Hi, everyone! We had wanted to send everyone a “Merry Christmas” Newsletter on December 25th, but chose differently. All of you may have been as busy as we were here doing the traditional “Christmas-y” things!
We had a good day, and hope all of you did as well. Part of our day was spent drawing with new tools for our two favorite drawing programs: Affinity Designer and Procreate. Another part of our day was spent watching classic television programs from childhood on Amazon Prime like The Wild, Wild West. What could be better?!?
The most difficult part of Christmas was remembering how 2022 was the last Christmas that Gracie had with us, and missing her was a bittersweet part of our day.
We reworked drawings of Big Willie (This was enjoyable, although we didn’t quite settle on the final spelling of his name as either “Willie” or “Willy.” We will get this addressed to end the wavering!)
This is a definite detour from the original concept for this character. He had originally been drawn as African-American, however we did not want to create offense since he is often called “an idjit” (“idiot”) by Professor Accipiter. This new drawing gives Big Willie contemporary appeal rather than being a remnant of the Jim Crowe era. In some ways, he now looks like a powerful super hero. Nevertheless, he will actually needs rescuing which will be orchestrated by Amelia. I think of it as a lesson in “How to Be a Super Hero” since it is Amelia’s compassion and smart thinking that unltimately gives Willie a second chance at life.
The original Big Willie character did not have a beard, but this one does, and it adds a great deal to his character. As you may recall, Big Willie did not know how to tie his own shoes. I’ve also drawn him in a nice suit and bow tie with white shirt and polished shoes that are tied quite perfectly. It is indeed powerful how love can transform a life!
We pick up with our story this week with someone who desperately needs to be transformed by love and is who os destined to remain unchanged due to their nature as a creature of magic and incantation.
Out onto the balcony stepped a woman unlike any who had ever been seen in Paris. A tall, thin man came out of the door to the house, looked up at the balcony, and yelled up, “You are the only bride I have ever wanted. I can not live without you.”
“That is Professor Accipiter,” said Pearl, adjusting her disguise. “But I don’t see his White Peacock.”
“Try looking again,” suggested The Principalis Bibliothèque. “Look the way you did when you looked at Nate and saw him as if he was three years old.”
“I’m trying, but there’s nothing,” said Pearl, hanging her head in disappointment and shame. “I guess I don’t truly have the gift you thought I did.”
“I want the city of Paris to witness my wedding!” screeched the Bride. “It’s not about you, The Creator. It’s about me, The Creature.”
“There are going to be times when that will happen, but I can tell you it is happening now for a reason.”
“Won’t you tell me so I will know?” asked Pearl.
“It happens with those who were never born or hatched, but who are creatures of magic and incantation.”
“Knowing that, I must admit her ugliness is almost bearable. I’m glad she is not working at looking like that, and it’s not her fault.”
“That’s true. She is a product of whatever magical wishing was in the heart of the one who brought her to our world of flesh and blood.”
“Does she even have flesh and blood?” asked Pearl.
“I think she must. She seems to want to stay just as a creature made through magic. That is her one chance to remain alive. Only flesh and blood have life—even false flesh and blood that is the result of magic.
“But hearing myself say that, I must say also admit that I have likely misspoken. Those of flesh and blood who have left behind our world can still remain alive in our fond remembrances of them.”
“Do you mean like my Blanche?”
“I do indeed.”
“And The Bottle Cap Lady’s Little Girl?”
“Yes, indeed. And the grandparents of your Nate.”
“I will be as honest as I can. That is scary to me. I remember seeing the Big Blue Hippopotamus at The Bottle Cap Lady’s house, and he looked very strange. Something about how this Bride Lady looks now is the same with how he looked then. Is it because they are both creatures of magic?”
“I would say you are correct, Pearl. You are very good at figuring things out. All of the ones mentioned just now are those who are bound by the beauty of the light upon this earth. That is what makes them much better than creatures of magic.”
“My friend, Amelia, is even better at figuring things out. You’ll see. Let’s get up to Emily’s studio and bring Nate and Amelia here with us through a new gate! We can’t do a show without both of them with us.”
A figure landed beside Pearl, and she jumped with surprise and fright. After giving her nerves a chance to settle, she saw it was just the Magpie.
“I can report that Monsieur Degas is agreeable to your plan,” she said. “He has reserved the Palais Garnier for a special matinee performance in two weeks.”
“That is excellent, and did he ask anything in return?”
“Only that we provide the music for his next dinner party and continue sending the songbird muses to perform outside his studio window. He says there is something about the way they inspire the paintbrush to move in his hand that makes the light itself appear to be painted as if the eyes can touch it.”
“Then we have made a wonderful bargain! Now let’s get inside and make sure we can fulfill our part of the deal.”
“I want the city of Paris to witness my wedding!” screeched the Bride. “I am telling you that I will not be wed to you or anyone under a ragged circus tent. The date is set as two weeks from today. My beautiful white bridal shoes shall tiptoe out where the most talented ballet shoes have pirouetted in the Palais Garnier.”
The Magpie, Pearl, and The Principalis Bibliothèque looked at each other quizzically.
“It does appear that worlds will collide no matter what we may do to avoid that from happening,” said The Principalis Bibliothèque. “But I have found that often these coincidences work out as they should because they are part of The Great Gardener’s Plan.”
Gracie had been watching the street down below from the window of Emily’s studio in the garret of Le Maison Rose. She had heard the yelling about Le Palais Garnier, a place so important to her heart. Seeing Pearl and her two companions, she rushed down to ask Madame Judithe to please open the door.
As she opened the door, Madame Judithe asked, “Gracie, dear, have you more practice at the bar to complete?”
“Yes, Ballet Mistress,” said Gracie.
“Well, there will be plenty of time for that after you’ve helped your new friends to get settled in upstairs. I’m sure we can find room for two more travelers.”
“Merci,” said Maggie, and then they followed Gracie up the stairs.
“Oh! You are perhaps not travelers but friends here in Paris,” called up Madame Judithe to them.
“Oui, let me introduce myself. I am Maggie, and with me is The Principalis Bibliothèque of The Parisian Living Library.”
Madame Judithe was amazed to having such a dignified visitor in Le Maison Rose, and a visitor for such a talented group of birds.
When they got into Emily’s studio The Principalis Bibliothèque bowed in greeting to Gracie, just as she had to Pearl when first meeting her.
“Why are you bowing to me? Shouldn’t I be bowing to you?” asked Gracie.
“While I may be The Principalis Bibliothèque, I must always remember that I am a servant and not a ruler. I serve out of love, and upon meeting someone who has come so far and endured so much to keep a promise, I must bow out of genuine respect.”
Gracie’s Wren, Nate’s Wren, The Robin, and The Laughing Gull all looked more surprised by these words than by the bowing gesture.
“You must be Pages of The Living Library from your place and time, but if it makes you feel more comfortable, you can call me Flipsie, a name that Pearl gave me. Later, I want to talk with you because it seems that things are not as they should be where you are from.”
“Don’t forget my Tippity,” said Lefty firmly with fatherly pride.
“And you, dear Tippity, I have heard so much about you from Pearl,” said The Principalis Bibliothèque with a long and low bow. “Your youth and desire for new solutions to problems are most needed in any time and place, particularly the one we are all in currently.
“But I do not want to forget you Susanne, Raven with Blue Eyes. You are as valuable as my own assistant, Maggie. And to ignore you,Lefty, great father of brave and talented chickens, would be a close to criminal.”
As a group everyone flapped their wings in approval of the fine words spoken by The Principalis Bibliothèque.
“Does Emily have her drawing of the gate back home finished yet?” asked Pearl. “The sooner Nate and Amelia get here, the better it will be for all of us.”
Up in Emily’s studio, her drawing had been stretched out and tacked to the wall.
“It looks just like the gate back home,” said Pearl to Flipsie and Maggie, and then she called out as loudly as she could into the drawing before holding he ear to it to see if there was any reply.
“Pearl, is that you?” she heard.
“Yes, I’m here and so are the others. We finally have a drawing for you to come through to Paris where we are. Emily is going to put on the final details and Gracie is going to dance. Can you turn on the record player so she can hear it?”
Everyone listened as music began to come through the drawing, and then as Gracie began to dance, everyone held their breathes and then Nate and Amelia tumbled through and out onto the floor of the studio garret.
“That is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen!” said the The Principalis Bibliothèque.
Pearl quickly introduced Nate and Amelia to Maggie and Flipsie without mentioning who they were or the important positions they held in the Parisian Living Library, but she did add, “They have been able to do something that we had not considered. They have arranged for us to use The Palais Garnier stage for our ballet performance.”
Nate and Gracie looked at each other with surprise that neither of them had never considered—the importance of getting the use of the stage. It was something that Pearl had taken care of without doing anything other than simply being friendly and herself just as she had arranged to get the art supplies that Emily needed.
“Gracie, I have somewhat of a request to ask of you and Emily. It’s related to your ballet, and involves one small change I’d like for you to make. It’s not really a change so much as it is an addition. This has nothing to do with the fine choreography that you have already created.”
“But you haven’t even seen my choreography for the ballet.”
“That’s true, but I have seen your dancing that helped to open the gateway for Nate and Amelia to join us. I simply would like for you to open a similar gate during your ballet performance.”
“Who will this gateway be used by?” asked Gracie.
“It will be for representatives of the various branches of The Living Library around the world so that they can come here to Paris and get back to our original purposes and goals. Think of it—birds from the farthest corners of the world coming to join us here—Wouldn’t that be the sort of miraculous magical event for the Rose Garden Princess to bring about?”
“It would!” said Gracie. “Yes, let’s do it! But how will those other birds know to fly through the gate?”
“I will go and tell them what to do,” said Amelia. “I have a map inside my head, and I can find my way anywhere, even far away places like Inaccessible Island. I’ve heard that is where the most ancient of songbirds have sheltered away from the world of people.”
“Those are the small flightless rails there. They lost their ability to fly after all of those years of being isolated, and yet, they hold some of the most important information of The Living Library. What they know is to valuable to be lost. You will know them by their very short and small wings with brilliant red eyes.”
“Not to worry,” said Amelia. “I can figure out a way to help them fly. I’ve done it before with much bigger birds back in my days at the Circus. I’m thinking they might be able to make it through on the backs of some swifts.”
“We call them martinets here in France,” said Maggie. “But they can likely help with doing the same jobs as your swifts.”
“Do you know what I think it will be like?” asked Tippity. “I believe it will be like the fourth day of Creation when all the birds in the world leapt into the air and flew and called out with great thanks at all that they saw and their gift of being able to fly.”
“That is a beautiful thought, Tippity,” said The Principalis Bibliothèque. “It will be perfect for the ballet performance and perfect for the audience and even more perfect for The Living Library. We should think of it as a new beginning.”
There was a tapping at the door, “I don’t want to disturb all of you,” said Madame Judithe, “But I’ve made something that I think all of you will like. You’re going to need nourishment most surely, and Gracie, my dear, don’t neglect your exercises at the bar. You need to build back the strength of that leg of yours from the fall that you had last week.”
“Yes, I know, and thank you,” said Gracie. “Now that my big moment is almost here, I need to be at my very best.”
“Even though he is my friend, Monsieur Degas will love your dancing,” said The Principalis Bibliothèque. “Two weeks is not a great deal of time to prepare the sets and have everything looking perfect for our guests. But first, everyone must be fitted for ballet slippers. But do we have a color selected yet?”
All eyes turned to Pearl. Everyone waited for her pronouncement of the definitive color.
“After much consideration, I have decided upon pink, the palest of pink camellias like the color used to paint this lovely temporary home of ours here in the heart of Montmartre.”
And that was all that was needed.
“Madame Judithe, would you open the window for us?” asked Maggie.
There on the window sill was perched a group of martinets with pieces of silk and ribbon, and as soon as Madame Judithe raised the window, they came in and began measuring feet using their beaks.
“That tickles!” giggled Gracie’s Wren and Nate’s Wren, and then The Laughing Gull joined them.
“Only chickens will need ballet slippers for the performance,” said Gracie. “The others will be operating the puppets that accompany the dancers.”
As the ballet slippers began to come together, Madame Judithe admired them and said, “They are just as well-made as the ballet slippers my own students wear.”
After each pair was complete, Madame Judith helped it onto its new chicken owner’s feet and tied the ribbons securely. “There you are, my dears. You look as fine as any ballerinas in Paris.”
Her experience and sincerity made each chicken dancer feel as if it was to be a performance where anything could happen.
Then cautiously and with trepidation, Madame Judith asked, “Can I help you more? Strictly behind the scenes and in the wings? In all my career, I have never had the privilege of working on a project as magnificent as this one is sure to be.”
It seems only right that you would,” said The Principalis Bibliothèque. “All of this is being done based on promises made with love, and that is a recipe that is powerfully irresistible, and even more irresistible than your le goûter of cheese and sourdough bread? Even I have been drawn into the miraculously magical possibilities of both.”
Until Next Time
If you have any comments—good or bad—please share them on Substack or you can also reach me directly at John.Spiers@yahoo.com. We are looking forward to sharing with your exactly what happens next as the last details are prepared for the debut world-premiere performance of Gracie’s The Rose Garden Princess.
Our Best Advice for the Days Ahead: Even when it feels as if worlds are going to collide, the results are not always guaranteed to be negative. Sometimes events are the result of a much greater plan where everything works out in a positive way. Remember the irresistible pull of a promise—or a delicious dish—made with love.
Like church bells ringing out the hour, so are the united voices of birds around the world—both sounds call everything to align in the proper order of how they should be. We are all hoping that the same will be true for you as you ring in the new year!
Thank you for reading!
John, Gracie, Bessie, Pearl, Blanche, Emily, and Amelia
I like the makeover for Big Willie. No fear of offense given to anyone with that image- other than maybe some bikers...
"It's not about you, The Creator. It's about me, The Creature"- This resembles the attitude assumed by the Creature in "Frankenstein" towards the Doctor. (I mean the novel here- in the novel the Creature is extremely articulate and super-villain ambitious, whereas in the movies he became largely mute and brutishly imposing, but with some humanity intact, at least when Boris Karloff played him.)
If the Bride wants the entire city of Paris to witness her wedding, she's being a "Bridezilla". But it's best that it's Paris- saying "I want the entire city of Akron....", "the entire city of Toledo...." or even "the entire city of Winnipeg" doesn't sound romantic or ambitious enough.
Belated Merry Xmas and Happy New Year, John. Your work always gives me pleasure.