Snippets: Winter Into Spring Edition
☆ March 4, 2012
These dreams! If I keep having these dreams, which are most certainly in service of the new book but leave me feeling like I’ve been thrashed in high waves and thrown against the rocks all night, I don’t know how I’m going to survive. This is why writers put whiskey in their coffee and chainsmoke all day.
I’m riding Fiona! “Riding” is used very loosely here. She’s a slave to the brush, so as I brush her, I position her alongside a fence or the water tank and, still brushing, climb the fence or water tank and, still brushing, move laterally onto her back. She stands there as if she doesn’t even notice I’m on her as long as that brush keeps working her shoulder blades. It’s hard to imagine little Fiona carrying me, even as I’m on her, but she’s not so little anymore ~ she weighs in at about 700 pounds right now; she’s fat and comfy and has much of Sir Baby’s build.
It’s the season of babies!!! Calving has begun. I think I would get pregnant if I could be guaranteed I would birth a calf. A close second to that impossibility is being with these amazing mama cows as they have their little ones. BABIES!!!!
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34 Responses to “Snippets: Winter Into Spring Edition”
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March 4th, 2012 @ 9:04 pm
You’ve put a whole new spin on the chiildhood exclamation of, “Have a cow, why don’t you!” Hope your dreams mellow out soon.
March 4th, 2012 @ 9:05 pm
Let me rephrase that - ‘childhood’
Typos, the bane of my existence.
March 4th, 2012 @ 9:52 pm
The miracle of birth is special in all species. Please share more pics of new borns. They are adorable.
I’m sure your working on getting better sleep. It seems something is trying to get your attention. Have your tried the whiskey? :)
March 4th, 2012 @ 10:08 pm
Pregnant women have crazy dreams all the time, so maybe these are just sympathetic pregnancy dreams for your cows. :P
Good luck this year! I agree with Claire, can’t wait to see pics of the new babes.
March 4th, 2012 @ 10:51 pm
The second pic of Fiona looks like she’s thinking what you’re thinking… and maybe she is?!!! Looking forward to another book :D
March 4th, 2012 @ 11:26 pm
I remember a couple years back, watching a cow give birth. What was even more wondrous was the other cows coming to help clean it all up. My literal thought was ” I hope one day, when I have a calf, that all my friends will come lick up the afterbirth too!”
March 5th, 2012 @ 12:18 am
such imagery! …k when the lil hooves come out i don’t think the mormon folks would be real happy w that. gaaaaa! but i learn a lot from honey r dawn, for example… keep brushing! ~blush~ don’t worry about your crazy dreams after all you are quite probably, more then likely, ok potentially, normal. lol. (p.s. if you give birth to some lil honey badgers can i have one?)
a teacher once told me that poetry and good storytelling is not just words, it’s words written in blood. it’s painful and worrisome to put your deepest experiences and feelings out there, that’s a struggle for a writer. your fans will end up loving you for that, that you are willing to share, but that doesn’t make it any less hard.
March 5th, 2012 @ 6:58 am
Scotty…………… You just hit that one out of the ball park! All that is is written in blood!!!
March 5th, 2012 @ 7:01 am
BTW……….. Kudos to Scotty’s teacher.
March 5th, 2012 @ 7:25 am
Book?? This news made my day. :)
March 5th, 2012 @ 8:37 am
I’m with you TomT, I thought perhaps I’d missed the announcement that you were writing again. Scotty cracks me up and I love what his teacher said.Re the book, is it done yet? is it done yet? is….
March 5th, 2012 @ 9:31 am
dude, do not hold your breath! it might never see the world beyond my notebook, but I will try.
March 5th, 2012 @ 9:45 am
Recurring dreams can be so entangling. I can start to question my sense of reality even - rather disorienting. But sort of fun to try to figure out wtf it’s all about.
March 5th, 2012 @ 10:06 am
Oh, bless you for the photos of all the cows, with- and with-out calves. Made my day!
I can’t believe how grown-up Fiona is ~ she was just a baby! I’m so glad she lets you “ride.”
I hope the troubled sleep phase passes quickly and that the artistic juices flow, flow, flow.
Hugs to you and all the Farmily!
March 5th, 2012 @ 12:32 pm
Shreve, This is off topic, but what happened to the mountain lion dew claw with sterling silver? I was so excited to see it, but it’s not even in the shop as a “sold out” item.
March 5th, 2012 @ 12:59 pm
Kathy, I bought it.
March 5th, 2012 @ 1:49 pm
K ~ it’s in the sold section, scroll down.
March 5th, 2012 @ 1:49 pm
Baby animals, no matter what, are the most precious things ever!
March 5th, 2012 @ 2:03 pm
Love that image of Fiona; a very mysterious expression. One can’t be sure what’s going on behind those enormous eyes, except that it’s far more than what shows on the surface…
… and yet those mysterious depths glaze over in response to a good brushing! Hilarious!
March 5th, 2012 @ 2:33 pm
I can’t believe Baby Fiona is big enough to ride. But there you have it. I know they grow in leaps and bounds. “Our” sweet little ginger girl.
March 5th, 2012 @ 5:19 pm
BAAAAAAYBEEEEEEZ!
March 5th, 2012 @ 8:15 pm
Oh goodie, another book….ooooh, I can’t wait…ooops sorry, I can wait, don’t hurry!! I dream like crazy too, would make great stories too, if only I could remember…scotty, thanks for sharing,seems like you had an awesome teacher !
March 5th, 2012 @ 8:19 pm
Wondering how you came across the mountain lion dew claw.
March 5th, 2012 @ 8:58 pm
I can’t imagine how much brain sludge gets roiled up in the process of writing a book. I’m glad you have very therapeutic cows and critters to help you through it, Shreve.
But adorable little Fiona, 700 pounds already! She still has that gentle face though.
March 6th, 2012 @ 9:28 am
thank you. these photos are exactly what i needed to see!
March 6th, 2012 @ 9:53 am
They say dreams are the way your brain sorts out things. Or put it another way. It is the sub-concious part of the brain rearranging the “filing system” of thoughts and memmories, or doing some housekeeping if you prefer.The only problem is, once it is done, the concious part of the brain goes ‘wtf’????????????????
When I get one of those weird dream after moments, if I have time, I watch a silly cartoon or read a funny book. It relaxes the mind, which in turn usually means the thoughts flow smoother. Or perhaps a leasurely soak in your outdoor spa.
Young Miss Fiona is going to be an absolutely stunning lady when she grows up.
Will you be putting some “baby photos” on site?? I am sure everyone would love to see them.
March 6th, 2012 @ 9:56 am
OK, when you start to log some miles on Fiona, get a helmet cam!
March 6th, 2012 @ 1:33 pm
Beautiful photos. Love the snapshot of calves.
Good luck in your busy thoughts.
March 6th, 2012 @ 3:08 pm
I was wondering the same thing Steph, are dew claws naturally shed like the antlers you find?
March 6th, 2012 @ 3:14 pm
A common question :)
No, they don’t shed their claws…. this lion was in the wrong place at the wrong time :(
And it’s illegal to take a lion claw from a skeleton, if you can believe it! That why these are so rare - they’re very hard to come by legally. And a lion has to die. I just hope/believe that part of the spirit, or energy, of the lion remains in the claw and works with whomever wears it, so that it’s not a complete death, you know?
March 6th, 2012 @ 3:19 pm
looks like we hit send at the same time.
very sad. or was it the other way around (?) (humans encroaching too much in their territory). thanks for the scoop.
March 6th, 2012 @ 3:24 pm
that goes without saying ~ we are all guilty of that.
March 6th, 2012 @ 7:30 pm
W/o intruding, so curious about a possible new book. We all would love to know where it’s coming from. I know it will be from your heart and so interesting to all of your loyal followers.
Smiles :)
ps…pics of baby Charlie remind me of the first days on your blog.
March 6th, 2012 @ 10:02 pm
Oh wow baby cows…now that’s something I look forward to dreaming about. Thanks for the lion dew claw explanation, I was wondering as well. I’m sure there is energy present in that claw. I was lucky enough to be present when an bald eagle was at our local nature center. He had been shot in Saskatchewan and broke a wing on the fall to earth. Almost starved when found, but nursed back to health in IL of all places and now makes the rounds to educate people. He lost a few downy white feathers, which I deftly picked up and keep with me. I believe, like the lion claw, sacred