November 3, 2024

Conversations and stories...

I know you’re probably tired of hearing about my post-Helene experiences, but believe me when I say I’m keeping the worst of it out of the newsletter. What is the ‘worst of it’? That would be the stories from people who lost loved ones, or barely survived with only some of the clothes they had put on that morning.

I’m a friendly person. I will start up conversations in the line waiting for supplies, waiting to fill water jugs, or waiting for the laundry to finish. I’ve made some new friends this way over the past five weeks, but it’s also opened me up to hearing stories that have absolutely broken my heart.

Porch view 10 29 24

My county, Yancey, in North Carolina, is going to take the longest to rebuild because of the geography here. Mt. Mitchell is in my town of Burnsville - and it is the highest peak east of the Mississippi. We still have areas where the roads are completely gone and people are using ATVs to get in and out. RVs and sheds are being donated for people to live in who have lost their homes or whose homes are uninhabitable.

I’m dealing with some survivor guilt in that my house is fine and while I still do not have running water (over five weeks now) I am safe, warm, and have my belongings intact - when a mile down my road there is mud where there once were houses.

Now my stress is from resources being removed before we’re done needing them - like laundry facilities and places to fill jugs of water.

I find myself excited beyond reason that the farmstand shop where I love to get my produce has reopened this week. It’s the little things that keep me going.

Speaking of keeping going - I’ve been getting more chapters of And So It Begins recorded and uploaded. Next up after that is Luck of the Irish. Curls & Chaos is now live as an audiobook on Kobo - and available in Kobo Plus. Those are available at my Graffridge Publishing ‘stack.

I’ve slowly started to put some words on the page. With everything going on, focus has been difficult - so I wrote what was floating to the surface and tucked it aside. Queen is slowly waking again and I’m happy to be back at it.

Needless to say, there have been a lot of adjustments to my writing plans this year.