Peg Kehret Blog

When I talked to my neighbor, Chris, this morning, she told me that her peacocks were curious about all the noise coming from my place. My house is usually quiet but the roofers are here, banging and pounding, and Chris said the peacocks kept trying to peek through the trees to see what was going on. About an hour later, after Chris had left for work, here came the peacocks. They marched single file through the trees - four males, one female, and one guinea hen. They rarely come into my yard but they went straight toward my house as if they came to call every day. Then they stood and stared up at the roof. They watched for a few minutes before they circled the yard, stared at the roof awhile longer, and then went home. The roofing crew loved the visitors.

It always makes me smile to watch the curiosity of animals, maybe because curiosity is an essential quality for a writer. Writers pay attention. They notice what’s going on around them; they are sensitive to the reactions and feelings of other people. You notice I said we writers are curious, not snoopy. It has a more professional sound. Many a good book idea has developed because I got curious and sought information. I doubt if the peacocks are writing a book but, who knows? Nobody would have guessed that Pete, an unwanted kitten at an animal shelter, would be a talented writer - and look what he’s accomplished.

I installed Microsoft Office Home and Student because I want to learn PowerPoint. This caused the spellcheck feature in my e-mail to change from English to French. It also converted all of my Word documents to Word 2007, which I didn’t want. I Googled the French problem and discovered many other people with the same complaint. I spent far too much time exploring my options for correcting the difficulty.

The roofers will be here early Monday morning to start ripping off my old roof and putting on a new one. They warned me to take anything off the walls that might fall as a result of all the pounding. Oh, my. I have a wall of book awards that includes a crystal vase, etched glass plaques, and other breakables. Antique stained glass hangs in several windows. A collection of small ceramic dogs live in a “doggie condo” in my bedroom. There are precious family photos and paintings. There’s the 1954 TIME magazine cover signed by Jonas Salk. There are dishes with sentimental value on top of my kitchen cupboards, and there are framed dust jackets from my books covering one whole wall. It was a huge job to remove everything and store it in a safe place. One good thing - I dusted each piece as I removed it so when they all go back up at the end of the roofing job, my house will be cleaner than it’s been in a long time.

I spent one evening autographing posters to give away at a conference in March. I will miss the first day of the conference, so I’m sending posters for those who attend that day. Next I start signing several hundred bookplates.

I took Lucy to the vet because she kept shaking her head and scratching at her ear. She had her ears cleaned and I came home with a bottle of ear cleaner. The very next day she developed an eye problem. I’m treating it with drops that I already had, and hoping to avoid another trip to the vet.

Anne and Kevin came yesterday. Kevin cleared my nature trail of all the trees that had fallen during this month’s wind storms, and Anne washed my windows for me. We managed to sit and chat for awhile, too. I am grateful for all of their help.

Oh, yes, I started organizing all my 2009 receipts. While the roof pounding goes on next week, I plan to add up all the numbers and get everything ready to take to my accountant for income taxes. I know I won’t be able to concentrate on writing (for one thing, I’ll probably have to hold Lucy to keep her calm) so I might as well get a dreaded chore out of the way.

I’ve always scoffed at people who tell me that they’d like to write a book if only they could find the time. This week, I have a bit more sympathy for them.

In 2009, there were 1454 new cases of polio worldwide. The largest number, 685, were in India, followed by Nigeria with 383.

Two countries that are often in the U.S. news because of wars are also still battling polio. Pakistan had 76 cases last year and Afghanistan had 24 cases.

Rotary, International’s Stop Polio Now campaign continues to distribute vaccine to the world’s poorest citizens. When I watch news clips from Afghanistan, I realize what a challenge it is to get the vaccine, which must be refrigerated, to the people who need it. A generous grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is helping in this effort.

Most people who contribute to or work for this cause talk about doing it to help the children. If you have read my memoir, Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, you know that polio can cause pain, paralysis, and even death, so eradicating this disease WILL help thousands of children.

It will also help senior citizens, such as me. Children who never get polio will also never have post-polio syndrome, the problem that has had such a negative impact on my life. 

I fervently hope that one year soon I will be able to report that there were no new cases of polio anywhere in the world that year.

Seattle’s University Book Store will celebrate 110 years in business on Sat., 1/10. They asked a group of authors, including me, to each write a piece for a commemorative book. We could write whatever we wanted, as long as it was exactly 110 words long.

This was a fun challenge and I am eager to see what the other authors wrote.  The book will be available at the birthday celebration this Sat., 1/10, from noon until five. I’ll be there from 1-3.  Anyone who purchases a book by one of the participating authors will also receive the special book of 110-word writings.

In 2009, I read 168 books. They made me think, laugh, and cry. My favorites were:

Dog On It by Spencer Quinn

Narrow Dog to Indian River by Terry Darlington

Walter: The Story of a Rat by Barbara Wersba

These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter

I rarely read during the day; I save that pleasure for evening, and I always read for awhile (sometimes quite awhile!) after I go to bed. Many of the 168 books came from the library, but when I read a book I like, I buy it so that I can share it with like-minded friends. I also give books as gifts. I’ve pre-ordered the second book in Spencer Quinn’s series, and I impatiently await the next title from Julia Spencer-Fleming, who didn’t publish a book last year.

Thanks to all of you who have written to tell me that I am your favorite author. What an honor that is! Happy new year, and happy reading.