Thursday, April 9, 2009


Andalusia

Her writing was oft considered somewhat strange, so it seemed only fitting that I embarked on my birthday pilgrimage to her farm just as a somewhat strange April snow was falling all around me. And I fell with it, back decades in time, to a day when this enigmatic writer lived and wrote in this white wooden farmhouse with its red tin roof and wide screened porch.
She kept a flock of fifty peacocks.
And she died too young.

Whispers of her stories are everywhere here, one can hear them on the very wind that rustles through the towering oak trees above, soft echoes caught in corners of the unchanged rooms - snippets of stories that gently point to all those colourful symbols she once used to paint her shining paragraphs. Her inspirations are still manifest everywhere I look.

Sanctification floats on the quiet waters of the pond at the bottom of the hill, grace flutters through the hundreds of white lilies that line the trail by the meadow, suffering sits with the cold metal crutches that still silently lean against her writing desk, and dark humour glints the eye of a crotchety old mule as he stares down a large, white, rather flabbergasted, dog.

My words would be inadequate to say what it means to
stand at her bedroom door; to see where she worked, where she slept, where she met the day.
I left with that memory and one perfect peacock feather.



Andalusia is the home of American writer, Flannery O'Connor.
She wrote two novels and thirty-two short stories and was the first fiction writer born in the twentieth century to have her works collected and published by the Library of America.
She died of lupus at age thirty-nine.


22 comments:

  1. Pilgrimages are many and varied, yours touches the heart and eye. In parts it reads like the soul of poetry...

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh Pamela, what a wonderful post and a perfect birthday! :) Happy Easter

    ReplyDelete
  3. Isn't it strange, Pamela, how the spirit of these authors seems to remain in their houses. I went to Lucy Maud Montgomery's house in Canada a couple of years ago - since when I often read Anne of Green Gables and I can see it all happening'
    PS Strangely the last three letters of the word verification are esp.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Pamela is my dream to visit the homes of both Eudora and Flannery.
    Eudora's is now open but I haven't gotten there yet! I'm jealous you know? Hug Edward and Apple for me?

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for sharing these lovely images. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am green with envy. That would be a perfect birthday treat. And what a grand house she lived in.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Her house looks very peaceful. Fifty peacokcs? Wow. Have a happy Easter.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for your lyrical tribute going to the heart of the heart of the country. Happy birthday.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Beautiful and moving post. Happy birthday and Happy Easter!

    ReplyDelete
  10. My favorite kind of house - cozy, with a screened in porch. I could be happy writing there. Marvelous post. A Happy Weekend to you and everyone at The House of Edward.
    Catherine

    ReplyDelete
  11. So talented and died too young. A very touching post. xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a tragic way to die..and so young.
    Fifty peacocks ..wow.
    Isn't Andalusia beautiful.
    Spain is our second home..can't wait to get back there.Have a wonderful Easter weekend :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hello P&E,

    Once again your words conjure a place and time for us all to "see", even without the photographs.

    I'm glad you had an enjoyable birthday treat.

    Happy Easter. (And the WV is "eggeses"!)

    ReplyDelete
  14. You write so beautifully Pamela and the photos are lovely as well. Miss D and I it seems are a tad late in wishing you tres Happy Birthday and a Happy Easter weekend as well.
    xo from les Gang

    ReplyDelete
  15. ....i want to see the rest of it.

    happy egg hunt with edward.

    xx

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love that house..It certainly looks like a writer's house..I also like that she had peacocks.:-)


    Happy Easter to you, the songwriter, Edward, and sweet Apple, too.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Magnificent post! You did well sharing Flannery O'Connor with us.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Really interesting to see such a fascinating place.
    I find O'Connor a difficult but interesting read.
    The sort of writer one has to discuss, I think, to really get into the depths of.
    So sad to did so very young.

    ReplyDelete
  19. What a beautiful experience to travel to the world of a writer and what inspired them on a daily basis - it's a wonderful thing. I hung on every word you wrote - you are magical in how you transport us into actually seeing and feeling what you are experiencing.
    Lovely.
    Happy Birthday and Easter!
    xo Isa

    ReplyDelete
  20. I know exactly how you felt standing with one foot in the present and one in the past. I had a similar experience a few years ago, and standing in the cottage of a long deceased artist, I could almost see her moving around the rooms. It's now a museum, but her spirit is still in residence :)

    Kim x

    ReplyDelete
  21. What a perfectly delightful way to spend a special day.And though belated it may be Happy Birthday.
    Hope you and yours have had a pleasant Easter.
    xo Susan

    ReplyDelete
  22. I am off to discover more about Flannery O'Connor and this perfect home. I love your blog for the inroads I take from here. I never know where you are going to lead me. Always somewhere I didn't know.... I don't post a lot but I am always here. My regards to you and Edward. I imagine you are awaking to Spring there. Isn't it wonderful? Thanks for the new path.

    ReplyDelete

I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!