Treats Not Tricks
Autumn Treats
Greetings Dear Ones,
It feels like autumn here in Northwest Washington. My apple tree along the highway is loaded with fruit that's mostly out of reach. I harvested a 5 gallon bucket and have left three or four times that much for the birds, which don't seem at all interested. The tribal fisherman have set their nets to catch chum salmon which have begun their annual migration through the estuary outside my window, and I've witnessed several kills by eagles and seals while eating my breakfast. I helped a dear friend can pears a few weeks back, stowed away my summer clothes, and turned over anything in the yard that can collect water. Even as I nestle in, the highlight of October for me is venturing out. My husband and I took a a quick trip to Washington's southern coast (more below), and I boarded my first airplane since December 2019 for a weekend visit to my mom and stepdad in California's Gold Country a few days ago. We're flying again to visit my dad and stepmom in Southern California's Inland Empire at month's end. What a joy to hug my loved ones in person! I've also had a bounty of writing published in recent weeks (more below). May this season of harvest bring sweetness into your life.
All my best,
Cathy
RECENT PUBLICATIONS
I'm delighted to have my humorously creepy halloween story "Mother Comes in Handy" included in this anthology from Red Penguin Press available from Amazon. It begins like this:
It started off like any other Halloween: with a party. Ever since the neighborhood discovered I was Frank Einstein, writer of the popular Nights of Eternal Death book series, I’d felt a certain responsibility to provide the proper mix of humor and horror. Passing out Tootsie Rolls and Snickers bars, dressed in a pumpkin-appliqued sweatshirt simply wouldn’t do anymore.
My daughter Sabbath was peeling grapes with her switchblade for the bowl of eyeballs while my son Damien popped ice cubes frozen with plastic spider rings into the skull ice bucket. I stirred tomato sauce into spaghetti for our brains with blood entrée, poured pretzel skeleton fingers in bowls, and pulled the pulverized organ dip—sour cream and black food coloring—out of the refrigerator.
Sabbath, spiked collar heaving at her neck and chains jingling at her waist, looked at the clock and lectured me. “Mother! We only have ten minutes. You aren’t dressed and the bats are still outside.”
“Relax,” I said. “It’s a party. Everyone will be late.”
––
"Sam sprawls atop my comforter, head on the ruffled sham, paws flopped over the mattress, looking as if he’s been my dog for ten years instead of ten hours."
In my short story, "Sam," a widow embarking on a new life adopts an older dog. You can read "Sam" online at The Green Shoe Sanctuary.
––
You can hear me read my short piece of creative nonfiction "Kites" in the debut issue of Grime Prophet Mag.
"On a cold December day, you return to your childhood beach, a Southern California stretch of sand where you once flew homemade kites of newspaper, sticks, and yarn with neighborhood friends. Today you carry a cheap store-bought plastic kite sporting Snoopy across the front. You launch it into the wind with your husband of four months at your side."
Read or listen to the rest here.
THE WORLD'S LARGEST...
Pacific County, Washington, is home to some serious roadside kitsch. Below you'll find my husband encountering the World's Largest Oyster (cement) in South Bend, and in Long Beach: the World's Largest Frying Pan (fiberglass), the World's Largest Squirting Clam (carved wood), as well as the World's Largest Chopsticks (wood), all located within feet of each other. And I'm posing at an abandoned and unlocked amusement park also in Long Beach.
