From the Maryland Writer’s Association
Author: edwardmcsweegan
Hard Right
George Booth, RIP
Shadow of the Moon
Release date: March 1, 2023.
Let the marketing begin!
Griswold Point
The Lyme Art Association Gallery had an exhibit of New England Landscapes this month. I bought a painting by Dodie D’Oench entitled, ‘Griswold Point.” I thought having spent some time walking on Griswold Point, camping on it, running the boat up on it, and finally watching so much of it wash away in the tides of time that I should buy the painting as a reminder of younger days in Old Lyme. The place also appears in my Work In Progress, The Cottage Industry.
Griswold Point isn’t what it used to be. Once it was a significant peninsula of grass and sand. People camped and fished on it during the summers. Now it’s a wormy little island of marsh awaiting one more drowning by the rising tides. Here’s a timelapse view of the area over an 80-year period.
Red Moon II
Speaking of the red moon, I was reminded of Joy Chant’s fantasy classic, Red Moon, Black Mountain.
Red Moon
Beautiful morning for a lunar eclipse. Mars was up. Orion was out. The Earth’s shadow reddened the Moon. Not to be confused with the Shadow of the Moon. Wishing I still had my old telescope.
Reading
Intrigued by Crimereads story about Charles Williams, I bought a copy of his 1958 suspense story, Man on the Run.
What the Seagulls see.
A real estate drone shot of my beach in Old Lyme, Ct. Looks nice. I’m just wondering where everyone is on such a nice day.
Easy Riding
Back on a dirt bike after a 40-year absence. Pretty sure I wouldn’t survive a wipeout like one at UMass in 1982.
Contributor News
A note from Embark: Edward McSweegan—author of THE FEVER HUT (featured in Embark, July 2019)—will soon have a historical novel called Shadow of the Moon, about the 1878 solar eclipse, published by Wild Rose Press. Congratulations, Edward!
Over the Gorge
Doing the Via Ferrata at Ausable Chasm in upstate New York. A little rainy, but still a pretty good two hours of structured climbing along the cliffs and over the gorge. Nice to know I still have my nerve and a few moves.
The Reichstag
Berlin
Took the train from Geneva to Berlin. I did somewhat the reverse 30+ years ago going from Munich to Geneva back when the trains were slower and there were dining cars with table clothes and silverware. The wide seats facing each other would fold down to make a bed and the seats could be walled off by a sliding door and curtains. Instant cabin. Now things are mod and digital. Newer is not always better.
Anyway, arrived in Berlin—a city I’ve never visited. I wanted to see all of the usual things: Check Point Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, etc. Plenty of Cold War relics about, including the current Russian Embassy.
It’s taking a while figuring out the S Bahn and the U Bahn. I don’t speak any German so, following the maps, the train stops, the right ticket to buy is mysterious, but becoming less so. I also managed to download some apps that allow me to rent an electric bike or scooter. I went with the bike first, and wandered through the vast, heavily wooded Berlin park called Tiergarten.
Annecy, France
I was supposed to visit this small French town during a GVN virology conference, but I left the foundation before the meeting and so missed the visit. Today, I finally made it to Annecy. Well worth the wait.
The town was once a part of Geneva, but given a thousand years of Europe’s history in which borders, countries, and peoples were rearranged, this can’t be a surprise. The town sits on a beautiful blue-green lake, which backs up to an impressive barrier of mountains and escarpments.
