Mom Had a Soft Spot for Peaches

Things have been a little crazy in the last two weeks, and my dear friend -- whom I will call "red-haired Laurie" -- reminded me that I am woefully behind on posting anything on my blog. So, here's something new I just created as a response to a challenge from my husband, Brad. He is working very hard on getting a professional theater going here in Central Oregon, and he agreed to have a couple of actors stage a reading of a short story called "Yellow Cake" by Portland writer, Josh Beddingfield for the First Friday artwalk in Bend (and for the Third Friday artwalk here in Redmond). He asked me and the other 3 artists who are part of The Loft to create an artwork inspired by the story. I have titled my piece "Mom Had a Soft Spot for Peaches."



"Yellow Cake" appears in the Spring issue of the High Desert Journal . It's told from the point of view of Geegee, a 48-year-old woman whose family and friends spent years working in uranium mines around Utah. When she finds out that she has lung cancer, (most likely from her exposure to the uranium dust), she goes home and digs out a jar of yellow cake that her dad had kept from one of the mines he worked in. "It's an old, heavy mason jar like the kind mom would use to can peaches with when she was well enough to drive to Cortez and buy fruit ... Mom had a soft spot for peaches and every time I look at the blue glass of the jars I think about that." Something about this image really touched me. It made me think about my own family and friends, and the health scares we've been through in the last couple of years. Geegee is a strong woman who's determined to live her life on her own terms, a trait I admire greatly.

It's good sometimes to have an "assignment" to inspire you -- so thanks, Brad, for the challenge, and thank you Sarah (aka red-haired Laurie) for keeping me on my toes!