Cabin Fever

The official diagnosis is The Flu. Official because Sydney's pediatrician now has a "flu test". He swabbed her nostril (she cried) and we waited 10 minutes for the results which came back "positive". When the doctor left the room Sydney said, "Mama, you said they weren't going to do anything else to me!" She had already been subjected to the strep throat swab and we both thought that would be the worst of it. I'm glad she didn't have strep throat, but at least she would have gotten the "pink medicine"! We missed the 48 hour window for the flu medicine, so we were left to stave off the 102 and 103 degree temperatures with Ibuprofen and Tylenol.

And then suddenly she was better - just two days in. She was back to her regular, energetic self. She was trying to put fairy wings on Maggie the dog. She was jumping rope up and down the hallway. She had challenged me to video games (and beat me hands down! Well, okay, so I have a little better grasp on odd and even numbers than she does, so I did win that one!) This was yesterday. I thought for sure she'd wake up with no fever today and I could even consider sending her to school.

102 degrees! And still raring to go. Talking a mile a minute. Ibuprofen once again brought her fever right down, and I'm scratching my head wondering how fever can be her only symptom.

So I've got two more days with my (healthy) sick child. According to most school guidelines, you can't even think about sending your child to school until they have been "fever free" for 24 hours!

So we'll keep our germs to ourselves. And Maggie and Holly Dog will have to buck up and be patient with the fairy wings, tiaras and necklaces for a couple more days!

Duma Key

I read the new Stephen King novel, Duma Key, over the long weekend. I couldn't stop. I'm embarrassed at how long I let Syd play her video game on President's Day, with me sitting there turning the pages like a mad woman and her saying incredulously, "Mama, can I REALLY play again??" By then, it was too late to be reasonable about it. Even when it got scary toward the middle, I was too hooked to put it down. And it is SO well-written. There is humor right alongside the creepy ghost ship scenes.

This book is about life imitating art - literally! The main character is in a terrible accident at a construction sight. He wakes up in the hospital with a scrambled brain, a missing right arm and the uncanny ability to change reality through his painting.

Brilliant. And even though it did scare me a little, it was also brilliant how it suddenly turned into a ghost story.

I loaned my copy to Sydney's teacher, Ms. Tracy. At first she told me she didn't like scary books, but when I said "oh, it's nothing like say - the Shining!" She said that she loved The Shining and it didn't scare her at all.

Okay then. Duma Key might seem like Mary Had A Little Lamb to her! But I was pleasantly surprised by my first Stephen King novel.

On Writing

Stephen King is my new favorite author. And I haven't read a single one of his novels. However, I just finished his book about writing called "On Writing".

My friend Elizabeth had recommended it to me a long time ago, but I just wasn't interested because I'm not a fan. Or so I thought. When I finally gave in and read it, "On Writing" was inspiring, funny, practical and very, very honest. There are books that Steve hardly remembers even writing because he was so drunk when he wrote them. He describes the poverty and struggle and success and alcoholism in detail. Watching his story unfold, I was reminded again that there is something within creative people that is broken. Or at least within me and a lot of my creative friends (you know who you are!) We fight contentment. We often shy away from the light.

As I read "On Writing" I started wondering if maybe the ability to see the darkness, to write from it, is a gift. I think what I mean by "darkness" is just the day to day disappointment and angst of being human. The common struggle. In a fallen world. Darkness feels more honest to me and honest writing is, I believe, more compelling. People don't go around feigning sadness, but how often do we meet someone "putting on a brave face", feigning happiness? That's boring to me. I want the nitty gritty of what's really going on.

Well, that whole darkness thing was sort of a tangent. I wanted to tell you my favorite thing Stephen King said in the book. He said that great writers not only write a lot, the READ a lot. He reads around 80 books a year. Those of you who know me well, know this was music to my ears. I love to read. It is an obsession. Maybe I can now take it out of the "luxury" category! I HAVE to read. Stephen King said so.

And now I will start my first novel by my favorite author. Maybe I'll give you a book report on his new 600 pager, called Duma Key!

Rodney, Part 2

WSIX played Rodney's new George Strait single on the radio this morning. There is a segment that disc jockey, Gerry House, does called "You Be The Judge". He plays a brand new single and then listeners call in and rate the song on a scale of 1 to 10. The name of the song is "I Saw God Today" and the listeners LOVED it. They gave it all 10s (and even a couple of 20s!)

And then I sat in the car at Sam & Zoe's with the rain drizzling down the windshield talking on the phone to Rodney. I had, of course, called him as soon as the song came on, but had gotten his voice mail. He called back and said that he had, indeed, heard his song because Nicolle has been getting up and turning on the radio in the mornings. It was one of those phone conversations that catapulted me back in time.

It was May of 2002 and I was in Rodney's home town, Gruver, Texas on a writing trip. He was still farming full-time and making monthly trips to Nashville. I think we wrote a couple of pretty good songs, but what made the biggest impression on me was when Rodney took me out to his family's farm. The panhandle had been experiencing one of the worst droughts in recent history and farming was not going well at all. We stood in the cornfield and he showed me how the corn stalks were only about half the size that they should be. I remember saying something to the effect of, "Well, Rodney, I predict that there will come a day when your songs will pay the bills and you won't even have to farm anymore!"

I'll never forget the image of Rodney reaching down and picking up a clump of hardened sod. He crushed it in his hand, and as dust fell through his fingers and to the ground, he said, "Julie, I appreciate the way you've always believed in me, but right now the hope for my songwriting is as dry as this dirt."

Today, back in the present, I just had to smile as Rodney, who quit farming two years ago, casually used words like "George Strait", "highest debut" and "great reviews". Furthermore, he keeps hearing reports that people are MOVED by the song. I won't give away what it's about, but it would seem that God is using this song to touch people.

This is all so encouraging to me. The thing is, if something is meant to be, it will be. I will work as hard as I can and I will believe as much as I can. The rest is out of my hands.

I guess you could say, right here at Sam and Zoe's, in the pouring down rain, I saw God today.