Writer Elkhound Pounces Again
Inspector Thora on the case. j.laster “I think dogs are the most amazing creatures. They give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive.” – Gilda Radner Rudimentary Norwegian and the Writer Elkhound dominate a journal entry. j.laster Starting a new story ...
Visual Haikus on Spring’s Cool Concrete
fallen fuchsia - j.laster The drift of blossoms create a flat bouquet. hummingbird in a blink of wings - j.laster Rain drenched colors and a sun break lure the rapid curiosity of a hummingbird. optical illusion - glanced from the corner of one's eye - ...
Morning Ramble with the Writer Elkhound
The Writer Elkhound and I take a walk. Thora reminds me to keep an eye out for movement and to pause by aromatic patches of spring. The forest is complex, nuanced by dust, new growth, squirrel middens and the rapid strokes of feathers as birds oar through the heavy air. I sense rain.
Grandmother, Keeper of the Endless Tale
Eagle takes flight in Juneau,j.laster It is the season of unfurling leaves. It is the time when eagles circle back to their aeries and the red tailed hawks ride a thermal into the deepest of blues. j.laster I dust off old books and peruse albums that ...
The Advent of a Writer Elkhound
Thora muses while I tap away on the keyboard As I grapple with ideas for a developing story my Norwegian Elkhound pup, Thora, gnaws on a non-rawhide chew and occasionally gives chase to a new idea. Elkhounds are an ancient breed with fur the color of spilled ink: ...
The Solace of Raindrops on the Rooftop
I listen to rain plopping down from the eaves and am soothed by the slow cloudy unfurling of the season. Buds pop out here and there and the entire world has a shimmer to it. The weather and meadows and woods speak in a vast collection of voices while our ...
A – Rhythmi (the rhythms of word lists)
Are you a list maker? Is it a compulsion? A passion? A way to keep track of all those pesky tasks that have to be done, sooner or later? Whatever the motivation, rows of words have a way of capturing information in a very compact way. A lineup of ingredients. An agenda of appointment times. Short-hand cataloging can be pragmatic and to the point. Compiling a table of pros and cons can be exhausting and yet weirdly revealing
The Language of Forts
The ink of memory As I write my way into Lou's world I revisit the rituals of fort building. Snow fortresses involved battle strategy. Any structure constructed in winter was short-lived, prone to cave-ins and conquest, subject to warming trends carried on the balmy currents of a Chinook. Most of our winter wars were half-hearted and never decisively concluded. No one won or lost entirely. We just all got very cold and gathered after wards for the very best of truces those made over hot chocolate.
An Exaltation of Books
A Portable Feast My parents were story tellers. And they both loved books. Stories are as portable as brains. I am reminded of Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Whether you're camping in the high country or hunkered down for a long winter's night: a story is always available. And yet, no matter where we lived – Unalakleet, Yakutat, McGrath, Homer, Anchorage etc.: there were also books. Always.
Creatures of Habit
I struggle with pages. My goal is to align the dense symbolic icons of words with the vivid image of the story I need to tell. This is a deep revision. Deeper than I thought it would be. Parts of the story have transformed beneath my fingertips: tap tap tap enter. Some characters are cut. People I have come to think of in a certain light are altered by the sudden cast of shadows. Others appear, unexpectedly. Glimpsed from the corner of my eye.