Gary Snyder is one of my favorite poets. I’ve always loved how he mixes his love of the earth and its beings with his Buddhism and his actions. In the Smokey the Bear Sutra, he mentions Pyramid Lake, one of … Continue reading Smokey the Bear Sutra
By Suzanne Stormon I’ve been thinking about the stories I tell myself. So many things are mysteries. Why do I stop and look around at one point and not at others? Why do I always find myself starting over from … Continue reading A Different Type of Ghostwriting
by Suzanne Stormon I met Bonnie in the spring of 1972, at the employee orientation meeting for new hires at the Overland Casino in Reno. We were hired the same week and we would start on swing shift together as change girls the next day. I sat next to her at the conference table in the H.R. office, learning the rules and other information about the job. She looked easy to talk to, about my age of 22, not so beautiful as to be intimidating. I smiled at her as they handed out the forms for us to sign. She … Continue reading Making Friends And Change At The Overland
by Suzanne Stormon A Paiute legend tells of Pyramid Lake’s origin. The father and mother of all the Indians had children who fought constantly. The father finally decided to separate the children. He sent a boy and a girl west and another pair to the east. The other children stayed with their mother near the place that would become known as Pyramid Lake. The mother was overcome with grief and loneliness for her missing children. She sat down in the desert and began to cry. She cried enough to fill the lake and sat there until she turned to stone. … Continue reading Adventures at Pyramid Lake
By Suzanne Stormon I decided to quit my full-time job and school in Southern California one afternoon while lying on the bed of a college rodeo cowboy and movie extra who I’d met on campus a month earlier. We were listening to a scratchy old record by a blues singer named Leadbelly. I’d never heard of him before but his deep southern voice and his sad songs reminded me that I wanted a different kind of life. I was exhausted and Jerry was pushing me for sex. I was still resisting. I didn’t want to be there anymore. I liked … Continue reading Leadbelly: Or a Girl, Her Dog, and Moving to Nevada