Mary C. M. Phillips

Here in New York we’re still reeling from Hurricane Sandy and now (to add insult to injury), a nor’easter.

photo by scottnj from flickr

I spent the morning swatting snow off tree branches with my broom.  It was quite a sight.

Because of the weight, the incredible heaviness of wet snow, I made an attempt to save numerous branches from snapping.  This snow, this heavy snow, this abominable blanket of sludge is like salt on an open wound.  Even the trees are suffering here in the northeast.

It’s a wicked sight, looking up my block (and I’m in one of the more fortunate sections) at yellow “caution” tape decorating various homes.  And this morning, due to the nor’easter, broken limbs and branches litter the road.

Visually and audibly changed as we’ve become accustomed to the sound of sirens here in Long Island. I miss the sound of birds.  Give me birds.

Now and then, I’ll visit Facebook and am forced to enter into “normalcy” as I read posts by friends living outside of the area.   Posts of children in cow costumes from Halloween; posts about writing and music and politics (well, not so much politics after Tuesday….thank God).

Intertwined with posts such as:  “My friend needs a home” and “I’m delivering cleaning supplies to Island Park tomorrow, please donate.”

And lately the happiest post of all:  I HAVE POWER!

Facebook and twitter are like…alternate realities.

In the midst of it all, throughout the storm, I’ve been reading The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead (recommended by a friend) about alternate realities.  Isn’t it amazing when a friend gives you the right book at the right time?  Providence…that’s what I say.  Providence!

The Skin Map, in short, speaks of the “omniverse” opposed to the “universe.”  It presents intersecting realities that unravel the “future of the future” within the genres of ancient history, alternate realities, physics, and philosophy.

It’s amazing how the words of books speak volumes to you when going through similar situations.  Not that my alternate reality is taking place in London in 1606, but it’s an alternate reality all the same.  I’ve never lived through a quasi-Katrina-like existence.

My reality is a bit of The Skin Map and, say, Ethan Frome right now.

Okay?  Understand?

All I can say is prayer is in high-gear and thank you God for coffee.

I’m taking my first few sips right now and thinking of alternate realities…like the beach in summer.

*   *   *

…between hemlock boughs bent inward to their trunks by the weight of the snow.  I had often walked that way on Sundays, and knew that the solitary roof showing through bare branches near the bottom of the hill was that of Frome’s saw mill.  It looked exanimate enough, with its idle wheel looming above the black stream dashed with yellow-white spume, and its cluster of sheds sagging under their white load.    

From Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton.

photo by Jeanne Bifulco

One more week until JASNA AGM!

The Jane Austen Society of North America will hold their annual general meeting this year in Brooklyn, New York!

I’m beyond excited.  Beyond!

I thought I’d share some of the awesomeness that will take place with some of my wonderful Janeite friends.  Are you ready?  Okay.  Here goes.

For starters, since this is my first AGM experience, I’ll partake in AGM’s Survival Guide with Marsha Huff, JASNA’s immediate Past President, who will map out successful strategies for an AGM first-timer such as myself.   It’s basically AGM 101.

Then it’s all about sex, money, and power (and you thought Jane Austen was for sissies) with In Search of the Real Jane Austen presented by Annette LeClair (an opening session that will explore Austen’s relevance within those said  topics).

Such felicity!  I can’t wait. By the way, I’m planning to wear my i-darcy tee shirt and will be going solo…so please feel free to say hi if you’re also attending.

Now, more Janeite stuff to drool over.  Ready?  Okay.

As a reader and writer, I’m so looking forward to the following presentation:

The Power of the Printed Word… and the E-Word: Publishing Jane Austen and Her Fiction Progeny.  The panelists include Elda Rotor, Associate Publisher & Editorial Director at Penguin Classics; Deb Werksman, Editorial Manager at Sourcebooks; Mitchell Waters, literary agent at Curtis Brown, Ltd.; and moderator, Valerie Peterson, from About.com Book Publishing.  (There will also be a follow-up Q & A session, which will include several novelists that are also JASNA members).

Shall I go on?

As a few of you may know, I am not only a Jane Austen enthusiast, but also adore Edith Wharton.  Therefore, I’m particularly looking forward to attending this session:

“Nothing Against her, but Her Husband, & Her Conscience”: Jane Austen’s Lady Susan in Edith Wharton’s New York presented by Sarah Emsley (author of Jane Austen’s Philosophy of Virtues and editor of Edith Wharton’s novel The Custom of the Country).

I’ll be in heaven….via Brooklyn.  Fuggedaboutit!

I’ll just add one…more…thing. Get this:

Dr. Cornel West, Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University will speak on the topic of “power’ AND Ann Quindlen is the keynote speaker.  Yep.

Beyond exciting.  Beyond!

Hope to see some of your there!

I’ve added Charity Royall from Edith Wharton’s Summer to my list of favorite heroines.

I can’t help but love her.

I love the way she embraces nature like a young female John Muir appreciating every stone and blade of grass.  The way she springs from her library desk to the grassy hills that lie beneath the dark and beckoning mountains make me want to throw my  laptop out the window and take my dogs for a walk.

Not quite as adventurous as Charity, I know. But you get my drift.

There is also a tinge of Doroles Price from She’s Come Undone in Charity.  Another of my favorite heroines.  The tragic sharp-tongued girl who uses sarcasm as her main defense weapon.  (Charity, however, does not turn to Cheez Whiz for comfort as does Dolores, but instead turns to the educated, b-s-ing architect, Harney).

Harney, the handsome and oh, so charming “Willougby” of Summer.  I found their relationship to be Austenesque in so many ways that I felt I was reading an Austen (different time, different place, etc.) novella.  And Mr. Royall?  He would be the Colornel Brandon-like character of Summer; loving Charity unconditionally (and fatherly, which makes it a bit yukky for Charity).  Colonel Brandon, by the way, (from Austen’s Sense and Sensibility) is, in my opinion, one of Austen’s most underrated heroes.  Given, he’s no Mr. Darcy, but he’s up there for sure.

Summer, which I read the week my son returned to school — kissing our favorite season goodbye — is a book I’m tempted to re-read before the end of the year. It’s just that good (plus it’s only 100 pages).  Technically, I suppose, it’s a novella and if you’ve read my thoughts on short stories or Kafka, you know I appreciate that fact.

The power of the word!  Less is more.

How a story this powerful can be crammed into 100 pages, I’ll never know, but it takes an awesome amount of talent to do so.