REVISITING: A Writer. His Wife. A Remote Outpost in Colorado. Lots of Snow. Even More Darkness.
A happy new year? Shine on! WRITTEN AND ILLUSTRATED BY PETER MOORE
AGAIN THIS YEAR, WE’RE HEADING FOR ESTES PARK, COLORADO, FOR NEW YEAR’S EVE. A friend has graciously offered us his mountain-side cabin, and we have greedily accepted. I’m expecting flashbacks to The Shining, especially as we drive past the Stanley Hotel. That’s where Stephen King was staying, with his wife and child, when he had a vision of how writer’s block might drive a guy bonkers.
Fortunately I’m not at any risk of production-driven mental illness! Or, am I?
If you don’t hear from me by next Wednesday, send Scatman Crothers after me, OK?
I’M NOT A SELF-DRAMATIZER.
For instance, I rarely imagine myself as the protagonist of classic novels. I have never walked a lonely road to Yarmouth, like David Copperfield. Nor have I had a cage of rats strapped to my face, like Winston Smith in 1984. And I have never once driven around France in a sports car with a mind toward seducing the locals, like Phillip Dean in A Sport and a Pastime.
OK, sometimes it is tempting.
In fact, my recent New Year’s Eve jaunt into the remote, snowy, lonely, spooky, dark mountains of Colorado did have obvious similarities to Stephen King’s The Shining.
For instance:
Our lodgings in Estes Park, Colorado, were solitary. And the weather sucked!
We had some trouble locating our room. Hey, it was simple mistake.
The views were less than ideal. I know there are mountains out there. Somewhere.
Fortunately, I’d brought a little work along to keep me busy. My wife didn’t share my enthusiasm for my latest project, however.
We had a visit from the neighbor kids. That part was like a Dickens novel. Sort of.
Despite all that, we were able to chill. Let it go!
[NOTE: Actually, make that 2024.]
May your new year shine on with visions of hope and joy!
The “like” button is below. It just might make me want to write and draw again, and again, and again…
Happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy skiing!
The days are getting (a little) longer... happy new year!