Category: Nature (Page 11 of 20)

Summer Nights at the Beach

June 27, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

I took a drive by the beach at 11:00 the other night to take a look at the moon. It wasn’t quite the “super moon” anymore, but it was still big and bright. As I slowly drove down the one-way beach road, windows down, music loud, I noticed how many teens were out and about.

Several groups of just boys or just girls, a couple of mixed groups, and lots of couples. All looking impossibly young to be out on their own at 11:00 at night. Then again, I’ve always looked impossibly young for whatever stage of life I’m in. (I blame this skewed perception of age on TV and movies, where most teen roles are played by non-teens.)

Then I remembered my own days as a teen hanging at those very same beaches (yup, I’m a lifer here in my hometown!). The thick summer air cut only by the cool breeze off the water. Crickets chirping and waves lightly crashing. Too-short shorts not covering enough skin. Sand squishing between my toes.

It was summer and we were free. Free from school, free from wearing all but the skimpiest of clothing, and free to be reckless and stupid. My friends and I were most likely doing things we probably won’t tell our kids about now and things we definitely didn’t want our parents to find out about then. Those were the days, indeed!

It’s good writing fodder to have a rush of memories like that. Makes me feel both young and old, if you know what I mean. What are your fond memories of summertime as a teen?

Shameless Plug: Vote for the Cover of Elixir Bound

June 10, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

A lot of you have expressed your love for the cover of Elixir Bound, created by the talented C.K. Volnek. I, too, love this cover and really appreciate the level of detail on it…and I really can’t wait to see it on the cover of the paperback (update: looks like a late summer release date)!

So I wanted to let you all know that the Elixir Bound cover is one of You Gotta Read’s entries for the June cover contest. The entry should be posting today (entry #10), and voting starts June 21 and goes until June 26. If it places in the top 3, I’ll get some free advertising on their website.

On a less pluggy note, great weather here in CT this weekend. We took a walk to the beach on Saturday and on Sunday went strawberry picking and did the wine tasting at the farm’s winery. Love those fresh strawberries, but it was early in the season so the pickings were a bit slim. May have to go back in a couple of weeks when all those green berries are red. How was your weekend?

Spring 2013 in Pictures

May 31, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

As the unofficial start of summer kicked off this past weekend, I thought I’d take a look back at what I did this spring. As seems to be the usual lately in coastal CT March weather was crappy, May proved far rainier than April, and June looks to be starting out hot, hot, hot. But you know what they say about weather in New England…if you don’t like it, just wait a few minutes.

So what I have been up to lately (other than writing Elixir Saved and editing other poeple’s books)? Mostly hanging out with The Boy. Here’s a picture essay of my spring.

Our first trip to the zoo…checking out the wolves.

Now looking at The Boy’s favorite animal…tiger!

Cousins hugging during out trip to the Poconos.

Hiking to the waterfall in the Poconos.

More hiking, this time at Sleeping Giant.

Walking (mostly running) to the top of the castle at Sleeping Giant.

One of many times climbing the dinosaur stairs at the park after library story time.

Mother’s Day tea tasting.

Our second trip to the zoo…this peacock may or may not have stolen my sweatshirt. It’s still a bit of a mystery what happened to the sweatshirt.

Baby goat at the zoo (we also got to see baby hogs)…too cute!

Beach time!

Footsteps in the sand…Mommy’s aren’t that much bigger than The Boy’s!

First backyard fire.

I’m sure summer will bring lots more zoo, park, beach time. Maybe some fireworks thrown in there. Perhaps a completed draft of Elixir Saved. A weekend trip to upstate New York for the end of the summer. The Boy’s 2nd birthday. I’m trying to plan a low key family trip for early September, but not making much progress on that. What are your plans for the summer?

Transformative Power of the Senses

April 12, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

I’m always amazed at how a small detail—a sight glimpsed out of the corner of my eye; the whiff of an familiar, but forgotten, smell; a tickle of sound in my ear—can transform me to a different place. And not always a physical place, sometimes a place in time.

Honeysuckle, with its far-reaching sweet scent and sticky nectar, brings me back to early summer during my childhood. When there was always a tree to climb or a brook to explore or a patch of asphalt to skin my knees on. When the sun stayed up late and my parents allowed me to play outside until a late bedtime.

The album Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos transports me to a white mini-van packed to the gills with my family and our luggage. Cruising down the highway toward Florida, scenery rushing by as we drove south to Florida. My siblings and I singing “The Name Game” song: “Chuck, Chuck, bo-buck, banana-fana fo-“. My sisters and I cutting off and then cracking up when my brother—the youngest, who was only three—shouted out the swearword.

The view in Connecticut.

Today as The Boy and I walked to the beach, a puff of white in the space between two houses made me suck in a surprised breath as my mind traveled 6,300 miles to the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. Once we arrived at the beach, I stopped for a better look. Puff up those clouds a little more, change the gray waters of Long Island Sound to a see-through turquoise, substitute Long Island for an island in the South Pacific, and turn the rest of the slightly overcast sky to a pale blue…and I was in paradise.

The view in Moorea, French Polynesia.

Okay, I realize looking at the two pictures, the views aren’t even close to each other, but something about that quick glance set the gears in my mind turning and brought me to another place. Both sights are beautiful in their own ways, don’t you think?

What senses bring you to a memory?

April Showers

April 2, 2013 / Katie L. Carroll

Fellow Muser Suzanne de Montigny, author of the wonderful tween novel The Shadow of the Unicorn: The Legacy, was gracious enough to interview me on her blog today. Stop by and leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Elixir Bound.

April started off with an afternoon rain shower. Do you think that bodes well for May flowers or it was an April Fools’ joke and just means a rainy spring? Either way, the crocus are blooming, a bluejay has been spotted in the backyard, and the peas have been planted. It’s definitely spring in New England.

While I was out gardening yesterday, I realized I’ve been planting and harvesting crops since, well, since I can remember. My parents have always had a garden and I can remember going to Joseph’s house to pick strawberries. My dad had somehow befriended Joseph–who used a walker and seemed like he was the oldest man I’d ever seen, but was really not nearly as old as I thought.

He had a big strawberry patch in his yard and we’d go every summer to pick them. My older sisters would run around the yard and I’d chase after them, keeping up as best as I could. Seems I spent a good part of my childhood trying to keep up with my older sisters. Joseph always kept flying saucer ice cream sandwiches in the freezer for us. What a treat!

Funny how a little digging in the dirt can drudge up old memories I didn’t even know I had. I hope The Boy ends up with fond memories of gardening. He’s already been strawberry and apple picking, and I think he’s old enough to start working in our garden.

The mercury may only be in the 30’s this morning, but the sun is shining and the birds are chirping. Yup, it’s definitely spring!