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Dear Friends and Readers,
I think as we all age, we spend time looking back as well as forward. I was thinking this morning of how much I loved sitting at the kitchen table writing out Valentine cards for every single classmate. This was elementary school, and the teacher had us all decorate white paper sacks from Lucedale Drug Store (I presume the store donated them.). We’d put our names on them and then decorate them with cut out hearts or colored cupids, flowers, butterflies, etc. Red, pink, and white were the colors of the day.
 Lovely mushrooms |
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Once the bags were decorated, the teacher hung them from the railing of the chalkboard. Every child had a bag. And on Valentine’s Day, we all brought the valentines we’d purchased and signed to our friends and filled the bags. In our home, the rule was that we gave every child a card. No exceptions. I believe most of the kids had this same rule. (more about this later)
At recess time we collected our bags and sat back in our desks to read over the Valentine cards we’d received. Most were funny or silly—we were only 7 or 8, after all. I remember looking at my friend’s faces as they smiled or laughed at a card. If someone really liked you, they might leave a little box of those candies that were shaped like hearts with writing on them. Be mine. You’re cute. Hugs. It was an exciting and fun day for most of the children.
I look back and see how this was a precursor of Mr. and Miss George County High, Most Popular, etc. In second grade it was so innocent. By 11th grade it was a flat-out popularity contest with a handful of winners and a lot of losers.
I didn’t much participate in high school. I had a dream of being a journalist and I had a job working for the local newspaper. I left school early on a work/study program and never looked back. Popularity contests didn’t hold much interest for me. It was hard on some kids, and I think back to my parents’ rule that every child got a Valentine and an invitation to my birthday party. No exceptions. And I am so glad that I had that early guidance. It is much easier to be cruel and callous than kind. Kindness takes effort. And as my childhood friend, Diana Hobby Knight, once told me, “Kindness is a choice.” Meaning it isn’t always a natural inclination—it is indeed a choice. That comment slowly, slowly changed how I view so many things. I am not patient, but I can choose to be kind. Or at least I can try. And that tempers my impatience some.
We all have expectations for holidays. We’re victims of advertising which presents a certain type of response to a holiday and that’s how it should be. But life isn’t an advertisement. Of all the Valentine’s Days I’ve lived through, only a handful have been roses, champagne, and chocolates. Some have been so much better! Some have not. Some are terrific memories, unspoiled. Some are not. But the calendar page is ready to turn again, and we are now in Mardi Gras, and Easter (my second favorite holiday) is on the way.
I’m so happy I had those carefree days of decorating a sack for my Valentines. I have great memories of playing with my classmates at recess, conjuring up all kinds of games that almost always involved running, bicycles, water hoses, and laughter. We had the gift of innocence, and that is so very rare these days. I had an older brother, Andy, who many of my classmates grew up to have a crush on. Those younger than me crushed on my little brother, David. I loved hanging out with Andy’s fans. One in particular, Ginger Cooley, was always so kind to me. She took me with her to collect for the March of Dimes and to the Halloween festival. She took time to be kind to a kid. David’s young friends were fun, too. They thought I was so grown up—what a joke. I wonder if I will ever really grow up. I hope not. That big of a change at this late date might shock my black little heart into a stroke.
Well let me drag myself out of memory land, and talk about some book news. The winners from the ARC giveaway on FB, Sue Rau and Stephen Scarborough, got their books! Yay. It won’t be long before DOGGONE BONES is on sale!
Meow. Do you like the new cover?
THE BOOK OF BELOVED is on sale again, soon followed by THE HOUSE OF MEMORY. New covers, thanks to my friend Pamela DuMond and Priya. Of course Priya makes everything work for me with the books. Couldn’t do without her. You can grab the e-book on Amazon or order the paperback edition at any major bookstore, Amazon, or your local independent bookstore. You can also request it at your public library for you to borrow. (Tell them the ISBN is 9798992292800. If you do this, let me know if it worked out by messaging me at carolyn@carolynhaines.com). Soon all four titles in the Pluto’s Snitch series will be available and I promise, I want to write another book in this series.
I’m still working on ODE TO THE BONES (working title). I have had some issues with focus these past few months. I know the reasons, and there is nothing I can do about them but learn to overcome. Easier said than done. I’ve never had writer’s block, and this isn’t a block. It’s a malaise—a loss of will to do almost everything except take care of the animals, and that is a big job, my friends. 12 cats, 7 dogs (Dolly is doing great!), 2 horses. Between feeding everyone twice a day, washing dishes (and floors and towels and sheets etc.,) cooking, medicating, taking to the vet, etc., I stay very busy. But writing is my love, and right now we’re having a disconnect. Temporary, but it makes me lonely. I tell myself that February is a hard month—I’ve had a lot of loss in this month. So I am waiting it out while doing a whole lot of reading other folks books—and that DOES make me very happy.
 Flicker is getting her teeth “floated.” An annual event. |
 Dolly |
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As to Dolly, she had her first heartworm treatment shot Saturday, Feb. 9. She did great! She has to be very calm now for several months as the heartworms die. There will be more shots, too. But so far, so good! She is a docile dog who is quiet all the time—mostly. This helps her get through this, but I can’t wait for the day when she feels like playing a little. And she has a very nice gentleman who has expressed interest in adopting her. Perfect for Dolly because she is extremely loyal and protective. She and Izzy and Tundra are sleeping beside my chair as I write this.
 Pearl is on a hunger strike until I go to Winn-Dixie (and only there) to get her a fried chicken breast. I have to almost chew it up for her, but she loves it. |
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If you are Mardi Gras fans I hope you have a great time. “Hey, Mister! Throw me some beads!”
And for you romantics—here’s a song! Click me. And a bonus song—because I love this song: Click me.
We march onward to March—from Carolyn and the Critters
