Wyatt

So glad that Wyatt is finished and published. If you haven't read the series, start with Behind the Closet Door. The second is called Blood Brothers and the third is Wyatt. All are available on Amazon.com

Here is an excerpt from Wyatt.

Wyatt sat by the edge of the creek on a large boulder
watching the trout. They were just out of reach, their
spotty sides shimmering in the afternoon sunlight. He was
distracted and a bit disappointed that his work had
followed him out here, and on such a beautiful day.
Wyatt was thinking about his name at the moment. He
realized that he didn’t hate it the way he used to. A leaf
fell into the water and circled around like a little boat
caught in a storm. He cast his line and the fish scattered.
He chuckled and went back to his thoughts.
His name had been difficult for him to accept because
of where it came from. When he was a boy, he’d gone on
a search for the truth about his past. It seemed strange to
dislike something that was such an integral part of who he
was. “What’s in a name?” he said and looked thoughtfully
at the water. If not for his past, he probably wouldn’t have
given it a second thought. It defined him, even though
most new age gospel would have said you shouldn’t let it.
Wyatt figured anyone who ate tofu couldn’t be trusted
anyway.
He was working on a new case and it wasn’t going
well. He’d had three recent successes and at twenty-three,
he had been gearing up for a promotion. Instead he got a
transfer. He learned a hard life lesson. Sometimes, if you
rise up too quickly, someone will beat you back down. He
never saw it coming. He hadn’t meant to be a threat to
anyone’s position, but Rob Harrison seemed to feel
otherwise. The transfer was hard and the new case was
proving to be slow and unrewarding. An unsolved murder
that was now classified as a cold case. He watched the
spinning leaf, wondering if that would be his career.
He tried to shake it off and he pulled in his line and set
down the pole. He took out an energy bar and ate it,
although it tasted like sawdust and peanut butter. The sky
was completely clear, not a wisp of cloud and Wyatt
sighed. It was a shame to waste this beautiful day
worrying.

Long way gone. New book out in September!

Well I was gone for quite a long time. We enjoyed the rest of our year in South Africa and we then took off to New Mexico. Specifically Santa Fe. It was stark and beautiful and quite the contrast to the lush tropical Indian Ocean. I had a hard time adjusting but the upside is that I left South Africa feeling like I could go back out there again. My home sickness subsided and I made a lot of wonderful friends. Santa Fe is beautiful but very expensive and we quickly realized that we'd not likely be able to afford an adobe house for half a million dollars. As lovely as the architecture is, it's overpriced. So, after seventeen different stops from South Africa back to Virginia we are at last back in my old stomping ground.

In other news, I have a new book coming out. If you haven't read the Closet Door series, what are you waiting for? Books one and two have been available on Amazon for a while now. Check them out and look for the third installment in September.

Well, now that monkeys aren't always trying to steal my bananas I'll have to find something new to write about. Squirrels in the back yard? Nope, doesn't have the same exotic appeal.

Searching for animals in Zululand

As I sit here trying to write while workers in the downstairs apartment drill into the concrete ceiling making noises that sound like two elephants mating, I am trying to think of something positive to say about South Africa. God knows I've whined enough about what I don't like. The head splitting noise at present is not helping.

So, I'm going to talk about four glorious days that made this trip worthwhile. A couple of months ago we decided to take a road trip to Zululand and stay at one of the parks board places. A huge game reserve where you can see the big five if you're lucky. We spent two nights at Hluhluwe which was my idea of heaven. We saw a herd of elephants (not mating) but they were eating leaves. You'd be surprised how enthralling that is to see in real life. One large female used her tusks to push down a whole tree and her family gathered around to eat the green leaves. Sigh... It was beautiful.

We also saw giraffe, all types of buck, Rhino, the list goes on. Zululand is such a magical place and it's really not that far from where we are living. Three hours and you are surrounded by wilderness and wild animals. What could be better?

Plus there were BABY animals. It's spring here so all the animals have babies now and I'm telling you, if that doesn't warm your heart, you are a robot.

So I came back from that trip filled with goodwill toward everyone and that lasted a day or two. As soon as I saw the trash piled up on the beach where we live I started hating again but I'm trying to be philosophical about it and do what I can and not worry about the rest. So about a month ago we went back to Zululand. This time we drove farther into the wilderness to a place called mkuze.

As you can see from the picture it's a glorious dirt road to nowhere and that is a good thing. We spent two nights in a tent that was kind of permanent in the sense that there was a wood floor and a shower and bathroom which was awesome. We even had an outdoor kitchen.

Our routine was to get up around five am and have a nice hot cup of tea and go out driving looking for animals to gaze at. There are thousands of acres of wilderness so it's not always so easy to see the animals which are sometimes hidden in the bush. Sometimes you drive for hours before you see anything interesting. On our second day my husband and I saw something that I've never seen on any of my trips to Zululand, a wild cheetah.

As you can see, he is exquisite. We were so excited and watched him for about half an hour stalking through the bush, scaring birds and swishing his tail. It was a moment I'll never forget and one that reminds me to be thankful that I'm here in a place where it's still possible to see a cheetah in the wild.

He crossed the road in front of us twice. We were snapping pictures like crazy people and then finally I just put the camera down and enjoyed watching him. He really was a true thing of beauty.

So, I just have to remind myself that there is much to be thankful for still in this world and that I'm blessed to have this unique experience.

My new book just came out today and I want to talk about that as well but I might put it in another post. It's called The Secret Lives of the Harvested and is a drama. It's on Amazon. Okay, cheers from South Africa!

You Always Take the Weather With You

So part of this trip is learning how to accept things as they are. I posted a photo album on facebook the other day and to look at it, you’d think my trip was this magical fairyland of beautiful sunrises, sunsets, walks on the beach and loving life.

If I were someone else that might be my experience but as I am me, I carry all my baggage along with me. There are moments I’ve enjoyed, don’t get me wrong. I’m not ungrateful. There are also many moments that I’ve been homesick, missing my sister, missing my dog, missing my house and all my stuff. I’ve been wishing for a long time now that I could get back to work. Start another shop and do something rewarding and useful.
For a long time my identity was tied up with being sick. I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease eight years ago and my world imploded. I lost my business and bounced between anxiety and depression. I discovered Reiki and it changed my life in ways that are still unfolding. I have been fortunate to find a Reiki teacher here who can give me the rest of my training and it has given me a sense of purpose, a feeling that this year isn’t for nothing.

As I’ve gotten older, I have gotten better at accepting things but sometimes it seems harder than usual. I was doing alright in Charlottesville. I enjoyed my home and my books and my office. When you’re married, it can’t be all about what you want and for the last few years my husband has been feeling pulled to spend more time in South Africa with his family.

The upside of that is getting to see beautiful places and travelling. The downside is the upheaval of everything that I find comfortable and safe. I’ve decided that this is the last trip for awhile. I want to work on getting my life back and playing to my strengths instead of hurling myself into these situations where I feel like I’m being thrashed about by a washing machine (which matches today’s weather by the way. I walked out on the beach and it’s blowing a gale and the sea is churning and the sand is blowing across the beach pelting anyone who dares to walk near with tiny grains of sand.)

My experience in South Africa is always mixed. On the one hand you have incredible beauty. The plants alone make my heart sing. I’ve never seen such variety of flowers and palms and indigenous plants as I see here on a daily basis. There is also the open friendliness of the people and the beautiful climate and the ocean.

On the other hand this is a place with a lot of suffering. The crime rate is high, the poverty rate equally high. Some days the beach is filled with trash and it’s hard not to hate people for behaving like pigs. Other days, people gather to pick up trash or maybe I do and then I feel better about the way things are.

Another example of the way things are here is the slowly failing infrastructure. As the years go on and funds get scarce you see things starting to fall apart. The life guard tower has been shedding glass windows and parts of its roof since we’ve lived here and with the high wind, there is always a sense that it’s going to fall on someone. The inside of this huge building is held up by makeshift beams. The lifeguards are probably taking a chance with their lives by staying in this building. There is also the regular practice of illegal dumping of sewage into the rivers that join the sea. The air quality is poor due to the lack of simple things like catalytic converters on cars. It’s a third world country and I guess these things are to be expected.

To be fair, looking at the other side, I have probably seen more happy people here than I see back home. Almost everyone seems to get exercise and enjoy the outdoors. There is less complaining here than in the States. People make the most of what’s here and I admire that. When there is a holiday, people have fun.

There is also a thriving artist community here. Many creative people know each other and there is a love of art and craft here that I used to see back home before the recession and the wars made everyone more cautious and less likely and able to spend money. Hopefully that’s changing because I want to go back to my art and jewelry making and all the things I love to do.

I know there are lessons for me to learn here and I am trying. I’m sitting here looking out to sea. It’s wild but beautiful. I’d never be able to afford to have a view like this back home. I’m trying not to make missing home a reason not to enjoy what this place has to offer. Today I’ve made fresh juice with carrot, celery, cucumber, apple and lemon. It’s delicious and just that is something to be grateful for.



I also just found out that my latest manuscript has been accepted by my publisher which is also a big reason to celebrate. It gives me something to work on and I feel a sense of accomplishment that helps when I feel overwhelmed by anxiety and depression. I’m trying to practice acceptance. That’s really all I can do since all I have is this moment right here.

Cheers from South Africa

Blood Brothers

If you read Behind the Closet Door and enjoyed it, check out Blood Brothers, the sequel.

http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Brothers-Shari-Rood-ebook/dp/B00KVQZNDM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1411647099&sr=8-1&keywords=shari+rood

South Africa sucks when it comes to used cars

So Rog and I are trying to find a car. Four months with no car is getting old. Real old. Sure, walking is good for me. Yes, I know I'm at the beach and I'm blessed and blah, blah, blah but it's been windy as hell for the last two weeks and walking to the store is like some kind of endurance test. In some ways, this whole trip is. Yes it's beautiful here and there are many things to be thankful for but I miss my dog and my sister and my home and my stuff and wah...

So, back to the car situation. We sold our Subaru back home before we moved. I loved that car. We figured that we might be able to get something similar here. Not as nice but just a decent little car to get us around. Easier said than done. For starters, a lot of the cars are little foreign rust buckets. A stiff breeze might blow them away. Still, those little rust buckets are expensive. The rust bucket we are looking at now is a brand called a Toyota Tazz. It's a Toyota-lite but still a Toyota and that's the only reason I'm considering one of them. We've called about a couple of them and they have either been sold or they are hours away. Ironically it's hard to go car shopping with no car.

Some other little rust buckets available to us are, Fiat, the Mazda Drifter (free homeless person with purchase) Opel, the Ford Icon, Renault, The Ford Bantam, (yes, here there is a Ford named after a chicken...) the Toyota conquest (with an extra large back seat), the Chevrolet Spark, (Insert joke about car going up in flames here ___________)the Citron (which has lemon built right into the name) and so on...

Here is a picture of a white Kia. Probably one of the most common rust buckets available here. I hate Kia's. Still, I'd buy one if it were affordable.

Couple the lack of familiar brands with the high prices and also the high scam factor and it's enough to make me take the bus. If only our town had a bus. It doesn't. You'd think I would have researched that before we moved here, right? I did not.




What about this little beauty? Makes me think of Breaking Bad. You could cook meth in this, right?

This hideous little Ford Fiesta, a brand that I owned when I was nineteen, is selling for $25,000. Can you believe it? Why does this souped up version of a Fiesta even exist? Who would buy this? I spit on you, $25,000 Fiesta. You and your little bow too...

At last, something in our price range.

Well, this was not a productive day. We tried to walk on the beach but the wind has brought in an unusual amount of trash and debris and there is a sewage leak in the Umlanga River which has blown down to our town. There is a couple we see on the beach each morning and we pet their lovely Staffie dogs and the husband said that he thinks South Africa has been downgraded to a fourth world country. Today I might just agree. Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow is full of possibilities. And, once we do get a rust bucket of our very own, there is an even higher possibility that one of the tomorrows in my near future might include an elephant in it or a Rhino or a baby giraffe. So there is hope. Hope springs eternal, just like sewage...

The death of Otis and my sanity

I'll start this with a photo Rog took of last nights so called Super moon. I think that might have something to do with my more than usual jumpiness. This is going to sound more like a rant than a blog but so be it. I'm feeling homesick and the death of Otis isn't helping.

In case you don't know, Otis is the elevator in our building. We rented an apartment as close to the Indian ocean as humanly possible. Thinking back, it would have been better to be a few streets off the main beach and have a nicer place. The view is spectacular but the apartment is ancient and fragile, like my nerves. Not to mention that the sea is surprisingly loud. I often wake up thinking we are in the middle of the biggest rainstorm ever and then I remember that I'm living at the beach.

When we moved in, I blogged about the elevator and the fact that it was acting weird. Somehow I didn't have the good sense to realize that it might actually die, cease to be, finito. We don't have a car either so what used to be a simple walk to the store is now more difficult.

Rog and I are on the fourth floor and we hardly see anyone in this ghost ship of a building. There is a handyman who doesn't speak much English but he told us enough to let us know we won't be getting a new Otis any time soon.

We contacted our real estate agent who rented the place to us. He's been less than forthcoming and distracted with other clients I guess. So, fighting this homesickness just got harder because every time I leave my house it's 77 steps to the outside world. It's beautiful here but I want to make a point of saying that a beautiful place alone isn't enough to make a life fulfilling.

I think what I really want is to go back to having a shop again. Shop keeping was what I was best at and I miss it. So, at the end of our stay in South Africa, I will be anxious to get back to America and start doing something productive. I want to start painting again and making jewelry and I want Rog to get back to making his pottery.

On a positive note, I am making the most of my time here. I am trying to get the third book in the Closet Door series finished and I'm also going to be taking a master level Reiki class to round out my education in that area. After the course, I'll be able to teach if I want to.

Cheers from South Africa