cherry blossoms

A gray rainy day todaythe cherry trees are blossomingthe flowers taste like ...

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circus attraction

There were a lot of elephants in Bellingham inJuly 1942. Just weeks before the July 28th circus,there was a different circus at the fairground.This circus featured a wedding....

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Basho crow

A Basho poem on a scroll from 1680s.Right now in my new book, crows areflying over 1942 Bellingh...

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the circus field

An aerial photo from 1950shows the big field wherethe circus popped up in 1942.This is the corner of the fieldand photos show what the fairgroundlooks like now...I-5 rushes throughelevated above what used to begrass and trees and elephant ghosts. ...

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trolley fossils

Here's where the old trolley lineruns underground into tar inFairhaven....

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circus 1936

This weekend I watched a favoriteCharlie Chan at the Circus (1936)which has some great circus trainatmosphe...

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circus 1942

"Bringing joy and cheerto a troubled wor...

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milk bottle caps

I keep these two woodenmilk bottle caps in the pocketof the blue Milk Man coat I wear.Inspiration for my 1940s writing....

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3 signed books

There are three signed copies ofSAINT LEMONADE for sale atThe Whatcom Museum store inthe Lightcatcher building onFlora Street, downtown Bellingh...

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circus and chaplin

another peek at my new novelin progress....

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movies and milk

This is a page fromthe Bellingham Heraldin summer, 1942also playing in mynext novelSee my old post for more on Moontide:http://allenfrostlibrary.blogspot.com/2011/06/4-shacks.h...

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trolleys

Been writing my new novel set in Bellingham in 1942. I love thosetrolleys! You can still see their tracks in some places in the city. I'll get a picture of that soon. Of course, I had to have a characterbe a trolley conductor....

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the radiator

Today I was walking throughthe library and I noticed somethingmissing. They took the radiator away!I drew a picture of that amazing oldradiator for SAINT LEMONADE:It's sad to see beautiful things get tornaway, fortunately it still survives onpage 102 of my book.UPDATE: I found out what they did withthe radiator. Threw it in the dumpster!Now they can cover the space overwith a wall...they obviously neverread Edgar Allan Poe's short story.  It's...

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circusing

It's been a while since I've readWilliam Saroyan, but I just hadlunch with Jake and he remindedme to read those short stories again,especially the one titled "The Circu...

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petting

Here at the Library it's Finals Weekand that means the arrival of dogsfor stressed-out students to pet:However, there's one 'dog'you may not want to pet...goes by the name of 'Cuddles'...

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inspiring

I finished reading Matt Phelan's bookBLUFFTON on the bus this morning.A very beautiful book about one of myheroes Buster Keaton and his childhoodsummers in Michigan many moons ago.At first I was worried that it might besimilar to the book I'm writing right now,especially with the elephant on the cover!But not to worry, it's a wonderful taleall its own....

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uplifting

Last week I wrote to America's poet laureateTed Kooser, appreciating his life's work and inspiration. I know he worked a long time in insurance before he could make a living as a poet. I told him I just got out of an hour and a half meeting, kept comfort by his beautiful book, Local Wonders. I just got this postcard from him. A true gift.As he says, "I always looked at my insurance job as a means of supportingmyself as a poet, and that kept me going."...

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writing

writing my new book. Being at work makes it hard.I can only write on my breaks. I'll be in that world,getting a few pages into my notebook then I'll haveto return to the library job. But I carry the bookaround in me, thinking about it, waiting to return there. ...

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clicking

I'm starting a new notebook.There's a story going in me like a movie: an old train ismoving along towards townthe rails are clicking, it's getting closer...

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plumbing

Plumbing Follies continues...That kitchen sink, the bane of my life,tried once again to lure a plumber.I even called one, but just as I wasdigging deep into my walletEric called and offered to help:   Going under my house has becomea second home to us, all those treeroots biting into your knees as you shuffle in the dark among the pools of leaked swamp water and there was the culprit...the dripping water pipe.Of course the...

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sink poetry

Spent Saturday fixing the kitchen sink. After taking it all apart and cleaning the pipesI had to call Eric to borrow a snake. (That's a drawing of his alley that appears on page 38of SAINT LEMONADE.)  Note the bungee cord--it's a quality job. Not calling a plumber means the money saved can go to printing my next book,a big collection of poet...

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Anatomy of a Snowman

This is all that's left of the bowing snowmanhowever, it just started snowing again so maybe its mighty powers will be resto...

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