Robert, We Hardly Knew Ye

   He is a she.
   Three copies of The Cuckoo's Calling are available at my town's library. The novelist is supposedly Robert Galbraith. That name is a pseudonym. The author is J.K. Rowling. She is famous for penning children's novels. This latest book of hers is a mystery targeting an adult readership.
  Her authorship was divulged shortly after publication. It wasn't Rowling's intention. She wanted this novel to rise on its own merits.
   Some people don't sharpen their swords after achieving success. They loose their edge. Not J.K. Rowling. The sight of her adult mystery books inspires me. They symbolize innovation happening after success, not before.

Heed the Beads

 

      

   Patrons stopped, viewed, then walked through a curtain of beads. It was an interactive art exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The curtain represented passages within a lifetime.
   Most people don't rush into a marriage, or into a career, or into buying a property, or into any life affecting passage. First they pause and consider, like those patrons did.
   Some people skip deliberation. They rush headlong into life's passages. Most of them, I suspect, later regret their haste. Some of them ruin their lives by jumping the gun.
   Prudence tells us to pause and consider before undergoing a passage in life. We'll be happier for it.

 

Winter Custom

   Once every February, an American flag hangs outside a window of my home. The neighbors do the same thing.
   We're observing Presidents' Day. The holiday honors past presidents.
   I'm honoring only George Washington, our first president. He did not cling to power. He relinquished it. That strength of character is rare. Most leaders of revolutions hold on to power as long as they can.
   When I was younger they called this holiday, George Washington's Birthday. I wish they'd go back to exclusively honoring our first president. Lumping together all the presidents dilutes the impact.

Perseverance Begets Perseverance

   Nine years is a long time.
   That's the time a photographer spent documenting wildlife in my town. He presented a slideshow at our library. I'd never met him before this event.
   His photos were excellent. So was his work ethic. Working in his spare time, he'd rise at the crack of dawn. There were no guarantees. Many of his outings must have fallen short. After all those years, he published a calendar featuring eye catching photos of animals.
   How many talented people give up on their dreams? Lots of them must. They're accustomed to instant gratification. When they don't obtain early success, they give up.
   That photographer never gave up. Talent and persistence led to his success.
   Perseverance by one person can inspire perseverance in others.

Ready, Aim, Create

   Most of the time, violence in the arts disappoints me.
   A chalk art festival in Utah included drawings of cowboys and guns. Why couldn't the artists have chosen something more creative?
   The same goes for the endings of too many novels and movies. Good guys kill bad guys. It happens over and over.
   Not all depictions of violence are formulaic. Guernica, the famous painting by Picasso, is powerful.
   I'm penning a young adult novel. It's an adventure story set in the Appalachian Mountains. No violence occurs in the story. I'm relying on an assumption: Readers fancy psychological conflict over physical conflict. 

No, I Won't Be Safe

   Be safe.
   Some people tag on those words during goodbyes. They'll shake a hand or give a hug, then say, "Be safe."
   I loathe that expression. It symbolizes a growing aversion to risk taking. Nobody uttered that phrase when I was a boy. When did it creep into our vernacular?
   Some people still have gusto. Last week a family went skating during a warm spell. They had the pond to themselves. Everybody else was afraid of thin ice. Turns out, most of the pond was solid enough. And besides, the pond was shallow. An adult cracking through would sink to his knees.
   That family took a calculated risk. A girl learned how to skate.
   Be safe means be boring.

Seed Greed

 

   

   A squirrel hogged the access to my friend's bird feeder.

   The creature nibbled on seeds and kept away the competition. Birds including cardinals, bluejays, and sparrows waited in trees. Once a large bird (seen in the photo) flew near. It tried frightening the squirrel. Unfazed, the squirrel kept on feeding. The bird backed down.
   I photographed the scene through a window. For a moment I looked away. When I looked again, the squirrel had vanished. What happened to it?
   My friend surmised that a hawk had snatched the squirrel. She said other squirrels had recently been taken by this hawk. The predator's strategy was smart. It waited for squirrels to become complacent in their greediness, then swooped down and snared them in its talons.
   Greed distracts us from things that matter.