Creating a world and being able to go back there time and time again. The manuscripts I have written do take place in the same town (mostly), and some of the characters overlap. A main character in one story is a secondary character in another, and then has a tiny walk-on part in yet another. Maybe that can get too twee, but if I feel the character belongs there, I love doing that.

And I would love to try animation. Unfortunately, I don’t have the equipment for that. I’ve tried a few things, and they’ve been okay as far as experiments go, but they aren’t what I want to do really.

I’ve made a few handmade books. I definitely want to make more, but I can’t manage to sell them and they cost money to make. So they aren’t practical.

Wait. Is any of this practical?

I thought not.

Oh well. There’s too much to do, and I’ve got a book to edit for publication first.

What projects would you like to tackle? Anything you dream of doing?

A student told me today that in her country if you told people you were afraid of dogs, they would think you were normal. But if you told people you were afraid of spiders, they would think you were crazy.

Well, okay.

I learn something every day.

Have you learned anything surprising lately?

Water, water everywhere and nothing to write…

I’ve been avoiding writing for the blog. There are plenty more important to do in life, right? And years ago I named this blog writing in the water, and doesn’t that sound like a place for writing advice?

I don’t have any writing advice. If you want to write, write. Don’t say you don’t have the time. Of course you don’t have the time. Write anyway.

Otherwise, other smarter, more interesting people have written great books about writing. Read them.

I think I’m going to change the name of this blog and maybe change the attitude. We’ll see.

How’s your blogging going lately?