30. There is Only One More Day in May

I had lunch with a friend the other day and she was asking me what I’d been up to, and I said, well, one thing is, I’ve been blogging every day in May.

'I had to,' I explained. 'I made an announcement that I’d blog every day in May.'

I could tell she thought that was strange.

‘That’s strange,’ she said — that’s how I could tell – ‘Why would you do that?’

I didn't know, but I have just now remembered. It was:

1. to celebrate ten years in publishing and the release of The Ghosts of Ashbury High in North America on June 1;

2. to form a symbolic bridge from the Ashbury books to the Cello books; and

3. to cast a spell in order to let go of something — to let go of something that had started with an unkind review but had gathered itself into much more — a bird on my shoulder! — which I think was really fear.

Now, some people might think that a celebration, a bridge, and a spell are a lot to ask of the simple act of blogging every day. They might point out that it’s fairly standard, daily blogging, and that actually a lot of people do it in November!

Note, however, that November only has thirty days.

So, I am confident that all three items above have been— or, at least, that they will be achieved by the conclusion of tomorrow’s post.

Furthermore, it turns out the spell is going to have both retrospective and prospective effect! That is, it will apply to all the fears I have ever, or will ever, have. (So I won’t need to keep coming back to this blog and saying, listen! listen! I’m in trouble! – although I do hope to come back sometimes and say hello.)

In addition — and I hope you will be glad to hear this news — the spell is going to work on your fears too! Sweet and beautiful readers of this blog, I am so grateful to you for listening, and especially for your comments. They have been unimaginably generous, and yes, you people are treasures. (Also, two people I know have also been blogging-every-day-in May, one an old friend, the other new, so obviously, the spell should work for them, too, if they wish to take up this offer.)

Now, if you ever find yourself thinking, ‘hang on, that spell can't be working — I feel afraid!’ you just need to write a two-minute novel in questions on the topic of your fear/anxiety, and then you turn that novel into a paper aeroplane, and throw it as far as you can, and the spell will be rebooted, and you will never be afraid again.

So, that’s good news.


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The other day, my neighbours gave me a jar of maple syrup — it can be tricky getting good maple syrup in Sydney, and the neighbours had just got some from Vermont, so they poured some into a little jar and gave it to me.

Living in Canada left me with three new addictions: snow, blueberries, and maple syrup. I don’t think the neighbours even know that!

On one side of my house, an angry dog and a broken fence; on the other side, unexpected, perfect gifts. Sometimes you just have to know which way to turn.



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In other good news, last night my mother called and said she’d found a solution for my lower back pain! She said she was talking to a friend at Tai Chi about it – about my lower back – and turns out what I have to do is, I have to go into a pet store, any pet store, and ask them for this cream that people rub onto dogs and horses for their muscular problems.

This friend of my mother’s swears by it. Her husband used to have trouble just getting out of his chair and, as for a short walk to the shops, that was agony for him! 'But then he tried this cream, this dog and horse cream,' my mother’s friend explained, 'and now he gallops.'