Road Trip Creativity

I think I'm a strange creature.  Not in looks (I hope!) but in some of my habits.  It turns out there's nothing like days in a car with little to do but listen to music and watch scenery go by to spark my creative engine.

 (a scene from my last holiday - definitely inspiring)

I wouldn't dream of travelling without my writing journal because this odd experience has happened often enough to me on other trips that I know I should always be ready for it.  On a trip with my sisters a couple of months ago, I chose not to bring my writing journal because I was certain we'd be chatting and laughing so much that I wouldn't have the need to jot down the many ideas that can bombard me when I'm in the car.

Oh my, was I ever wrong!  My sisters can tell you how anxious I became when I realized that I didn't even have my customary little notebook in my purse -- I had cleaned out my purse before we left, thinking that I would prefer to carry a lighter bag.  In my panic I bought the first notebook I saw on one of our stops and then regretted it later when I found something more suitable at a bookstore we visited.  But once I had what I needed I was fine ... and, sure enough, the ideas flowed in the pauses between conversations.

The ideas are rarely directly related to the lyrics of the music I hear or the specific scenery I'm enjoying but there's something about the combination that does get the creative juices bubbling.  It probably helps, too, that apart from those two tasks, there's nothing else to distract my mind and so more energy is available to think and reflect.

So, if I'm to make a career of writing, as I hope to in a small way, I guess I need to be travelling much more.  Not exactly a hardship but it could get a little expensive.  Hmm, I wonder if I could convince Revenue Canada to let me write off vacations as work expenses?

September Holiday

The "squire" and I are newly returned from our annual September holiday.  We like to do a short trip each fall, which is a special delight to the squire because he was a teacher in his pre-retirement life, and for 35 years fall travel was an impossibility.

Our excursion this year took us to the Ozark Mountains in Missouri and Arkansas, where we experienced a few days of amazing summer weather, with daily temperatures in the high 20s and lots of sunshine.  I think the squire might have been a little disappointed as he really likes the cool, crisp temperatures of autumn, but I was very happy to have an extra week of summer.

The Ozarks are incredibly beautiful and I filled my eyes to the brim with mountainous splendour.

(An early evening view in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri)

(A through-the-windshield view of the highway we followed on a day's driving tour through the Ozarks, up, over, and down ear-popping mountainsides with ever more beauty to be discovered around each of the many curves.)

We also took in a couple of shows in Branson, a resort featuring Las Vegas style theaters and entertainment, enjoyed even more amazing scenery everywhere we went, and spent our last vacation evening dining on the Princess Fiona, a luxury yacht that offers dinner cruises on the river and lake.

(In the dining room of the $2.5 million dollar yacht at the beginning of our dinner cruise.)

((A beautiful fire and water fountain display (the photo just can't do it justice)  greeted us on our return to the dock at Branson Landing.))

Holidays are wonderful and we're always a little reluctant to return to the daily normalcy of our regular lives.  But we were delighted to arrive home and find the beauties of autumn in full swing, as our fall trip to Branson was a couple of weeks too early to experience their famed colours of autumn.  So it was nice to come back to the reminder that home, here on our country mile, is beautiful, too.

Football?

Had you asked me a few months ago, I'd have told you that football is a boring waste of time and I'd rather do almost anything but watch a game.  And, if we're talking professional football, I would probably still say the same thing.

But, if we're talking about my two grandsons' Atom and PeeWee leagues of the local football club ... well, that's an entirely different story. Suddenly football is interesting, very interesting. And to be honest, it's not just because the two handsomest and smartest boys I know are playing, although that's definitely one of the biggest parts of the sudden attraction.

Another part of the draw is that it's good football. You might wonder, in light of my opening statement, what I would know about good football. The truth, according to my somewhat circular logic, is if it can interest me, it must be good football. There's lots of action and drama at this level of play and you can't help but learn a little about the game when you want to know why a particular play didn't get the yards it appeared to have achieved or why a penalty was called when a young player had made a heroic effort towards a touchdown. And the more I learn, the more likely I am to remain interested in the game as my grandsons progress to more advanced levels of play.

"The squire" and I have been enjoying games this summer and now in fall and we're both delighted with how well "our boys" are playing. It's obvious they're having a great time and learning important life lessons at the same time. And making their grandparents so proud!

Speaking of proud, all the photos in this post are by the boys' mother, my lovely daughter, Jenn, who is a professional family photographer and loves to share photos of the boys with me. You can see more of her amazing work here:http://www.jennvogtphotography.blogspot.ca/

Materials: $69.00 Worth - Love, Talent, and Effort: Two Sisters' Worth

What a delight my kitchen is now. After a lot of dissatisfaction and stewing about ways and means to revitalize and de-clutter my work space, all suddenly came together, thanks to the genius, talent, and hard work of two of my favourite people in all the world, my sisters.

During a visit of a few days in late August, Mary came up with the idea to put a small shelf unit on unused wall space near the kitchen to store my cookbooks and various odds and ends. Then she helped me purchase it and, that same day, played with the squire's power tools to put it together for me. Inspired by the open expanse of counter where the cookbooks once lived, we found ways to arrange other things and achieved a more spacious look and room to work.

Then, a week or two later, the other sister went to work and my, did she work! I had asked Monika several weeks earlier if she would consider helping me apply some different backsplash material to revitalize the look of my kitchen. I knew she had done it before for our mother and I knew what a perfectionist she is, so I was certain the project would be done as well as possible.

Here's a shot of the kitchen prepped for her work:

This is the artist at work:

And voila! Doesn't it look great?

What would I do without sisters? They're my best friends and, when I need them, a willing work crew. And just so you won't think I make them work every time they visit, here's a shot of them enjoying some relaxation time here on my country mile.

They are beautiful women and great friends ... and talented, as well. I am sad for women who don't have sisters like mine. 

Taking My Pulse

I've decided it's time to take my "writer's pulse" again.  I made some very definite resolutions at the beginning of 2013 and I think it's good to check up on myself periodically.  Otherwise, the danger is that I'll forget all those lofty resolutions about writing more and reading in my genre.

The reading part hasn't been difficult at all and I've enjoyed making more time for reading books similar to the one I hope to write and maybe even publish someday.  As I read, I pay attention to how the authors achieve the effects I'm trying to create; how their use of language works (or doesn't) to evoke particular feelings in me as a reader.

As for the writing goals, my success rate is about 50%.  I have managed to post here a little more regularly, except for in August when life got a little too crazy.  In those weeks I was lucky to manage the deadlines for the newspaper that I write for weekly and a news magazine that has contracted with me for half a dozen pieces.  I managed to add a few pages to the novel I'm working on a few months ago, but to be honest, I feel I could have done more ... or should have tried harder to do more.

Fortunately, the year is far from over and it's never too late to get back to it.  I'm aiming to get the first draft finished by the end of the year, no matter how "rough" that rough draft turns out to be.  It will be an incredible thrill to type "THE END."