The Tumbleweed Tree, story by Leslie Sittner (ME, DURING THE HOLIDAYS Poetry and Prose Series)

The Tumbleweed Tree
by Leslie Sittner

“Momma, can I have my own Christmas tree? I really need one. Pleeeese?” my six-year- old daughter delicately whines to me.

Living with limited resources in SoHo in 1980, I wonder how I’m going to pull this off. “That’s a nice idea, sweetie, we’ll figure something out.”

Two nights later, I’m looking out my huge loft windows at the empty streets. I see a large twiggy ball of something tumbling north up Greene Street. Can it be tumbleweed? In New York City?

“Hey, sweetie, I think I see your Christmas tree. Quick, get your coat. We gotta run for it.”

It is a big ball of tumbleweed.

“This is not a Christmas tree,” she protests with tears welling up in her tender blue eyes.

“Just wait,” I croon.

Spray painted white, sprinkled with gold glitter, and anchored with sand in a pot. She decorates it with her favorite ornaments. It’s her own cherished Christmas tree for eight more holidays.

Then, “Mom, not that tree, it’s like, soooo embarrassing.”

Twelve years later, I’m cleaning out to downsize and leave Manhattan.
I release the tumbleweed tree. It blows north up Greene Street.
This time it’s all dressed with someplace new to go.

PHOTO: The author in her New York City SoHo loft with her three-month-old daughter, Jessica (Christmas, 1974).

AUTHOR’S PHOTO CAPTION: The tumbleweed Christmas tree, 1980. Each year before the gifts were placed under it, my daughter’s menagerie of stuffed animals enjoyed being on display surrounding its base.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Leslie Sittner, born in 1945 in Upstate New York, is a new creative nonfiction writer just finding her voice.  Leslie is back living in Upstate New York and enjoying a variety of creative endeavors in her retirement. Her daughter lives in Baltimore and has two boys who are not interested in having trees of their own.

You Were Never in Chicago, memoir/history by Neil Steinberg

There are only two ways to get to Chicago. You either are born here or you arrive. Those born here have a natural claim, the automatic ownership that emerging into the world upon a certain spot has granted people, at least in their own view, since time began…Being a Chicagoan is not a matter of how long you reside here, but how it affects you. It is a process, an attitude, a state of mind.”

NEIL STEINBERG, You Were Never in Chicago

“I grew up in Chicago. And reading You Were Never in Chicago reminds me why I still think of Chicago as home even though I haven’t lived in the city for more than twenty years. Steinberg brilliantly explores the historical and contemporary city and how each of us makes (or loses) our way in it. Whether you’re a native or you just arrived at O’Hare, read this book: it will make you feel at home in Chicago. Even better, it will you make Chicago yours.” DAN SAVAGE

 ”[A] rollicking newspaperman’s memoir . . . and a strong case for Second City exceptionalism.” NEW YORK TIMES

Find the You were Never in Chicago by Neil Steinberg at Amazon.com.

Los Angeles Notebook, essay by Joan Didion

LOS ANGELES NOTEBOOK (Excerpt)
by Joan Didion

There is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension. What it means is that tonight a Santa Ana will begin to blow, a hot wind from the northeast whining down through the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes, blowing up sandstorms out along Route 66, drying the hills and the nerves to the flashpoint. For a few days now we will see smoke back in the canyons, and hear sirens in the night…It is hard for people who have not lived in Los Angeles to realize how radically the Santa Ana figures in the local imagination. The city burning is Los Angeles’s deepest image of itself…Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse, and….the violence and the unpredictability of the Santa Ana affect the entire quality of life in Los Angeles, accentuate its impermanence, its unreliability. The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.

Dolphins, nonfiction book by Chris Catton

Dolphins by Chris Catton, a companion book to the PBS-TV special, Dolphins, is an illustrated survey of the history and behavior of dolphins — exploring their unique forms of communication, their relationships with humans, and the manifold threats to their survival. Find copies of this 160-page, illustrated book for just one cent (plus shipping) at Amazon.com.

This book also offers insights into how dolphins were viewed and depicted in ancient mythology. Read a fascinating excerpt from Dolphins by Chris Catton at pbs.org.

Here is a passage:

The image of dolphins rescuing sailors or carrying humans recurs again and again in myth and folklore. According to Plutarch, for example, a native of the Greek island of Paros once found some fishermen about to kill some dolphins they had caught, and bargained for their release. Some time later, while sailing between Paros and the neighbouring island of Naxos, his boat overturned in a storm. Of the crew, he alone survived, rescued by a dolphin that carried him on its back to the nearby shore…the dolphin…is set above other animals not only because it is friendly with humans, but because it has a sense of morality and honor.

Walden Pond by Henry David Thoreau

“I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” From Walden, Or Life in the Woods by HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Photo: “Walden Pond at Sunset” by Meridith Louise, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Los Angeles Notebook: Santa Ana, Essay by Joan Didion

LOS ANGELES NOTEBOOK (Excerpt)

Essay by Joan Didion

There is something uneasy in the Los Angeles air this afternoon, some unnatural stillness, some tension. What it means is that tonight a Santa Ana will begin to blow, a hot wind from the northeast whining down through the Cajon and San Gorgonio Passes, blowing up sandstorms out along Route 66, drying the hills and the nerves to the flashpoint. For a few days now we will see smoke back in the canyons, and hear sirens in the night…It is hard for people who have not lived in Los Angeles to realize how radically the Santa Ana figures in the local imagination. The city burning is Los Angeles’s deepest image of itself…Los Angeles weather is the weather of catastrophe, of apocalypse, and….the violence and the unpredictability of the Santa Ana affect the entire quality of life in Los Angeles, accentuate its impermanence, its unreliability. The wind shows us how close to the edge we are.

This Gray Hair Means Something, Story by Thom Kudla

THIS GRAY HAIR MEANS SOMETHING (Excerpt)

Story by Thom Kudla

…I was 18 when I noticed my first gray hair. Actually, it wasn’t me that noticed. My girlfriend, my high school sweetheart at the time – she noticed that gray hair. That single gray hair wandering from the center of my scalp, as if aware of the wars fought inside my mind, sought refuge in the escape toward the sun. We laid there, our eyes entranced with that shining orb’s setting motion in all its variegated splendor, and she brushed her petite hands through my hair. She always loved how soft my hair was, “for a guy.” We lay there, watching that sun sink deeper toward the earth, and we talked about many things – I discussed my parents’ impending divorce; she told me about how happy her parents were together. I mentioned how sad I can get sometimes; she said she smiles whenever she feels that mood strike her, and it changes everything. Then she found it – that gray hair.

“You’ve already got a gray hair,” she said, her dimpled smile and light voice hiding her judgment. “You work too hard. You stress too much. Someone your age shouldn’t have gray hairs.”

I laughed it off and kissed her. I kissed it away, all my fears about being too serious or being too sad or being too dysfunctional or not being enough for her or being too much for her. I kissed it away. She reciprocated my kisses in innocent pecks, naïve to the reality of where those gray hairs came from. She thought she knew. But I knew better.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Thom Kudla is an accomplished author and poet  from Chicagoland. He has written a variety of books, including the novel Confessions of an American (2005), a nonfiction book What My Brain Told Me — finalist in the 2009 National Indie Excellence Awards — and a poetry collection entitled Commencement.

NOTE: “This Gray Hair Means Something” a 1,000-word story by Thom Kudla will appear in the upcoming Silver Birch Press release Silver: An Eclectic Anthology of Poetry & Prose (available November 15, 2012).

Writing Workshop in L.A. Area

My esteemed colleague Meghan Pinson — editor extraordinaire — will conduct a writing workshop in the Los Angeles area starting Monday, September 10th. Meghan promises an intensive workshop that will transform your relationship to your writing. Details below.

WRITING WORKSHOP

Creating a Sustainable Writing Practice

Location: Studio City, California

Dates: September 10, 17, 24; October 1

Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m.

4-Week Fee: $100

• Learn the elements of a sustainable writing practice
• Develop a discipline that will get you to the page every day
• Delve into writing, reading, and revising your work through daily and weekly assignments
• Connect with a vibrant community of local writers

Enrollment is limited to 12 and is open to writers of all genres and levels of experience. To register, send an e-mail to Meghan with “Writing Workshops” in the subject line.

On Writing by Stephen King

On Writing by Stephen King is my very favorite book about the craft of writing.

Filled with insider stories and practical advice, this engaging memoir should have a permanent spot on every writer’s desk!

I was going to write “highly” recommended, but figured I’d better avoid an adverb (see quotation below) — instead,  I’ll say “5 Stars!”

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” STEPHEN KING, On Writing

Available at Amazon.com — where the book has garnered over 800  five-star reviews!

Here are a few more quotes from the book:

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” 

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” 

“Writing isn’t about making money, getting famous, getting dates, getting laid, or making friends. In the end, it’s about enriching the lives of those who will read your work, and enriching your own life, as well.” 

“In many cases when a reader puts a story aside because it ‘got boring,’ the boredom arose because the writer grew enchanted with his powers of description and lost sight of his priority, which is to keep the ball rolling.” 

“Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open.” 

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” 

“You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.” 

The Writing Life by Annie Dillard

I’ve read The Writing Life by Annie Dillard several times — and sometimes just pick it up and read a few sections. The book is Dillard’s memoir about her life as a writer and includes her musings about the craft.

Here is my favorite passage (I actually woke up today thinking about this quote): “One of the things I know about writing is this: spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now. Something more will arise for later, something better.” 

Find the book at Amazon.com.