An Introduction by Author Lucy Crowe

Hello! I’m so excited to be writing my first-ever blog - mostly, I think, because I have known from a very early age that much of life deserves to be recorded. I was the nerd kid on the school bus with a notebook in my lap, the teenager stuffing her journal under her mattress, and now, the book mouse at the fire station who is forever plugging away on the lap top.

It’s okay! I’ve found love and acceptance amongst my peers in spite of my oddity!

About that.

Webster’s defines a peer as “a person who is equal to another in abilities, qualifications, age, background and social status,” but the thesaurus nails the relationship in a far clearer fashion with “cohort, buddy, partner.”

My peers are EMTs and firefighters. They populate two separate and very rural fire stations and share my life – my coffee, my sleeping bag, my little-pink-sugars – for days at a time. Ours is a unique existence, in which we are not only dependent on each other in so many ways, but we also actually live together. This situation, combined with the occasional hair-raising adrenaline-laced call, has made for more than one intriguing tale.

Which brings me to my second group of peers – the story-tellers. These folks share my gift/eccentricity/curse.  They understand my endless quest to set life to words, to form pretty phrases around the blasé for maximum palatability. Mostly, we exist for each other within our laptop screens, where we buzz encouragement back and forth via emails and writer’s forums. And so, ours is an unusual, but highly valued rapport. A kinship, of sorts.

Beyond peers, of course – and certainly of more importance – is my family. A husband and children who never quit shining for me, loving parents, brilliant and noisy siblings.  They give my days texture and beauty, and their personalities have breathed life into year upon year of my existence.

As well as filling out the pages of my stories.

And so - much to write about! And many reasons to be happy!

Thank you so much for visiting my brand new blog! I hope to see you again!

Here is a picture of my lovely kitty Gothika, who generally answers to the absurd and disgraceful nickname of Fatman. He has been perched on the back of my chair, just over my shoulder, throughout the entirety of this posting, and was most insulted when I failed to mention him in my circle of loved ones. His expression could only be described as “apoplectic”, lol.

Yes, this is him. “Admire,” says he