Our visitor was not very polite. In fact, her manners were so reprehensible, that I left town before the dreaded guest arrived. But even that did not stop Florence from paying the visit. And now we are beginning the clean up and recovery. So, please bear with us for the next few weeks as we reassemble our lives here in eastern North Carolina.
Thank you!
#HurricaneFlorence #LivingLikeARefugee #SomeOfOurNeighborsWereHitHard
She's a beauty, she's coming my way, and I wasn't even watching. Turns out, Florence came into my life at just the right time.
I've been way too busy lately. But I have been pondering what kind of contest to do next for a book give away, and then Florence waltzed in.
Florence, also known as Hurricane Florence, stumbled onto my radar, and that's sort of the same thing as waltzing. Trust me, if you have ever seen me waltz, you would agree.
I don't actually love hurricanes, but we have this tradition in North Carolina of having a hurricane party after all the preparations are completed. It's really a way to pass the time when it's too nasty to go out. I'm not a particularly fun guy, so my idea of a party is a cup of coffee and a movie. Naturally, we have to get the movie in before the power goes out.
So, here's the contest. Guess which movie I have chosen for the hurricane party? (I have already made my selection.)
First correct guess wins a free copy of TIME ZONE as soon as it is released. (That is expected to be in October.)
Post your guess on the Facebook page RV Hodge Author, so I can keep track.
Hint: If it seems obvious, it is wrong.
#TimeZone
It started as a standard Facebook update, but as I was tapping away at the miniature keys on my phone's screen, it morphed into an impromptu contest.
So the question is, what song was going through my head?
First, let's take a look at some of the interesting responses. I'm not sure if this is more like relationship analysis or psychological evaluation. But, since I'm not qualified to do either one, we'll just do it for the amusement value.
The two most popular, and I might add, most predictable responses were: Take Me Home, Country Road, by John Denver, and On the Road Again, by Willie Nelson. Good guesses, since I was tired. But I was not tired enough to resort to predictable. So, while they are iconic, those were not correct.
There were several notable, but incorrect, guesses that were excellent choices for this contest. Already Gone, by the Eagles, Carry On, by Kansas, and Flirtin' With Disaster, by Molly Hatchet, all landed squarely in my generation's music. These songs also hit the transient mood associated with traveling.
I didn't see the railroad or trucker songs coming, but there were several. Any of those could have been a good choice for this contest. In fact, there were a lot of popular and spiritual songs about traveling that I had forgotten existed until someone posted them as a guess. There were even a couple that I did not recognize.
Then there were the sneaky entries, the Misty Mountain song and The Road Goes Ever On. Songs from the Hobbit movies are always on my mind as I travel in the mountains. There are some deeply personal reasons for this. First is that I really like those movies. Second is they are richly associated with good memories of good times with our kids. The first Hobbit movie was in theaters when we visited Japan at Christmas time in 2012. It was the year that our youngest went off to college. And we saw that movie with all of the kids, in Japan. It was a fabulous visit. You could probably write a psychology doctoral thesis on all that goes through my mind and emotions when I watch that movie and/or hear the Misty Mountain song. Excellent choices, but not correct in this instance.
Well, enough with sappy soul baring. The winning song is Turn The Page, by Bob Seger.
But your thoughts will soon be wandering, the way they always do
When you're riding sixteen hours and there's nothing there to do
And you don't feel much like riding, you just wish the trip was through
Here I am, on a road again
There I am, on the stage
Here I go, playing star again
There I go, turn the page
Don't try to read too much into the meaning. It's the melancholy sentiment of post-adventure traveling that took me there. "Turn the page" is such a good word picture in my mind and it is neatly bundled with a somber tune.
I'm not sure what part of my post led Lindsay to this song. Do we have parallel music tastes? Could he have remembered some random conversation from three decades ago? I don't know, but the winner is Lindsay Miller!
CONGRATULATIONS! LINDSAY MILLER!
All prizes must be picked up in person at our warehouse. (Just kidding!) Lindsay, please email or private message your mailing address to me. Your copy of TIME ZONE will be sent out to you as soon as we have them available.
Thank you to all the contestants!
Stay tuned for more contests. Sign up to receive my blog posts to be sure you don't miss anything. There is a box on the right hand side of this page to input your email.
#TimeZone #Christmas2018
How much fun can a normal person have writing a bio for their website?
I don't know, I'm not a normal person. But I certainly had some fun revising mine.
If you dare, check it out.
“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?” said no one ever at a Skalds event.
It’s obvious what everyone is doing at the Festival of the Skalds. They are getting in touch with their inner Viking.
(Minus 10 points if you just mentally said, “Arrgh!” That’s not what Vikings say. Vikings say, “Uff da!”)
To be fair, some of us were more in touch with our inner Gypsy or bard. But that’s not all bad, since a skald was a poet in the court of a Viking or Icelandic leader. I suppose you could say a skald was a literate version of a court jester.
This past weekend we held the 2nd Annual Festival of the Skalds. We had a good showing of people in costume, and it was a blast. It was also the last invitation-only event. Next year we will be open for business to the public and we should be fully operational.
What do you do at a Skalds Festival?
As vendors, we hawk all kinds of cool stuff, including books by yours truly. Therefore the most important people at the Festival of the Skalds are the ones who buy books. Particularly, my books. I’m just being honest here.
Becky with the Falcon Series!
Other fun activities that we indulge in include ... food. We eat lots of food. We probably eat way too much food. We also try our hand at primitive weapons, and I’m pleased to report that there were no injuries. And, naturally, everyone checks out the costumes of everyone else. I have to say, this year there were a lot of really good costumes.
Decide for yourself; who are the ladies, who are the peasants, and which one is the hooligan.
So, now to the costume judging contest. There was not an actual contest, but there may be one next year.
There were several ladies of the court present. As you can see in the picture, they were forced to mingle with the commoners and other riffraff. This was not the entire crew, but you get a good representation of the cross section here.
One of these ladies looked like a princess trying to blend in with the rest of us peasants. Her prince was absent, but I suspect he was out with his valiant men rounding up highwaymen for the gallows.
In every gathering of hoodlums, there is an instigator. Jacinda and Micah are the chief instigators of the Festival of the Skalds. If the constable should come looking, we’re blaming them. They were, as always, convincingly dressed.
Which brings us to the award for the best costume. This year, in my completely unbiased view, I have selected Micah. His costume was pretty good, and he was well accessorized, and he had a weapon. In my view, weaponizing wins!
Stay tuned for next year’s Festival of the Skalds. You are invited …
