Moving Day

I've moved! I'm now working in our basement laundry room, in my own little corner. It's taken me two months, but I've finally moved books, files, desk, laptop, printer and research material to this little corner. I'm right next to a window that looks into our backyard, and this afternoon I watched a feral mama cat nurse her two little kittens right outside my window. Chipmunks drop by for a drink from the planter saucer I keep on the patio for them; squirrels and birds eat and chase each other; and Ella, the hound next door, desperately tries to get at them from her side of the fence. Wonderful distractions for the creative spirit and much better than the upstairs distractions of dust and dinner and doorbells and the general demands of a household.


Now, to get some writing and networking done down here. I'm ready!

Writing the Novel

"If you try to nail anything down, in the novel, either it kills the novel,
or the novel gets up and walks away with the nail."--D.H. Lawrence

I ran across this quote the other day and found it interesting--even intriguing. Since first reading it, I've been thinking about the nail it refers to. Have I been trying to nail something down in the novel I'm working on? Have I been forcing characters to do and/or say something they're not comfortable with? Have I been moving the plot in a direction it simply doesn't want to go? It's true I can't force characters or plot onto a path that suits me if that direction isn't true to the story. It's so easy to forget that when I'm in the midst of writing.

So I'm grateful every time a character steps up to tell me that he or she simply won't do what I want--or when a new character appears from nowhere and pushes me in a different direction. I'll always try to pay attention, for fear the whole thing will get up and walk away with the nail I'm trying to force into place.

I've never been good with a hammer and nail!

Serendipity

I've always a great respect for the phenomenon of serendipity. When things happen in a coincidental way, connecting two things or ideas, it's mystical to me.

Recently on a trip to the Upper Peninsula in Michigan, Peter and I drove to Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. We'd wanted to see that lake and its gorgeous turquoise waters. We'd heard that the beach was beautiful.

The Shipwreck Museum there is devoted to the history of the many wrecks that occur along that stretch of coast, the most famous being the Edmund Fitzgerald. It was interesting to see the bits (some of the giant bits) and pieces of ships that didn't make it to their destination. After touring the museum and viewing a film about the Fitzgerald's sad end and the memorial built in honor of the captain and crew, we strolled over to the replica of a Life Saving Station, where I took some photos of the equipment and gear used by the original Life Savers.

Great stuff for background for the historical novel I'm working on. It's about a young girl in 1913 who wants to be a Life Saver like her father and brother. At that time, only males could do that work.

 

Here's the serendipity part: On our way to the car, I spotted a gift shop and took a quick spin through it. On my way out, I spied a glittery object on a display table. A second look showed the glitter to be a replica of the medals used by the surfmen on their nightly patrols to meet their counterpart from the neighboring station. I'd read about these, but it was a thrill to actually see one--and to be able to buy it and bring it home for inspiration! It now hangs over my laptop.

As Peter often says, it doesn't take much to make me happy!

Tao and the Creative Process

I read this other day in my book of Tao meditations:

••••••••••••••••••••••••

An ocean of ink in a single drop,

Trembling at the tip of my brush,

Poised above stark white paper,

A universe waits for existence.

••••••••••••••••••••••••

 

It no doubt refers to the act of creating visual art, but it seems to fit the writer's life as well. It's awing to realize that a universe is waiting for existence while the writer hesitates to begin her work. Or that an ocean of ink is held in a single drop (or an ocean of words in a single touch on the keyboard). The point of the meditation that followed those words stresses the importance of having reverence for one's work, for treating it with esteem.
 

This thought gives me pause. Do I have reverence or esteem for my work as I'm putting words down? Too often I get fed up with my efforts and long to hit the delete button. Maybe if I began with a more respectful feeling for what I'm writing things would flow more and I'd be happier with what I create. Certainly worth a try. I manage to respect other writer's work. Perhaps I should treat my own words with the same esteem--before I even start out. As the saying goes: Wouldn't hurt. Might help.

Flora and Fauna

The first time I read the phrase, "flora and fauna," it took me a while to realize that this simply meant the plants and wildlife of a given area. (I was a kid at the time.)

This summer has given me a whole new perspective on those two "f" words. Normally I concentrate on the flora part of my backyard area. Things starts out just fine. In May and June we enjoyed lettuce and other salad greens. Then, in July, the weather turned so dismal that I've been hard pressed to harvest more than three tiny tomatoes, some okra. Vegetation does not do well in desert conditions. Just ask my son and his wife who live in Abu Dhabi.

On the fauna side of things, the wildlife passing through our territory has flourished. We've been visited by foxes that came right up our deck to peer in the dining room as we had breakfast. They became daily visitors, and I learned yesterday that a neighbor has been feeding them because they "looked so forlorn." We've become used to raccoons and, of course, squirrels and have even spotted a bedraggled coyote one morning. Yesterday a Cooper's hawk posed on the edge of the birdbath, apparently hoping that the smaller birds would think he was a decorative sculpture and came by to take a drink or bath while he looked on--and then dined on.

Despite the heat and drought, the wildlife has done well by us. All in all, the flora has, much like the Royals, lost more games than they've won. And, like the Royals, I say, "Just wait until next year!"