I Know I Don't Need

Surely It Is A Sin To Reject The Few Gifts We Are Given. Be Happy In The Flash Of Time Granted To Us Or Hurt Forever.

Mainly Because People Were What They Were And You Couldn't Change Them. Most Of The Time, They Couldn't Change Themselves, Even If They Were Desperate To Be Somebody Different From Who They Were. So, Best Keep Your Distance.

While Writing Cold Mountain, I Held Maps Of Two Geographies, Two Worlds, In My Mind As I Wrote. One Was An Early Map Of North Carolina. Overlaying It, Though, Was An Imagined Map Of The Landscape Jack Travels In The Southern Appalachian Folktales. He's Much The Same Jack Who Climbs The Beanstalk, Vulnerable And Clever And Opportunistic.

That's Just Pain She Said. It Goes Eventually. And When It's Gone, There's No Lasting Memory. Not The Worst Of It Anyway. It Fades. Our Minds Aren't Made To Hold On To The Particulars Of Pain The Way We Do Bliss. It's A Gift God Gives Us, A Sign Of His Care For Us.

I Was 46 When 'cold Mountain' Came Out. I Was Settled. We Had A Nice House In Raleigh And A Horse Farm.