Three September Things
September saw a month of tears, and thanking God that you weren’t here to see me like that.
That song lyric is for the true Swifties reading this, and only sort of a joke. ;)
One thing that tends to happen, at least for me, is that by saving my post for the end of the month, things change by the time I’m ready to write about them. An example of this is my recent trip to East Tennessee and Western North Carolina earlier this month.
As a belated birthday gift, my sister took me to Western North Carolina, to a tiny town of Andrews, to ride a rail bike through the mountains. Andrews Valley Rail Tours rents out a portion of the Smoky Mountain Railroad to run these tours in order to revitalize their town. As you can see, the leaves had not yet started to turn, but even green, there is no denying the beauty of those mountains.
The rail bike experience was really fun, and I had every intention of recommending it, and still am!, however now it’s hard to look back on this beautiful experience without acknowledging the devastation this part of the state is experiencing.
The hills of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina have always been special, settled right along the foothills of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It’s a slower pace of life in Appalachia, and one I’m grateful for. This trip was no exception! We saw cows, explored a cave, and got to drive through Nantahala National Forest where we promptly lost all cell reception. It’s hard to imagine all of this being destroyed or flooded. This part of the country needs our help, and will continue to need us for months to come.
So much of this area relies on tourism, and without it, I fear they will not recover. The list below is to some organizations that are boots on the ground. If you can spare your time or money, please consider doing so!
Help Western NC
Help East TN
Provide safe water
Support local bookstores and authors
What if Shakespeare didn’t write his own material? Sure, this idea has been previously speculated by scholars, and you may have heard about it. What you may not have considered is —what if all of his plays and sonnets were written by women? That is what this brilliant novel explores.
Told in dual timelines, By Any Other Name exposes the rampant sexism and misogyny women in the 1500s faced, and in many ways still face today. In one timeline, we have Emilia Bassano, a young woman sold to a much older man to be his mistress. It is there she learns about theatre, the royal family, and the patriarchal society in which she is thrust. In the present-day timeline, Melina Green, a distant relative of Emilia, is a struggling playwright in New York City whose play about Emilia gets submitted using a male name. As you can imagine, Melina’s play garners so much attention that she forces her male best friend to pretend to be the playwright, ultimately costing everyone involved undue stress.
As a reader, you can draw parallels to the two stories quickly, as life imitates art imitates life, etc. My feminist blood was BOILING throughout much of the story, due to the many injustices both Emilia and Melina face. Emilia’s story in particular held so much grief, that it was no wonder she poured her emotions into her plays, which were then sold and marketed with Shakespeare’s name on them. I will confess - I have not read any Shakespeare (read: Bassano) since high school. I now find myself wanting to revisit the works and read them through Emilia’s lens. In case it isn’t obvious - yes, I have accepted this story as non-fiction, and you will too when you read Picoult’s author’s note at the end.
I don’t typically gravitate toward historical fiction, so I was surprised when this book captivated me. I urge you to read it so we can discuss! I started a new book club (join us!!!) and we spent nearly two hours discussing By Any Other Name, and I fear we could have kept going. The text is so rich, and so much of it is grounded in heartbreaking fact. Let me know when you’re finished.
Another bright spot of my month was seeing my favorite band reunite and play The Ryman. YES OF COURSE I’m talking about Something Corporate. All five original members are back, and I got to see them for the first of many shows I’m attending. Lucky me!
It’s always fun to see artists get extra excited to play in Nashville, and Andrew was no exception. At one point he got locked in the balcony?! Anyway, do yourself a favor - roll down your windows, put on Leaving Through The Window, and turn up the volume. The soundtrack of my adolescence is meant to be played loud!
xo, LC