Whew, October Sucked!

I can't remember a time when more than one family member went through some sort of medical or emotional crisis within two or three short weeks. It happened this month. It was beginning to feel like we should be dabbing lambs' blood on the front door to have the wrath of God pass over.

It was impractical to consider writing. Things happened too fast. I'm sure that other writers have faced this sort of thing, but have never experienced it for myself until October. My respect for these colleagues has grown immensely.

I noted that my escape has been through writing. When that is not possible, my belly is exposed to the arrows slung by the circumstances at hand. Oh wait, I suddenly remember that someone else is watching over me and everyone else.

How easy I forget sometimes.

Gary

Who Flipped The Switch?

This is the first year in many that I can remember an immediate change of seasons...no transitions. The last post I did was smack in the middle of a red flag warning with bone-dry conditions. The very first day of Autumn all of the forest creatures around here were scrambling for their Personal Flotation Devices and we experienced a climate change, although I didn't see Al Gore's jet go over to confirm that.

I've seen this kind of thing happen before only at higher elevations. You get tucked into your toasty sleeping bag and the next morning is dead quiet, which motivates a person to find a nearby tree. That's when you find the six inches of fresh snow on the ground and you're looking for much closer trees.

I failed my Farmers' Almanac course, so I can't tell you what kind of winter we might have - normal or ugly. I find myself being thankful for my 4-wheel drive. No one likes to get stuck in 2-inches of icy slush. You'd have to live in Western Washington to understand that logic.

The nice part is that plenty of writing can be accomplished in the foul weather months, assuming you've got a story line to work on. I can only surmise the attendant boredom that might occur with a few power outages, since we have some healthy wind storms and tall trees that begin to become nuisances around November here.

I might have to rough it and use pencil and paper plus a good candle if it gets bad enough. I'm not even sure that I can hand write anything any more. It's been a while. Will someone let me know when Summer gets here?

Gary

I Dare You...

Go ahead, just try to concentrate on writing stories when your youngest daughter is about to drop two full-sized, full-term twin girls at any time. If you can do it, you're a better person than I am!

I look at it a little like trying to gather essentials while you're being chased through the brush by a large grizzly bear - you're always looking over your shoulder while juggling the important stuff. Somewhere in there, you are also supposed to be creative and write something intelligently.

Right now I would be happy to remember what all my passwords are to get into all my writing arenas. I had to do trial and error with this one ten times before I guessed right!

Now, what was I going to blog about today? Hmmm, I forgot, but I wrote down the password! All I can think of is "Go Seahawks," and "Welcome Ellodie and Kaelee!" I'll write something more interesting in the future.

Gary

Looking Out The Window

Inspiration to write comes from the strangest places, sometimes. I found myself looking out over the backyard that ol' Rollie Dawg used to watch over like the Lion King. He'd keep an eye out for his jousting buddies, the rabbits, that taunted him frequently. He never did catch one.

A couple of days ago, Rollie came back to mind as I watched one of the rabbits chowing down on some dandelions. Something caught my eye emerging from under the deck. It was a baby bunny from a new generation who was tentatively exploring its surroundings.

Its momma emerged and sprawled out under a bush looking tired. I could hear her telepathically saying, "You go play now, Junior. Mom needs a nap."

Life goes on and I think Rollie would've approved of the addition to the neighborhood -- a new friend to play chase with. Life does go on. Now the writing should, too. I've got rabbits to support!

Gary