A New Year and New Projects

"Fairytales are not written to tell children that dragons exist. Children know full well that dragons exist. Fairytales are written to show children that sometimes dragons can be
defeated." - G. K. Chesterton

Again I come back when school has begun. It's a new year with new faces. I've felt the loss of those whose graduated. The empty feeling is still there, but it was most pronounced on the first day of school. I wandered around in a daze, missing friends and wondering what in the world to do with myself. I was completely unsettled. Here it is the 2nd week of school and the figurative dust has settled almost. Though the literal dust is currently being stirred up quite a bit. The road outside of the dorm has been torn apart down to the dirt for repaving. However the rain has kept the dust clouds at bay, without arriving at the extremity of mud.

With the start of the new school also comes the flurry of new writing projects. I hardly touched anything over the summer, but now I must write for school and to gear up for NaNoWriMo. This year I again have a creative writing course--Outdoor and Nature Writing. And so I have more projects to share here. The first of such is my photo journal entitled "My Montreat". It is a collection of 10 photos and entries illustrating memories I've made around Montreat. So here is the first entry.

Frozen Memories
Entry #1



Lake Susan, a favorite spot among Montreatians. Many do their homework under these trees as they stare across the lake watching the swans. I myself have never done this, in fact, I don't visit the lake much. However, last winter I was drawn to it because of one simple reason--it was frozen over. I haven't seen a frozen lake since I was little so the sight was fascinating. Still it took me until the next day to actually walk down the lake's edge and by that time it was already melting. But, curious as I can be, I still walked on the ice. I and my friend (who was with me at the time) weren't foolish enough to venture onto the sun bathed portion of the ice which was already melting, but we stayed in the shade under these trees. Here the lake was shallow enough for the water to be frozen solid. It was fun attempting to skate on the lumpy ice. I did my best not to go sprawling. However, our fun ended when a man across the street at the conference center told us to get off. We were obedient and left. I do hope, though, that the lake freezes over again this winter. If it does, I'll be sure to visit immediately for another bout of "ice skating".

Until next time!