When I first lie down at night to go to sleep, I almost always envision that I'm huddled inside a small log cabin in the middle of the wilderness. Outside, a blizzard is raging. But the door to the cabin is locked and its windows are shuttered, and though I can hear the howling wind, it can't get to me. I'm safely tucked into a small, warm bed with plenty of blankets.
Somehow this contrast is comforting to me. All the bad stuff outside, all the good stuff inside. What good is warmth without cold? Comfort without discomfort? Safety without danger? The sweetest things are contrasted with the sourest. It's the way it has to be.
Sleep comes.
Followed by dreams.
The cabin is replaced by a slew of other images as raging as a blizzard.
The wind continues to howl, but this time it's inside.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
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About Me
- Jim Melvin
- Clemson, SC, United States
- I was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla. I graduated from the University of South Florida (Tampa) in 1979 with a B.A. in Journalism. I now live in South Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains, a pleasant setting for writing, to say the least. I was an award-winning journalist at the St. Petersburg Times for twenty-five years and I currently work at the Charlotte Observer. I am married with five daughters.
The author
Jim Melvin, a veteran journalist, debuts as novelist.
