Letters from Lorraine XVIII
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Hello, everyone!
Not a lot of news, but my good friend and neighbor from Martha’s Vineyard, Deborah Medders, visited last month. Our time together was fabulous; it seemed as if we had just seen each other, even though it had been two and a half years! I have a feeling Deborah will be visiting me and SMA regularly; she was born and raised in the Texas border town of Brownsville and has an affinity for all things Mexican. We had morning coffee, catching-up conversations, dog walks, then afternoon lunches in town followed by hours of just poking around SMA’s intriguing stores and markets, back to the house for evening dog walks, time in the pool, dinner, then bed. It was wonderful and relaxing, and, needless to say, I was pretty lonely after she left; there’s nothing like time spent with an old friend. Speaking of old Vineyard friends, I made a new Vineyard friend, Tim Wolfe. I met him through my Canadian SMA friend Carol, and we, including John her visitor from Canada, went to the nearby town of Commonforte to see their amazing murals. Tim and I bought new cowboy hats, and a great time was had by all! A few weeks ago, I participated in a fundraiser for a dog-rescue organization my neighbor Marissa runs. She is an angel for San Miguel dogs, hands down. At times, she has up to eighty dogs in her rescue facility, and none are ever put down unless they are extremely sick. Frankly, there are just too many dogs down here, and it seems that no matter how cheap spaying is—sometimes it is completely free—it is just not enough. Most Americans I know have three, four, five, even six dogs, and we all do what we can. Nevertheless, it’s a sad situation. My days lately are pretty quiet, and seeing how I am beginning my next book, tentatively called Chalcatzingo: A Modern Woman’s Life among the Ancient Olmecs, quiet is a good thing. I’ve spent the last month studying the Olmecs, whose culture existed from around 1500 B.C until 400 B.C. and is considered to be the first and oldest civilization in North America. The Mesoamerican Olmecs who inhabited the Chalcatzingo settlement lived there from approximately 700 to 500 B.C., and since there is very little known about them, I’ll have more leeway in fictionalizing their lives. Obviously, this is a time-travel story; the way I describe the narrative is “Carlos Castañeda (remember him?) meets Outlander!” My redheaded protagonist, Hihn (meaning “fire” in Mixe-Zoquean which is the language the Olmecs spoke), partakes in hallucinogenic rituals with their shamans, lives with an Olmec family and begins to see the power and the awe of nature thru the eyes, art and imaginations of the amazing Olmecs. And all that she learns she is able to pass to Lino her former Mexican guide, twenty-five hundred years into the future. How? I’m not telling you! I am so looking forward to writing this story and leaving this crazy world behind if only for four or five hours a day. And I still hope to be back on the Vineyard late this summer or fall promoting my book, Miles to San Miguel, which has been selling very well. The reviews are fabulous, way beyond anything I had imagined. By the way, all the dogs are good, even our dear, sweet, gorgeous Pearl, who is holding her own at fourteen and a half! I’ll say goodbye for now and leave you with a bunch of photos that I hope you’ll enjoy. Happy Spring! Love, Lorraine, Pearl, Ruby, Mike, and Molly |
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Above, drive home from town, below, lazy day in the life of Ruby, Pearl, Mike and Molly.
