Mere Ramblings

“I think if you are a writer you’re always writing. But the important thing is to sit at your desk and hold on to it….”   Mary Gordon

Author Mary Gordon said this in an interview in the September issue of The Writer. She had been walking her dog in New York City and saw light coming through the clouds. She captured the scene, her feelings, in her book The Liar’s Wife. So writers do write in their head no matter where or what they are doing.

Her observation rang true to me as I often write my stories in my head. I see scenes; I hear voices; I picture clothing and smell food. My trouble for the last few months is not getting to be at my desk to apprehend the vaporous lines to paper! It is so frustrating to risk losing a great line or a perfect word. Sticky notes help but this desk now looks like a sticky note pad exploded in the room! Maybe soon I can empty my head onto paper—oh, and you thought I was empty-headed all along!

I am not a neatnik. Right now the Founding Fathers could write the Bill of Rights on my coffee tables as the dust is so thick. My secret is if no one moves a single trinket, then no one knows how deep the dull “shine” is! But I can’t ignore laundry, groceries, dishes, or rotting vegetables. Those things drive me nuts. (Yes, and I know the drive is not a long one!) By the time I meet other demands and keep the household running somewhat, the day is done and another day gone without writing. Always I say tomorrow.

Today I worked hard in the house and even DH pitched in. He washed the front porch, front windows, blew freshly cut grass of the drive. I fetched a few groceries, mopped the utility, washed the dog’s bedding, watered the withering flowers, paid the bills, made a lunch, have scalloped potatoes cooking for supper, and weeded old mail. You know, tomorrow MIGHT be mine!

The heat is horrid although we haven’t even broken 100 yet this summer. It is the humidity. It sits on your chest like a fat clawing tom cat. Even at 7 in the morning the air is too warm, too close. This morning Biscuit sat through the first cup of tea but wanted in for the second. I made her come back out just so we had a wee bit more time with fresh though sultry air. Then it was inside to work.

I hate to whine about the heat because I hate to see any summer pass. Each day is a gift and I want to relish it. I really must plan to just get up even earlier to steal some time with a might cooler air and before the sweltering sun drives me in to face dust and duty!