So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen

but who can spell the next word? So let's leave it there.

I've been blogging with Femmes Fatales for . . . checks notes. No really I just had to go and look up the file details of a photograph I used in one of my three first blogs, to find out the date I started. People, it was 2012. I've been blogging with Femmes Fatales for eight years.

This was the picture, of a bit of Neil and all of Dennis, in the kitchen of the people we were baby-sitting for.

Since then, I've blogged on favourite Oscar frocks (still Gemma Chan from 2019 - it had pockets!), gardening triumphs and disasters:

This is far too many courgettes (zucchinis) which is triumph and disaster combined.

I've blogged on days such as after the Boston marathon bombing when there were no words, and on days when books came out and babies were born and Thanksgiving and Hanukkah coincided, when there weren't enough words to do justice to the joy of it all. 

I've talked far too much about the ever-surprising differences between Scotland and America, and everyone has been very patient. Why, only yesterday did I find out that the name TRISTAN is pronounced "trisTAHHN" here, rather than "TRIST'n" like I say it. 

I was thinking earlier today about who else blogged here when I started and I realised that it was Elaine Viets, Charlaine Harris, Toni Kelner, Marcia Talley, Donna Andrews, Dean James, Kris Neri, Mary Saums, Dana Cameron and Hank Phillippi Ryan, all but one of whom have moved on by now. So, rather than feeling like a quitter, I'm suddenly realising that I might have hung around like a bad smell on the landing, with people dropping hints like anvils and me missing them. 

Not seriously. The serious reason that I'm jumping ship right now rather than at the end of the year, is that 2020 isn't a normal year.

I don't mean the pandemic, although of course there's the pandemic. I don't even mean the wildfires engulfing the west coast. (But can I offer another apology to the several friends who go in touch to say "Are you okay?". I answered a few of them by saying "Oh yes, we're fine. The fire's about five miles away and the evacuation line is three miles off." To which they'd answer. "WHAT? OMG. WHAT? FOR GOD"S SAKE, CATRIONA." And I'd remind myself of how it feels when someone in the mid-west says things like "We lost the barn but the tornado went right past the house. No need for concern.")

No, what I'm talking about is that in the next 42 days, and - let's face it - the months following, we're going to be in the fight of our lives: for democracy, equality, justice, decency, and safety. On a practical level, when I'm not writing books I'm going to be writing letters. I do sometimes wonder if I'm committing foreign interference, but everything I sign up for says "citizen or permanent legal resident" on the declaration. Maybe I shouldn't even have typed "foreign interference" while concluding I'm not doing it. I'm reminded of when I was on the SinC board and the lawyers in the room begged me to stop calling what we did with the Authors' Coalition funds "laundering". 

That's the practical side. There's also this: I can't keep sitting down and choosing to write about cats and courgettes while the fabric of this extraordinary republic comes under threat. 

On the other hand, I can't unilaterally turn Femmes Fatales into a political blog.

Also, and finally, Ruth Bader Ginsburg dying was a sharp reminder of what one person can do if she decides to (and if I ever manage a quarter of one percent of what RBG did in her laziest year, I'll have surpassed my entire life so far). It was also a sharp reminder that our time here, even if we live a long glorious life like she did, is finite.

So. It's been lovely being a femme fatale, but it's time to turn the page.

Onward!

Cx

Comments

[Leslie Karst]

And if all our "citizens" had one one one-hundredth of your love and dedication to this extraordinary republic as a "permanent legal resident," we'd be in far better shape. Thank you, Catriona, for all your fabulous blogs with Femmes Fatales, and for all you do--and will do.

[Lyda L McPherson]

"Thank you" sits so small on the page in comparison to the gratitude I'm feeling for you, your writing and your efforts.

[Erynn]

Follow your calling! We all need to do our part at this critical time to save our democracy. Onward!

[Clea Simon]

I'm tempted to say "welcome to the fight" – writing postcards and letters is keeping me sane – but clearly you've been here for a while. Thank you for the lightness and the insight, and here's hoping we'll meet up again on the other side.

[Cynthia Kuhn]

Thank you so much, Catriona, for your lovely posts here and for all of your energy and efforts in the world. xoxo

[Hank Phillippi Ryan]

YOU ARE FABULOUS.

(And I say Trist-un.)

[krisneri]

I will miss all your wise and witty posts, Catroina. And I'm glad you want to fight the good fight re the current US Government. My remarks about it in other places, and other actions I take, are the only way I have to keep my hope alive.

[Sarah Rizzo]

Love you Catriona!

[Storyteller Mary]

Persist, in whatever way feels best to you. Hugs and may all be well for everyone. <3