"I am a writer who came of a sheltered life. A sheltered life can be a daring life as well. For all serious daring starts from within."
The photo above is one of her self portraits. I meant to honor this fine southern writer and photographer on July 24 to commemorate her passing in 2001. Sorry I am a few days late! If you missed it, you will definitely want to read
her obituary by Albin Krebs in the New York Times. It is 4 pages long and is a wonderful tribute. I often think back on her words expressing her early love of books.
''It had been startling and disappointing to me to find out that storybooks had been written by people, that books were not natural wonders, coming up of themselves like grass,'' she wrote. ''Yet regardless of where they came from, I cannot remember a time when I was not in love with them -- with the books themselves, cover and binding and the paper they were printed on, with their smell and their weight and with their possession in my arms, captured and carried off to myself. Still illiterate, I was ready for them, committed to all the reading I could give them."
Have you ever seen a simpler work space? Why do we feel that we just can't be productive unless we have a big place? There are blogs, flickr groups, and websites devoted to this subject.
She was organized too. I guess it could go either way after 76 years in the same house. She probably never fell victim to the computer. It is a good thing too because her hand-written and typed archives are invaluable. Look at the ball fringe on the curtains. I can remember sewing this on my kitchen curtains in the early 1960s.
It makes me feel so much better to see these piles of books on her dining room table. Now I don't feel so bad about the piles on my kitchen farm table.
Her home in Jackson, Mississippi is open for tours by appointment.
She lived in this very house from the time she was 16 until her death at age 92. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Garden lovers will want to view the gardens designed by her mother. The photo above shows one variety of the many camillas on the property.
A garden tour seems to be forming outside the lattice-work fence. There is always something in bloom.
The garden arbor. I love the look of this ~ especially the height of the fence. I wonder if this would keep the deer out?
The garden plan. Nothing has changed. The gardens are maintained by volunteers.
LINKS:
eudorawelty.org
Eudora Welty biography
Eudora Welty garden
Eudora Welty house ~ don't miss the virtual tour!
I found this snakeskin at the base of a tree located outside my bedroom window. I tried picking it up in one piece but it was too fragile. I hung it in the tree in two pieces. I know this snake. I often see him sunning himself in this blue spruce and he is a very large, very fat, very long black snake. I searched the internet for poisonous snakes in New Jersey and decided he was not a rattlesnake because he has no markings...just solid black. So I am not afraid of him and I just leave him alone. I hope he eats his weight in field mice!
Upon closer examination, I discovered that he just crawled out of his skin and left the old eye sockets behind. Lenses and all! Isn't that amazing?
Here is a closer view of his old face. Looks a little bit like Gumby with scales! Well, that is my adventure for the day.
