Don Barley has an adventure. Kaye Barley stays home.

Don Barley wrote: 

"I had decided to take up on the 2021 "Carolina Challenge". The challenge was to visit 16 specific Harley Davidson stores across the Carolina's. I planned a route and saw a four to five day window of good weather. A form was filled out at Crossroads Harley last Sat. afternoon. The is to receive a dealership stamp at each location on the form. Planned the trip Sun. and Mon. Ms. Kaye Alan reluctantly agreed to the adventure. I left out Tues. morn about 7. I already had gotten the first stamp at Wilkesboro when the form was filled. Rode past the first location. The rest of the first day was stopping at High Point, Danville Va., Raleigh, Goldsboro, and Greenville stores. I rode on to Myrtle Beach and made it before dark. It was 600+ miles. Next morn got stamps at the two Myrtle Beach stores. Then it was to Charleston, Summerville, Columbia, Irmo, and Augusta. There was a few hours of light, so off to Anderson. The two hour trip was more like three and half. I rode about 40 min. after dark much to Ms. Kaye's displeasure. Got a room in Anderson and a stamp the next morn. Turned to the Charlotte store and after  I stopped and visited friends and stayed much to long talking. Having cut my time close I headed to the Concord store. I made it with 10 minutes before closing. I received the last stamp and was told someone had completed their form with all stamps two days earlier. This is not a timed challenge. The idea is to visit every place and to get high mileage in age groups for a chance at a drawing. The lottery has better odds. So after getting the last stamp I headed for Boone. I made it home just before dark. I managed to cover 1430 miles in about 60 hours. I'm proud to have made this adventure safely, without injuries, or damages. But most of all, I am proud of my wife for tolerating and trying to understand me. I am so damn lucky to be with someone who cares. "

Spending time with old and dear friends, Joe and Sharon Griffin, was a highlight of this trip.

Sharon and I are best buddies from waaay back in our high school days.

If there was trouble to be found, we found it.

She married the nicest guy she ever dated.  

And what did I do while while Donald was out having himself a big ol time?

Mostly I was happy that he took the time to call me from each stop to let me know he was okay.  I knew when he got his beloved bike there would be adventures of this sort.  No, it doesn't stop me from worrying, but I can't imagine being the kind of wife who would try to stop him from doing what he loves.  I did have an almost constant diet of ice cream, cookies and potato chips while he was gone.  😄 #lovinglifewithdonbarley

I spent a lot of time re-reading old Anne Rivers Siddons novels.  Not my two favorites, Peachtree Road and Downtown.  I have read those books so many times I have lost count.  I love them.  Both take place in Atlanta during the time I was living there; new to the city and to the south.  During a time of enormous change for Atlanta, for the South, the country, and for me.  They tell important stories that I feel are a part of who I am.

But I decided to re-read some of her other novels and enjoyed them immensely.  It had been so long that it was like reading them for the first time and I was happy to realize that the writing still affects and moves me.  

Anne Rivers Siddons is no longer with us, but she left a strong and enduring legacy.

When I wasn't reading I was going through boxes of stuff to price so I can cart them to our booth at Antiques on Howard.

And I played in my little studio.

While cleaning, clearing, and purging I found some wonderful old decorating books, including this one from my mom.

The photos of rooms from the '70s  are wonderful!

The furniture, the art, the decorating - all of it.

I haven't looked at these books in years.

And I've decided to repurpose them into collages.

I do know repurposing books offends some people, but I would rather see them used and enjoyed in some manner rather than sitting on a shelf ignored, unloved, and attracting silverfish.

AND, I found some delightful old magazines that combined with the decorating books will hopefully become some fun collages.

Here's my first effort.

I had so much fun doing this.

We'll just see where it goes.

In the meantime, Annabelle and I are tickled pink to have Don Barley home.  💕 

Life is Good

Anne Rivers Siddons and Dorothea Benton Frank

Two women who will be missed.

I don't really remember how I came to hear about a new author by the name of Dorothea Benton Frank.  Probably by browsing through one of our local bookstores when I was living in Atlanta.  

But I surely do remember how pleased and tickled I was to have made the discovery with every word I read in SULLIVAN'S ISLAND, and already, by the end of the book, impatient for her next.

She, with that one book, became one of the authors on my "Auto-Buy List."  And she never left.

I have all of Ms. Frank's books, have re-read several of them, and will do so again (and probably yet again).

Some are in paperback because that's how she was first published, some are in hardback, and some are on my Kindle.  Sadly, only one is autographed.

When I learned Ms. Frank was going to be doing a book signing in Charleston, I asked Donald how he felt about a road trip.  Charleston being one of our favorite places - no problem!

So. we planned a week's trip completely around Dorothea Benton Frank's book signing for PAWLEY'S ISLAND (2005). 

This was very early days in her career and the signing was done in a hotel lobby, at the door of a bookstore. 

There were, maybe, 20 of us in line. 

No seating. 

MUCH different from the more recent signings. 

I don't recall the name of the hotel or the bookstore. But I do remember how excited I was to meet the author who was writing some books I was over the moon about. 

RIP Ms. Frank.  Thank you for your stories.

https://www.postandcourier.com/features/dorothea-benton-frank-beloved-lowcountry-author-dies/article_2edf885a-c28e-11e9-b66b-53e5afc049bc.html?fbclid=IwAR1JeQQbO70ZJZ0mFhGHIdCFYzItyDgVXgakMCZEhXkwLRspcgxJwp_qnPU


In keeping with who she was, a huge personality rejoicing in life and family and friends, there will be a memorial service in celebration of her life.  

All are welcome. 

Sadly, we will not be there, but I have a feeling Ms. Frank will be looking down from heaven and feeling right proud to have a crowd of so many coming to say good-bye.

And then there's Anne Rivers Siddons.

Oh, my.

Anne Rivers Siddons.

There will never be another.

I idolized this woman.

I remember being in a bookstore in downtown Atlanta and being drawn to a display that caught my eye.

How could I pass this up?!

I went home that night and read till the last page.

I do not exaggerate when I say this book found its home in my heart.

It was, and remains, one of the most important books of my life.

Atlanta, back then, was the place I was meant to be.  

It was a life I loved living.  

Like Ms. Siddons, my feelings about Atlanta changed.  And, like Ms. Siddons, I left.


PEACHTREE ROAD was the first I knew of Anne Rivers Siddons.  After reading it I quickly began the hunt for her earlier work, and then, of course, snatched up each new book as quickly as they hit the shelves.


But whenever I want to revisit the real (to me) Atlanta, I pick up PEACHTREE ROAD and DOWNTOWN.

DOWNTOWN is another book that lives in my heart, and could only have been written by Anne Rivers Siddons.

I was lucky enough to say this to her at a book signing.  But, oh my, I had so much else I wish I had been able to say. 

But these were the days before book conventions where you get to meet your favorite authors and might be lucky enough to hang out with them in the bar, and maybe, if you're really lucky, over time, be able to call them "friend."

So, sadly, I can only say I met her once.  Never able to sit down in conversation, never able to say "she was a friend of mine."

But I will always have her words close by.

I have her stories in the books she wrote.

And I have every one.

Many signed first editions.

Some personalized.

All cherished.

Since I love every word she's written, it would be impossible to choose a favorite.

But because  I was living in Atlanta during the time frame of PEACHTREE ROAD and DOWNTOWN, those two books resonated when I read them, and continue to do so with each re-reading.  

They are truly timeless.  

Classics, in my opinion. 

She wrote about the south as only a real southern woman could, with beautiful pacing and phrasing, creating a world we all wanted to inhabit.  

  
RIP Ms. Siddons.  Thank you.

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/charleston/obituary.aspx?n=anne-rivers-siddons&pid=193919654&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=obitshareclassic&utm_content=p193919654&fbclid=IwAR23GTZXZcWeMc6YKV9DqGOE6C_i_SitAxEYGd1GBoJ0jQfke_nuYXUqLn8
https://www.southernliving.com/news/anne-rivers-siddons-death

https://www.ajc.com/news/local/atlanta-novelist-anne-rivers-siddons-dies-age/wSa5rVNJgi9MKxWju9wBUL/?fbclid=IwAR13aC-T3TSlnV7kSoa87at3yBFUJpy8hX24CD1wD_yb0WtEvvDntKLO2-8

https://epaper.ajc.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=3fe90537-f8bb-4034-9481-2810fa8c4bf1&pbid=8e0858ee-1443-484d-9e94-f8b8a1eaaaff&utm_source=app.pagesuite&utm_medium=app-interaction&utm_campaign=pagesuite-epaper-html5_share-article&fbclid=IwAR0iVGzWjOdrOMoU272Dus2N_wdLfsvTaaFpihzqiCQJHtj8syqUoYVFveE
https://www.postandcourier.com/news/obituaries/anne-rivers-siddons-who-helped-redefine-the-southern-novel-dies/article_8400198a-d4bd-11e9-8e0a-435ba0c262a5.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share&fbclid=IwAR0XO7tVv5IvrmGZxpKGe46A2NUfbf1-3RCTC9Y7FmuLkK4FkeJOdVuIg3o

https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/the-lady-of-us-remembering-anne-rivers-siddons/?fbclid=IwAR339ChkBKbuUkX6bpz2MWLSGJg66_v-mjTH4cbtHA4_3C4gyY-62AtDMIc
https://www.ajc.com/entertainment/books--literature/how-author-anne-rivers-siddons-saved/0Vu7coKhjndDUNKwoVmMXI/?fbclid=IwAR3owYsA5Mjik3lPdHnbw-WX_gGrbnKANERNGibwUMXU34ZqCJJlrsm36oU

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/13/books/anne-rivers-siddons-dead.html?fbclid=IwAR2OVT5oQxuzqdwGACPmKYxknUjSgyq3OVkrSSGa1_biV84vccq_Z0oK9Gw



I'm so, so sad that there will be no more books from these women.

They may have fallen into the category of "Beach Reading," "Women's Fiction," "Southern Lit."  Whatever.

They touched people.

In very different ways, but they did both touch people.

Both these women possessed a keen level of observation into people.


And they generously shared those observations, written in their own inimitable way, with us.


Their writing was very different, but they both were able to share their south, warts and all, in a way that we will remember and cherish.

They did it with honesty and respect.

My world seems smaller knowing they're no longer sharing it.  

But, we'll always have their words.

https://gardenandgun.com/articles/remembering-two-icons-literary-south/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialmedia&utm_campaign=september2019_facebook&fbclid=IwAR2kgta1Rn22elWSji1sR7JNAprdsPPlEYql0rk17PqevgzWzQhrP3s-QJc

From Inside My Book Fort - - - Anne Rivers Siddons' "Colony"

Welcome to the book fort!

Annabelle and I welcome you to another day in the book fort.

We're reading another excerpt from another of our favorite books by another one of our all-time favorite authors.


Anne Rivers Siddons.


I'm not sure we'll ever see any more books from Ms. Siddons; probably not.


But those that she's written will stand the test of time and will remain modern southern classics.


Colony

"An unforgettable story of love, acceptance, and tradition.

When Maude Chambliss first arrives at Retreat, the seasonal home of her husband's aristocratic family, she is a nineteen-year-old bride fresh from South Carolina's Low Country. Among the patrician men and women who reside in the summer colony on the coast of Maine, her gypsy-like beauty and impulsive behavior immediately brand her an outsider. She, as well as everyone else, is certain she will never fit in. And of course, she doesn't...at first.

But over the many summers she spends there, Maude comes to cherish life in the colony, as she does the people who share it with her. There is her husband Peter, consumed with a darkness of spirit; her adored but dangerously fragile children; her domineering mother-in-law, who teaches her that it is the women who posses the strength to keep the colony intact; and Maine native Micah Willis, who is ultimately Maude's truest friend.

This brilliant novel, rich with emotion, is filled with appealing, intense, and indomitable characters. Anne Rivers Siddons paints a portrait of a woman determined to preserve the spirit of past generations--and the future of a place where she became who she is...a place called Colony."

"An outstanding multigenerational novel...We are hooked from the moment we meet Maude."
The New York Times

From Inside My Book Fort - - - "Downtown" by Anne Rivers Siddons

WELCOME TO THE BOOK FORT!

Today Annabelle and I are reading another old fave.

"Downtown" by the incomparable Anne Rivers Siddons.


I'm a fan of a lot of southern writers, but as far as I'm concerned, they all follow in Mr. Siddons' footsteps, and she set that bar high.


I moved to Atlanta during the time "Downtown" takes place.  Reading it today, all these years later, I can say to you that "Yes.  This is how it was."


The good and the bad - Anne Rivers Siddons gets it just right.


"The year is 1966, a time of innocence, possibility,and freedom. And for Atlanta, the country, and one woman making her way in a changing world, nothing will be the same . . ."

Halloween Reads

I have a few favorite books that also happen to be terrific books for Halloween reading.

Scary books!

But the fun, old fashioned kind of scary, not the yucky blood & gore stuff that's passing itself off as scary these days.

I just LOVE these books!

and the "Georgetown Trio" by the incomparable Barbara Michaels:

In the spirit of Halloween, what are your favorite scary books?