It's June. Yesterday it was April, I turned two score and ten, and summer seemed interminably far away. Four more days and my kiddos are free.
With most of my students gone for the summer, work has puddled into a slower routine. Life has, too. For the first time in eleven years, I have *real* weekends, ones not marked by mandatory church appearances. The silver lining in Henry losing his job is the extra day.
Other than the line of T'storms and tornados that blew through Friday night, the weather this past weekend was as perfect as it gets. I got in some serious hammock time both afternoons. Kind of healing to watch clouds sputter by, open up and then contract around the sun.
Reading a lot--UP FROM THE BLUE by Susan Henderson. LONE SURVIVOR by Marcus Luttrell. GILEAD by Marilyn Robinson. THE GREAT GATSBY by Fitzgerald. Short stories by Dubus and Hempel and Lydia Davis.
Tomorrow begins class #3 in my progression towards my MA in Creative Writing. This class focuses on setting, the role it plays in story and how it interacts with characters (and vice versa). We have a book a week to read--fiction and non-fiction--and I'm kind of excited. I like the structure the program provides; I need it.
Writing-wise, I'm putzing around with a few shorts and poems that need fixing. I feel lazy, not in the mood to submit. I feel lazy about working on my *big* stuff. Finishing up revision two of THE HUNTER numbed me, made it difficult for me to get my mojo back. The case always when I finish up a chunk of a big project.
I have another crit group, online. Some amazing poets and fiction writers, very blessed and honored to be invited to work with them. A couple of stories coming out soon, a contest I hope to submit to, or not. The hammock beckons more than the desk these halcyon days.
What's going on with you?
Peace...
Posts
The hammock - it's like summer lays down and enjoys itself.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you're doing well. Having been thinking and worrying about you.
How come a post of yours about lying in a hammock makes me feel like I should be doing more? Even when you're lazy you're busy. But then, I remember a story about a poet who would put up a "do not disturb sign" before lying down; he needed that time to gestate and meditate.
ReplyDeleteI always feel like I should submit more - think about it a lot, but submit very little. I cracked open that Dubus story you mentioned but put it back down. I'll make another attempt, or at least try his other stories, but I don't identify with the situation. It's hard for me to imagine such a scenario (and I don't know why I should care).
Happy Belated Birthday!
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed it.
I'm happy you are enjoying your new weekends but sorry about how you acquired them.
Another crit group? Waaahh!
I guess NNC is in hibernation. Good for you -- keep writing and putting it out there.
~take care, you
We have had beautiful weather for the hammock, and sometimes I get a few minutes and suspend my body and mind in it. Hard to do often with two kids, though ;^)
ReplyDeleteGestation time is important. Sometimes the best writing happens before you face the page.
Kim, yes--this crit group is for poems and shorts, not novels. Nothing will replace the NNC for that. I miss us putting each other through our paces. Peace...