The Write Spot Blog by Marlene Cullen

Tag: Kathy Guthormsen

  • The Last Waltz

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    The Last Waltz

    By Kathy Guthormsen

    There’s nothing quite like waltzing through the kitchen with a refrigerator and a mop, sweeping and gliding through pooling water to get your heart pumping in the morning.

    The refrigerator had been sick. First came a fever that caused all the food – and it was full of food because the kids were visiting – to thaw and warm. Then it exhaled and released the freon from its pipes. That was last week, before the fridge doctor came to try to revive it. This morning, it gasped its last breath, lost control of its plumbing and poured water onto the floor. Hence the waltz.

    I summoned my inner Wonder Woman and wrestled the thing out of its cubby. It did not want to move from its bed, but I wasn’t going to take NO for an answer. I managed to turn off the water before grabbing an armful of towels and the mop and asking the fridge to dance. We sloshed and twirled and I mopped and wiped. Now, the forlorn and lifeless fridge is sitting in the middle of the kitchen waiting for the appliance morgue van to take it away.

    I hadn’t even had my second cup of coffee yet.

    A new fridge is coming this afternoon.

    Growing up in Skagit Valley, Washington with its verdant farmland gave Kathy Guthormsen an appreciation for the promise and beauty of nature’s bounty. The Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges and old growth forests offered the magic of things unseen and fostered her fertile imagination.

    Kathy’s writing has been published several times on The Write Spot Blog and in four The Write Spot anthologies.

    Her Halloween story, “Come, Calls the Demon” won first place in the Petaluma Argus Courier’s Halloween Story Contest in October2020.

    Her book, The Story of Jazz and Vihar, is available from your local bookseller.

    When she isn’t writing, Kathy volunteers at the Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa, California, working with and presenting resident raptors as part of their education and outreach program. Walking around with a hawk or an owl on her fist is one of her favorite pastimes.

    Kathy lives in northern California with her husband, one psychotic cat, a small flock of demanding chickens, and a pond full of peaceful koi. She maintains a blog, Kathy G. Space, where she occasionally posts essays, short stories, and fairy tales.

  • My Secret Cottage

    Memorable writing that sparks imagination. Lean in. Hear the writer’s voice on the page.

    My Secret Cottage

    By Kathy Guthormsen

    I open the back door to dew sparkling in the morning sun and hints of rainbows shimmering in the lingering mist. They let me catch a fleeting glimpse before their magic fades. Goosebumps raise along my bare arms as I race through the grass and turn to look at my wet footprints. The sun will soon erase this evidence of my footsteps. I won’t be followed as I skip through an imaginary forest to my secret cottage at the far end of an enchanted glade.

    Rabbit hops along next to me hoping for the reward of a carrot. Cat slinks across the trail, hunting. She’d like to catch Rabbit, but he’s bigger than she is. And wilier. I raise my hand to shade my eyes and turn in a circle. Do I hear something stalking me? I look up and see Eagle soaring through the blue watching after me. I wave and continue along my path.

    My secret cottage is just ahead. An abandoned pump house my father moved to our back yard. He made window boxes and added a covered porch. I swept cobwebs and evicted spiders. Dad carried out a child sized table and chairs. I brought toys and plastic dishes. This is my place. Where I hide from pirates and make friends with birds. Where I hold parties for my dolls and my much-loved teddy bear. Where I serve mud soup and rock cookies. Where adult voices are not heard; adult eyes are not allowed.

    My cottage has faded into the mist of memories. The pump house is small, now derelict, with peeling paint and a warped plywood floor. But I can still visit in my dreams.

    Kathy Guthormsen is the creator of “The Story of Jazz and Vihar.”

    Her writing has been published in several The Write Spot anthologies.

    These books are available from your local bookseller and Amazon.

    You can meet Kathy, and possibly Poe and other birds:

    May 21, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Children’s Museum of Sonoma County, 1835 W. Steele Lane, Santa Rosa, CA

    Date to be determined:  Copperfield’s Books, 144 Kentucky St., Petaluma, CA

    Growing up in Skagit Valley, Washington with its verdant farmland gave Kathy an appreciation for the promise and beauty of nature’s bounty. The Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges and old growth forests offered the magic of things unseen and fostered her fertile imagination.

    When she isn’t writing, Kathy volunteers at the Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa, California, working with and presenting resident raptors as part of their education and outreach program. Walking around with a hawk or an owl on her fist is one of her favorite pastimes.

    She maintains a blog, Kathy G Space, where she occasionally posts essays, short stories, and fairy tales.

  • Vigil

    By Kathy Guthormsen

    Vigil

    I hold vigil by the campfire

    Watching dry logs send sparks dancing into the twilight, the west coast version of fireflies

    My prayers winging their way to you

    No more hot tubs under palm trees

    No more drinks with paper umbrellas

    These are distant memories wrapped in protective quilts

    I ask the fire to transform me into smoke that drifts upward

    Tendrils reaching, searching for you

    Forever just out of reach

    I had to let your body go

    But I hold your essence in my still beating heart where I will keep you safe and warm

    As long as I am here

    “Vigil” was created using Prompt #580 on The Write Spot Blog.

    Kathy Guthormsen

    Growing up in Skagit Valley, Washington with its verdant farmland gave Kathy an appreciation for the promise and beauty of nature’s bounty. The Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges and old growth forests offered the magic of things unseen and fostered her fertile imagination. Kathy’s work has been published in The Write Spot: Memories, The Write Spot: Possibilities, The Write Spot: Writing as a Path to Healing, and The Write Spot: Musings and Ravings from a Pandemic Year. All The Write Spot anthologies are available at Amazon.

    Her Halloween story, “Run,” was published in the Petaluma Argus Courier in October 2020.

    When she isn’t writing, Kathy volunteers at the Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa, California, working with and presenting resident raptors as part of their education and outreach program. Walking around with a hawk or an owl on her fist is one of her favorite pastimes.

    Kathy lives in northern California with her husband, one psychotic cat, a small flock of demanding chickens, and a pond full of peaceful koi. She maintains a blog, Kathy G Space, where she occasionally posts essays, short stories, and fairy tales.

  • Writer’s Block While Sheltering in Place

    Guest Blogger Kathy Guthormsen shares her writer’s block woes while sheltering in place. Perhaps you can relate.

    Shelter in Place Writer’s Block

    Sheltering in place has taken all the words from my brain

    Inspiration has disappeared

    My muses are sheltering elsewhere

    I am numb

    I sit at my desk

    I start my computer and open three works-in-process

    I drink my coffee

    I eat my breakfast

    I read the paper

    I work the sudoku puzzle

    I stare at the word jumble trying to make sense of the randomly arranged letters

    I read my works-in-process and make some edits

    I write a few sentences on a new document

    I work an online sudoku puzzle

    I check email

    I check Facebook

    I write items on my to-do list

    I delete the sentences I wrote earlier and beg my muses to speak to me

    I look at writing prompts

    I make more edits to the works-in-process

    I write random phrases on the new document

    I sigh

    I do a load of laundry

    I go for a walk, wearing a mask

    I go to the grocery store, wearing a mask

    I clean out the chicken coop and the cat box and realize I should be wearing a mask for those tasks

    I look at recipes and decide what to make for dinner

    I sit at my desk again and type a few more sentences

    I save all the open documents

    I decide not to post anything on my blog – again

    I realize what’s wrong

    I miss people

    I miss hugs

    I miss my muses

    I long to get lost in writing again

    I want my characters to take me to unexpected places again

    I ask the magic of writing to visit me again

    Kathy Guthormsen

    Growing up in Skagit Valley, Washington with its verdant farmland gave Kathy an appreciation for the promise of nature’s bounty. The Cascade and Olympic mountain ranges and old growth forests offered the magic of things unseen.

    Occasionally her magical muses refuse to talk with her. She fills those times with gardening, books, chores, puzzles, and lists.

    Kathy’s work has been published in The Write Spot: Memories and The Write Spot: Possibilities, available both in print and as ereaders at Amazon.

    You can see more of Kathy’s creative writing on her blog, Kathy G Space, where she posts essays, short stories, and fairy tales.