How I Chose The Locations For Cedar Woman Part II

Memories are powerful, and when they can be used to create something unique, it’s exhilarating.  As I was writing Cedar Woman, I literally pulled mental pictures from my mind to help my readers see what I see:

May Hill, Ohio

Front Street Apartment, Columbus, Ohio

Columbus City Center

Vickie’s Restaurant

May Hill, Ohio:  Down a gravel road, past German Hill, is a little town called May Hill.  It’s a very small town; an intimate collection of modest homes and a lovely white church with a steeple.

Not far from the church, and across the road, was a general store. Yes, a general store, not too unlike Ike Godsey’s in The Waltons.

My grandmother would go there for flour, lard, matches, sugar, and I would come along.  The owner, a large man with a barrel chest, would give me an orange pop.  It’s a sweet memory.

And so, I wanted to include May Hill in this story.  In fact, this is where you will meet the hummingbird.

Front Street Apartment, Columbus, Ohio:  I lived in this apartment with my ex-husband.  It was a nice place – clean and in good repair.  At the tag end of German Village, I thought it the perfect place for the Catchers to move to when they moved to Columbus.

Columbus City Center:  Built in 1989, City Center was a magnificent shopping mall, full of light and wide spaces.  I remember walking there, just like Lena and Nickie.  I remember walking in just as it opened, and I saw this beautiful restaurant.  I asked if I could walk around and the manager graciously allowed me to do so.  Beautiful, elegant, serene; I fell in love with the restaurant scene that day.

Columbus City Center no longer exists, and I mourn her still.

Vickie’s Restaurant:  I lived on Thurman Avenue in the South End of Columbus.  I couldn’t afford bus fare, so I would walk the two plus miles to downtown Columbus.  On the west side of High Street, just south of Town Street, was a little diner that sold chili dogs.  My recounting of its interior is how I remember it.  I don’t remember what the shop on the north side of the diner was, but I know that it was there, and so I felt it was all right to expand Vickie’s into that space.

What an emotional journey it was to write about these places.  They are still as vivid in my mind as if I’d been there yesterday.

 

Tomorrow I’ll discuss the next four locations.  I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am in sharing it with you.  Please, ask questions, comment.  I’d love to hear from you.

Toksa Ake Wakan Tanka Nici Un - Walk With God