Critter Time!

This morning, rain drums against the deck, lightning flashes through the darkness and thunder grumbles. But inside? Ah, the Folger’s Coffee is hot, Nemo is snoozing, and I’m itching to tell you about yesterday’s Critter Time.

As we critiquers gathered, my house livened up considerably. With hugs and hellos, we headed for the coffee pot or bottled water and settled down around my dining table, further fortified by chocolate chip cookies. Nancy was missing from our group yesterday but she had a very special reason for being gone which I’ll tell you about later.

“You’ve got to hear this song, Angels Among Us by Alabama,” Jane said. She pulled the song up on her phone and we all listened. It was a nice way to start the meeting and we enjoyed the message in the music.

“I’ve delved into my archives,” Jane told us, opening her notebook to “The Last Gift”. She wrote the poem about a dear person who is gone now. “What will be your last gift to someone you love?” Jane asked us. What, indeed? Life is short at its best.

The mood lightened as Jane turned to a poem she wrote a while back, called “The Sitting Dilemma.” This was based on a lively discussion we critiquers had about the correct usage of sit, sat, and set. Funny, yes, but sometimes small verbs have big meanings and repercussions and discussions. We tackle them all until the dilemma is resolved.

Helen, whose devotional pieces never fail to inspire me, read two of her latest works. “Help with Witty Inventions” was about an organ her husband bought for her a while back. The organ was new and beautiful and the price couldn’t have been better. Only one thing was wrong: the wiring had come loose and lay in a tangled heap like red, blue, and yellow spaghetti. Getting the wires plugged into the right receptacles seemed impossible. However, with prayer and determination, Larry fixed it. Helen enjoyed playing that organ for years.

Helen’s second devotional was “Hidden Treasures”. It was funny but also taught a lesson. A friend hid some cookies in the oven. When someone turned the oven on without looking inside, the cookies wound up a melted sugar and plastic mess.

As well as being a discerning reader, Peg is now custodian of a nest of baby robins. She watches each day to be sure their twiggy home is still firmly attached and the youngsters are safe inside. Peg has found a relaxing activity in adult coloring books. She enjoys the effect of different colors side by side, of shading and tints. As far as reading goes, she is enjoying Berry the Hatchet, a Cranberry Cove mystery by Peg Cochran.

Carolyn, who was once a teacher, told us of two worthwhile and sobering books about child abuse. A Child Called It and The Lost Boy by Dave Pelzer. I was left wondering how anyone could take God’s most precious gift, children, and treat them so horribly. The consensus was the abuser had a very sick mind.

Carolyn leads an adventuresome life. If you’ll remember a few weeks ago, I told you about her encounter with an irate mama cow who chased her up a haystack and the time a search for dogwood blossoms resulted in an over-turned four-wheeler and bumps and bruises. Yesterday, with Jane’s urging, Carolyn recounted the time she and her husband tried putting a calf into a Cadillac. They had to get him to the vet and this was the quickest way. A challenge? Yes. But, undaunted, she and her husband persevered.

Carolyn is also an artist and a writer of poems. She shared two of her poems with us, “My Mother” and “Daddy.”

After reading the current chapter of Fright of the Silvery Moon, I looked around the table at my attentive audience and asked, “What comes next?”

That’s all I had to say. Four active and discerning minds got busy. “You know the body Ned found on the well?” some one asked. “Why can’t that be Lena instead of Greta?”

Peg was all for this because Greta is a librarian and Peg is respectful and admiring of those knowledgeable people who can steer her in the right direction for a needed book or DVD. So, Greta didn’t have to die.

“What if Lena isn’t dead but only injured and frightened and running away from the bad people she got involved with in the city?” someone else asked.

I liked that idea. I could say Lena needed a place to hide away and Ned’s newly-rebuilt carriage house with the upstairs apartment might just be the perfect place. Only thing, Lena happens to be married to Cade, even if she hasn’t seen him for three years, and that might cause a few sparks to fly between Lena and Ned who kind of likes Cade a lot.

Anyway, these resourceful women got me over that ornery writer’s block and pointed me in an exciting direction. As my publisher is fond of saying, “Onward!”

Rain continues to sluice down the windows and thunder grumbles like an irate, cloudy giant. An early bird robin who must feed those hungry babies in spite of the rain, cheerily sings in the darkness. Nemo continues to snooze and my coffee cup is empty! Can you believe it? Whatever this Thursday holds for you, I hope you are blessed; a receiver and a giver of many gifts that you will cherish forever.

As You know, Fright of the Silvery Moon will be the second book in the Ned McNeil series. Moonlight Can Be Murder was the first book in this new series. It and the Darcy and Flora cozy mysteries are offered at Pen-L.com, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com. (The Cemetery Club is free as a Nook Book on Barnes and Noble. Remember to order the edition with the colorful cover, not the black and white edition.)