Thursday, March 15, 2012

A Letter from Maine


And so we find ourselves knee deep in a March that has no piles of dirty snow, no roads thick with lingering sand. Our boots are still lined up by the front door, freshly polished and ready for a call to duty that never really came. Strange.

In typical fashion, people around here are couching their enthusiasm with a sense of foreboding. Mother Nature has a mind of her own, they say. Gloat too much about the gentle winter and we'll surely have icebergs blocking the harbor by August 1st. I tend to agree, if only out of principle. It's never good to think you've outsmarted nature.

The mild winter has helped balance my internal roller-coaster of volatility and risk. I'm writing another book, you see. Number four on my whirlwind tour-de-bookshelf. It's a completely different beast than the first three, much more intimate. Utterly dear to my heart, which puts far more at stake. Even on the days when I'm feeling moody and peevish and stuck and terrified, though, I'm savoring the process. If nothing else, it seems like life should be about taking risks, yes? Leaning into the wind.

In the same spirit, I'll soon add "television personality" to my non-existent resume. Knitting Daily TV has invited me to be their resident yarn person for all 13 segments of the next season. It films in Ohio next week. I think it's a grand idea, and the whole thing is so vast and unknown that I don't even have a framework for being nervous. In the meantime, my home has become a veritable swatchery as I prepare sample after sample. You can't say, "This yarn is most exquisite in lace," and point your freshly manicured hands to an empty table, now can you? Well I suppose you could, but not for this show.

The promise of spring, and then summer...that excites me. The return of spring peepers, then the crickets and frogs, the fireflies, the long melodious song of the hermit thrush from deep in the woods. Opening the windows, letting in fresh air again. Moving out onto the porch, tending my garden. Then my family arrives and I get to shower them with buttery cakes and sweet pies still warm from the oven.

Those are my rewards at the end of a particularly challenging run. "All writing is launching yourself into the darkness," Paul Theroux once said, "and hoping for light and a soft landing." I won't know the landing for a long time to come, but I shall keep putting one word in front of the other and see where it takes me.

11 comments:

Deborah Robson said...

Have fun with the book: risky is where the adventure lies.

And you'll like KDTV. The hardest part for me was the make-up, although the person who does the make-up is very nice and makes it manageable even for people like me who can't remember which potion is intended to go where. The rest I got the hang of after the first two tapings. You'll rock it! Have fun! (Yeah, lots of swatches.)

sandi said...

Congratulations on joining Knitting Daily! They could not have made a better choice. You'll be brilliant.

Adrienne Martini said...

What Deborah and Sandi said. Also, thanks for the reminder about writing and landings. I needed that.

Ann said...

Tremendously good news, Clara, all this. I cannot wait for your new book. And it will be a great surprise to See Clara Talk when I'm so used to Reading What Clara Writes. You're omnimedia! Congratulations!

Lorna's Laces said...

And I'll be able to say "I knew her when..." Brava.

Linda said...

Congratulations dear Clara.

dianne said...

Knitting Daily TV! Wow! How exciting for you! Now I am even more excited that my local small cable company just added a PBS station that carries the show!

Pat's here said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Pat's here said...

Clara, How nice to hear such good news! Can't wait to catch you on TV.

EmEm said...

How very exciting! Can't wait for both the book and the new Knitting Daily series. I agree with Ann, after reading so much from you it will be fun to see you speaking. Hope you have great fun!!!

NanciKnits said...

Karma. Good. Karma.

Oh, and lots of hard work.....