Eagles Over the Kennebec

. . .they were fleeing Maine with a nor'easter nipping at their heels.

Since the Lakeshore Limited, aka Amtrak Train Number 49, leaves the Albany-Rensselaer train station at 7 pm, Steve and I decided to leave reasonably early (by which I mean, the sun was up by the time we were likewise), and take the Scenic Route.

This, we did, stopping in Keene, New Hampshire, for lunch, and wending our way gently through the warm and sunny day.  Shoppers in downtown Keene were wearing shorts and t-shirts, ignoring the predictions of Snowpocalypse for the morrow.

We arrived at the train station in time to wait two hours before boarding, and having dinner onboard (Steve had the chicken; I tried to have the butternut squash ravioli, but they were out.  Instead, they gave me (after due warning) mashed sweet potatoes formed with a melon ball and served under alfredo/spinach sauce.  It was. . .interesting.), returning to our room, and so to sleep.

Breakfast next morning was a "scrambled egg bowl," and then we arrived at Chicago Union Station with a nine-hour layover before us, which we shall pass over lightly.

We boarded The City of New Orleans, aka Amtrak Train Number 59, at 8:30 pm, were served from the lunch menu (we each had a. . .muffaletta?), and so to our room, and sleep. . .

. . .until 6:30 am, when the car attendant woke us so that we could de-train at Memphis, where we were picked up by Sylvia Cox in her hat as Guest Liaison for MidSouthCon.

Sylvia was everything that was accommodating and good-natured, got us to an IHOP so we could grab breakfast, drove us up and down River Street, so we could observe the above-flood-stage Mississippi River at first hand, and so to the hotel, where there was no waiting to get into our room, despite it being Very Early in the Day.

We repaired to our room and unpacked, then it was time to meet Jane and Pat in the lobby.  Pat filled us in on the history of the Memphis neighborhoods Jane was driving us through, until we arrived at the Children's Museum and!

The restored 1909 Dentzel Carousel which was for many years the centerpiece of Libertyland Amusement Park.

Here, have some carousel pictures:

After we finished with the carousel, we invaded the Children's Museum, which was just. . .awesome.  So much interactive stuff -- including an installation that taught you how to break into a safe; a real police car, and a FedEx jet.  Things to climb on, things to climb through, an air current raceway for balls and scarves, the ever-popular Legos, a grocery store, a discussion of the US Mint and how money is made. . .

Yeah, we spent some time there.  They ought to make these things adult-sized.

We departed the Children's Museum, reluctantly, and -- because there were flowers blooming in Memphis and Maine was by that point buried under a foot of new snow -- Jane and Pat took us to a Botanical Garden to admire the pansies, the tulips and the early daffodils, as well as some flowering trees.

Eventually, we came back to rest at the Hilton, had lunch, a nap, and woke in time to get ready to share the pre-convention dinner of chicken spaghetti with con volunteers and those other Guests of Honor who had arrived.  We had a lovely chat with Ellen Datlow, Editor Guest of Honor, and a changing roster of volunteers, as people broke for supper and then went back to the important business of putting the con together.

Friday was the first day of the con.  We toured the Dealers Room, and the Art Show, talked with folks we met around and about, including Glennis of the Missing Volume, and the lady who was selling kaleidoscopes, and...and...and...

Then, it was time for our first professional obligation:  Signing on Pro Row.

At 7 pm, it was time for Opening Ceremonies.  Each of the Guests of Honor were escorted to their seats by Batman or Superman.  I was escorted by Superman, while Batman did the pretty for Steve.

Each of the Guests were introduced and given a gift box full of whimsical and useful goodies.  Mike Resnick, the Toastmaster, told us a couple stories, we heard a little history of the convention, and it was official!  MidSouthCon was On!

Next morning, first thing, was the Teddy Bear Tea.  Despite the early hour, it was well-attended by a variety of plushies, who socialized with each other while their human companions told the story of each one, and did some socializing of their own.  Steve and I enjoyed ourselves, as did Lemmy, Jingles, and Hassan the Assassin.

We then had the opportunity to talk to a ballroom full of attentive people about the history and times of the Liaden Universe®, attended the Baen Traveling Roadshow, and did a panel on characterization and social world building before it was time for the banquet and the presentation of the Darrell Awards.  All the guests were brought to the front to be re-introduced to the convention, and asked to say a few words.

After the banquet, it was the Epic Women in Epic Stories panel, ably moderated by Toni Weisskopf.

Sunday morning, we hosted a breakfast in the restaurant for eight folks who had signed up to observe us before we were caffeinated.  Topics ranged from cats, to writing, to the weather, to cats, and also -- cats.

After, we read Select Portions of Agent of Change -- in celebration of the Thirtieth Anniversary -- to a small but appreciative audience and!

All too soon, it was Closing Ceremonies, and MidSouthCon was over for another year.  Except for the Dead Dog Party, where barbecue was had by all.

Because of how the trains run, we had most of Monday in Memphis.  We used our time wisely, playing tourist, visiting the Peabody Hotel in time to do a thorough tour before taking up a position on the mezzanine to see the ducks march out of their lobby fountain, down the red carpet and into the elevator that whisked them away to their rooftop penthouse.

After the ducks, it was a stroll down Beale Street, and a dinner, before moving on to the Memphis train station to wait for our ride.

MidSouthCon was a terrific con -- everyone we met was friendly and helpful, and sincerely glad that we had come to celebrate with them.

I didn't take any pictures at the convention, but here -- have some more carousel pics:

Those of you who stayed with us this far will recall that, at the beginning of the story, we were fleeing a nor'easter.  We returned home in the aftermath of a second nor'easter, which dumped eighteen-plus inches of snow on the head of most of New England.  Happily, New England knows what to do about snow, and the roads had been plowed and cleared ahead of us.  Our own plowguy had been in to shove snow out of the driveway, and clear the steps.

Today, the snow is rolling off our new metal roof, and the plowguy came by with his front-loader to push the pile of plowed snow back, so he'll have room to put the snow from the third March snowstorm, which is predicted for early next week.

And that?  Is all I've got at the moment.  Glad to have gone; glad to be home.

All righty, then.

This is a post about magic.

As some of you may know, I have long, on-going (unrequited) love affair with the Maine resort town Old Orchard Beach.  So great was my love that, against the advice of Practically Everybody, I wrote three books (Carousel Tides, Carousel Sun, Carousel Seas) set in a just-slightly-different Maine resort town -- Archers Beach.  The major differences between the two towns, besides some liberties taken with the coastal geography, and a very little smudging along the edges of history -- one of the differences is that, in Archers Beach, magic works.

Sort of.

Sometimes.

For some people.

And for others, who may not be, precisely, people.

The other difference is that, in Archers Beach, things are starting to turn around for the town, as the residents find renewed hope, and the energy to take up their destiny.

In Old Orchard Beach, over the years of our relationship, hope had been lost, and the residents had stopped believing in destiny.  I say this with love, and also with the understanding that love does not blind us to the loved one's faults.

An example. . .One of the centerpieces of the Carousel books is -- surprise! -- a carousel.  An old, hand-carved wooden carousel populated, granted, by some Very Odd animals, but, yes a carousel.  A carousel, in fact, that had been modeled (in the author's head) on the P(hiladelphia) T(obaggon) C(ompany) (#19, I do believe) that had been in place the very first time Steve and I visited Old Orchard Beach, many years ago.

The machine was in need of some upkeep, but old wooden carousels are expensive to keep up, and the sea air is kind to no machinery built by man.  But, it was running, the band organ was playing, and -- oh, it was grand.

The next time Steve and I got down to Old Orchard Beach, maybe a decade after that first visit (stone broke, no gas money, you know the drill), we found a changed scene.  The PTC machine was gone, and in its place was a fiberglass carousel, not as old, obviously, and. . . not very well kept.  You could see the poles shudder when the flying animals went up and down; you could hear the cranks grate.  Worse, oh, far worse!  The band organ, which had been ragged, but working, had been left too long unprotected in the seaside environment.  It was mildewed, it was cracked, it was peeling. . .it was. . .heartbreaking.

Now, the carousel in Old Orchard Beach -- the Chance Menagerie Carousel, is its name -- is part of an amusement park.  And, well. . .let's just say that, as went the carousel, so went the amusement park.  It was a sad, sad place, the last time I had been there at length, in 2012.  It needed -- oh, paint! and maintenance, and. . .hope.

Now. . .back in 2010, right around Halloween, Jeanne Bartolomeo, who at that time owned an art gallery in Old Orchard Beach called Beggars Ride, kindly put together a launch party in the gallery, for Carousel Tides. One of the surprising number of people who attended that party came up to me, excited by the town and the book, which she had already read as an ebook, and said, "I want to see it!"

"See what?" I asked her.

"The carousel!  I've already been to Bob's and the Pier, Tony Lee's and I have to see the carousel!"

Oh.  I cleared my throat.

"I'm so very sorry," I said.  "You can't see it.  It's. . .not there."

She stared at me, and I could see the betrayal creep into her eyes.

"You made it up?" she demanded, and I could see that she was hoping that I'd deny it, but. . .

"Yes," I admitted.  "I did.  I made it up."

In the same way, I made up the. . .revival of Archers Beach.

Or. . .not.

See, this year, Steve and I are doing a weird little split vacation at the ocean.  He and I were down at Old Orchard Beach together Thursday afternoon and evening; I came home to be with the cats, and Steve is doing a bachelor weekend at the ocean.  Monday, we'll swap places; he'll come down on Thursday, and Friday we'll shift all of us back home.  The reason Thursday is important in this is that there are fireworks on the beach every Thursday night during Season, courtesy of the amusement park.

So, anyway, we went to see the fireworks Thursday night, and after that, we wandered 'round the corner to look at the carousel. . .

. . .which has been completely revamped.  The panels were new; the rounding boards were new; the mirrors shone!  The sweeps were lit, and not only that! The lifting poles no longer shuddered; the cranks moved with quiet authority, and!

The band organ.

The band organ had been. . .restored.

And it was playing music.

I burst into tears.  Honest to ghod.  It was. . .it was magic.  See for yourself.

Before:

After:

Carousel Before:

Carousel After:

We walked through the whole park, and we noticed new paint, and bright new lights, and a feeling of hope amid the crowd.

When we came to the arcade, I said to Steve, "I want to visit Grandma."  I always visit Grandma when I'm in Old Orchard Beach.  If I have a quarter, I'll pay her to read my fortune.

Now, since Forever, Grandma has been shoved in a dark corner next to a service door in the arcade.  I walked right to the place, only to discover that!

She was gone.

I turned around, found Steve some distance behind, shaking his head and pointing.

They'd moved Grandma out into the main corridor.  They'd cleaned off her case, and they'd fixed the light.  Someone had.  I saw this because there seems to be an. . .addition to Grandma's bracelet.  A charm with names on them.  Steve and I are in disagreement.  I say the charm is new; a marker from the people who paid for her restoration.  Steve says there was always a charm.  I don't have a picture after, but here she is, last time I saw her:

And so that's it.

Who says there's no magic, any more?

Today's blog post title brought to you by Loreena McKennit, "Beneath A Phrygian Sky".  Here's your link.

…Or:  Five Things Make a Post

1.  I think I forgot to mention here that the mass market edition of Fledgling hit number 10 on the Locus Bestseller List for paperbacks sold in March 2010 and reported in the June edition.

2.  Yesterday — or maybe Thursday — a DVD of my talk at the Fairfield Public Library arrived in the PO Box, kindly sent on by Station Manager Laura Guite.  Steve and I viewed it — him, because he hadn’t been able to attend (the talk had originally been his gig, but he had a conflict with the meeting of the Board of Trustees for our own town’s library, so he suggested me), and me because I never get a chance to see myself give a presentation and I was curious.

It. . .wasn’t too bad.  I talk too fast, but I know that; otherwise, I looked calm and relaxed and friendly, and made my points like I knew what the heck I was talking about.  Thirty years ago, if you would’ve told me that I would willingly stand up in front of — not only a roomful of people, but a television! camera! — and Given a Talk, I would’ve fainted dead away.  I guess that’s one part of getting older that’s positive.  Yes, I do have this stuff cold, thank you.

3.  We have word from a bookseller friend that Mouse and Dragon is moving quite briskly of f the shelves of his store, which, he said, he had expected.  He also mentioned that The Dragon Variation is doing much better than he had anticipated, which is gratifying, but brings up a concern.

What can we do to get the word out to potential readers of the Liaden Universe® — you know, those folks who would love our work, if only they knew it existed — that The Dragon Variation is an excellent way to sample the Liaden Universe®, and, hopefully, start a long and beautiful journey with the members of Clan Korval and their friends?  Ideas?  Suggestions?

4.  The National Carousel Association sends word of its Annual Convention, the “Carousels of Discovery” tour, based in Spokane.

The convention includes trips to and rides on six operating carousels — a 1909 Looff Carousel (optional Tech Day with this carousel, as well, with mechanical and technical demos and operator training course, as well as an overview of the carousel’s restoration — I’d give, well, not my eye-teeth, ’cause you never know when they’ll come in handy, but something appropriately precious just to be able to attend this one session); a 1910 Dolle-Carmel-Borelli restoration now named The Three Rivers Carousel; a ride, with ice cream cones!, on the Great Northern Towne Center Carousel in Helena, Montana; a ride on the molded aluminum horses of the Boulder River Carousel, and a visit with the Spirit of Columbia Gardens Carousel (a restoration, it says here, but nothing about the construction, or if, in fact, the restoration is complete), then a side trip to Silverwood to ride the 1954 Herschel carousel and tour the amusement park.

Sigh.  Sounds like a fun time, if you’re interested in vintage carousels and have an extra $650 plus transportation to and fro burning a hole in your pocket.

5.  Got some solid work done on Ghost Ship today, after a long spell of Not  Much.  Hoping for another tomorrow, and that the damn dam has finally broken.