On "the problems of writing" - Dalhousie Gazette - 1939

A kind Canadian friend from Haliax mailed to me an obscure article which had appeared in the Dalhousie Gazette on February 24,1939.  The article is named "An Author Speaks" and is written by our mentor, LM Montgomery.  The introductory Editor's Note explains that "Miss LM Montgomery (Mrs. Macdonald)" was theretofore describing "the problems of writing."

Maud gives some excellent advice:

"Before attempting to write a book be sure you have something to say.  t need not be a very great or lofty or profound something.  It is not given to many o us to utter "Jewels five words long--That on the stretched forefinger of all time-- Sparkle forever."  But if we have something to say that will bring a whiff of fragrances to a tired soul or a weary heart, or a glint of sunshine to a clouded life, then that something is worth saying and it is our duty to try to say it as well as in us lies."  Dalhousie Gazette, Feb 24, 1939, LM Montgomery  

And here are other points which I highlighted from the article:

"Write only of the life you know." 

"Don't spin your book out too long...Gone With the Wind to the contrary nothwthstanding."

Though I appreciate the above quotes as good points of advice, my impression from the article is that Maud feels in herself a sense of loftiness.   Is she being a bit patronizing?

Maud once (better) described her talent as "my little knack".  I think this sums the "problems of writing" up much better. 

But, she could have said what she said without being so patronizing in this article!

We all have "little knacks", don't we?  We just don't all become famous because of them.

"...with dignity and aplomb!!"

Staffordshire Dogs seen at Bridgeton Antique Mall, Bridgeton, NC on August 14, 2010  

Sunday, August 27, 1911
York, England

"I have been pursuing China dogs all over England and Scotland!  When I was a little girl, visiting at Grandfather Montgomery's, I think the thing that most enthralled me was a pair of china dogs which always sat on the sitting room mantel piece....

I have always hankered to possess a pair of similar dogs and as those had been purchased in London I hoped when I came over I would find something like them.  Accordingly, I have haunted the antique shops in every place I have been, but, until yesterday without success.  Dogs to be sure there were in plenty, but not the dogs of my quest.  There was an abundance of dogs with black spots and some few dogs with red spots, but nowhere the aristocratic dogs with green spots.  I had about given up in despair.  But, yesterday in a little antique shop near the Minster I found two pairs of lovely dogs--and bought them on the spot, lest they be enchanted dogs which would vanish forever if I made them not mine immediately.  To be sure, they had no green spots.  The race of dogs with green spots seem to have become extinct.  But one pair of them had lovely gold spots and were much larger than the Park Corner dogs....I hope thy will preside over my hearth with due dignity and aplomb."        The Selected Journals of LM Montgomery, Vol I, p. 76, Rubio & Waterston     

A few more random photos - Green Gables

Signage at Green Gables

The more I look at some of the photos, the more I become intrigued with particular shots.  Here are some of the ones that I don't think that I previously posted.  Sometimes, the photos seem to be dancing with light and shadows.

Coming out of Balsam Hollow, Green Gables

Lover's Lane

Lover's Lane

Back of Green Gables

Lover's Lane

Bedeque - Where Maud once loved

The very young doyenne at the LMM Schoolhouse in Bedeque seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere else.  I guess it made me uncomfortable, so I didn't linger at the Schoolhouse.  I did ask about the Leard House which is where Maud boarded (and where she once loved!) during her teaching time at the Bedeque School.  All I remember the doyenne telling me about the Leard House was that it was less than a mile down the road and that it had recently been painted yellow.  There were two yellow houses down the road from the schoolhouse
.

Very close to the first yellow house

Yellow House, Bedeque, PEI
Someone once told me that the Leard house was down a lane, so I think this is the right house.

 

Editing average photos - Green Gables

Green Gables & Park Corner

Green Gables

Fun with photo editing, Green Gables & the Homestead

This is very minimal photo editing.  I began noticing that some of the Cavendish trip photos exude more "magic" when viewed in black & white....

Green Gables Parlor

The Kitchen

The Pantry

A bedroom

A bedroom

The Homestead

Photo of Parlor at Park Corner

Parlor in Park Corner

I am speaking as a tourist on this matter--not as a scholar!! My understanding is that this is a photo of the parlor in Park Corner and that the photo was taken by Maud of the room where she got married. There is a black and white of this photo appearing somewhere in the Selected Journals, but right now, I don't know where or which one.


There is also a labeled sign at Park Corner on the wall that states that Maud's son Chester and Ida Birell (Chester's second wife) spent their honeymoon at Park Corner in 1943. I find this odd on several accounts, not the least being that Maud was very uncomfortable with the idea of Chester and Ida getting together. However, suffice it to say  that this marriage is one more case in point where a status change to marriage can become less complicated when a third party is no longer standing in the way. (ie Maud and her Grandmother).

This is sad to me.

Post Office Cubicle, Cavendish Post Office Museum

Post Office Cubicle - Cavendish Post Office Museum


This cubicle came from the old Cape Traverse Post Office and would be similar to the cubicle that was put to use at the home/post office of Maud's grandparents.   

Random Photos with some confusion - Cavendish PO and church

LM Montgomery photograph at Cavendish Post Office

I was told this was an orignal photograph, but then I saw the same "original" at Park Corner.  More than one?

Union Church - Cavendish, PEI

I apologize ahead of time about my lack of knowledge on this church.  This church sits in the back of the Macneill Homestead and figures in the LMM story.  I believe that this is the church where Maud first became acquainted with Ewen.  We did not get a tour of this church--next trip, I hope!!

"...an odd little psychological incident."

Charlottetown

The following passage from Vol I, p. 19, of Selected Journals of LMM  (Rubio & Waterston) keeps coming in to my mind, so I thought it best to go ahead and write it out.

Here Maud is talking about a dream experience and  the way she expresses her thoughts about it seems similar to my dream experiences and to the way I recently expressed so in my blog post, "The Race that Knows Joseph".

Here is Maud's version....

"Now comes an odd little psychological incident.  I was almost asleep--in that dreamy state between sleeping and waking, when suddenly a thought flashed vividly into my brain, exactly as if a voice had spoken it to me---"Go to Boston", I sat up, wide-awake, tingling all over with some strange electric inrush of energy and determination.  In a few moments the whole plan unrolled itself before me like a scroll or picture."

Here below is my similar way of expressing it.  Curiously, when I ask other folks if they have similar dream experiences, their reply is most often, "I don't remember my dreams."  I wonder what this means--if anything!

"Well, this morning, in my first waking moments as often happens to me, I had a dream, or rather a sort of vision, like a movie short. It went like this...." (that's it, just the way she described her experience, not the dream itself, but nevertheless, I see similarities.)

A walk through the Haunted Wood

The Green Gables portal to the Haunted Wood (Wood without an "s")

 The portal to the Wood is located at the bottom of a steep slope which constitutes the front lawn at Green Gables.  This spooky path eventually leads to the Macneill Homestead.  My experience on the path was of a pleasant stroll through cooling shade of trees and foliage.  Still,  I saw some eerie shadows dancing around me during my short sojourn there!  I personally would not want to experience this place alone at night!  (No matter what Marilla says!)

The Wood ends with an opening into the splendid vista of the Macneill homestead.

Exiting the Haunted Wood and entering into the open vista of the Macneill Homestead  

"Fiddlesticks! There is no such thing as a haunted wood anywhere. Who has been telling you such stuff?" "Nobody," confessed Anne. "Diana and I just imagined the wood was haunted. All the places around here are so—so—COMMONPLACE. We just got this up for our own amusement. We began it in April. A haunted wood is so very romantic, Marilla. We chose the spruce grove because it's so gloomy. Oh, we have imagined the most harrowing things."  (AoGG)