When I was writing, I wrote poetry for myself, and my memoirs for my children and grandchildren…much like you, wanting them to know, when I’m gone, just what it was that drove me.
Notice I wrote, “when I was writing?” I haven’t written a thing since the beginning of August 2011. There has been no inspiration or desire to write…anything. How do I feel about that? I have no problem with it, because I know that, if I am to continue writing anything in the future, my Muse will return and it will all be natural, not forced.
So what have I been doing? Let’s see: there was the wet, hot August culminating with Tropical Storm Irene, which caused minor flooding in my basement. Followed by Tropical Storm Lee, which caused minor-minor flooding in my basement. Picture me outside in the pouring rain, in a bathing suit, bailing out the window well at 5:30 in the morning…and the newspaper delivery guy shows up. So that takes care of floods.
In late September I took my usual vacation on Cape Cod. It continued to be monsoon-like and very warm. My new fireplace mantle and surround had been built and now it was my job to stain it. Since I had never done anything like this before, it was very stressful and scary. But I did it and I did a very good job!
October saw another vacation of sorts…five days in the Washington, D.C. area volunteering at the Next to New Sale at Sidwell Friends school. I work in the linens department until the sale begins…then I’m over in bicycles. It’s a lot of work, long days, but rewarding. I get to meet so many great people, both staff and customers.
Wasn’t home too many days from DC than our freak snowstorm hit and left the state of Connecticut out of power for as many as 10 days. I was fortunate to get power back after only 37 hours. My condo complex is on the same power line as the nursing homes up on the main drag or the sewer plant. Either way, I don’t care. Thirty-seven hours was long enough. Long enough for me to realize my next stove will be gas!
A week and a half after the snowstorm, when fallen trees and debris littered the landscape, I decided to ride my bike the 4.5 miles on the canal bike path just to see how bad it was. It was bad. I had to haul my bike over, under around and through some of the most incredible obstacles…at one point getting pinned among the branches by my bike, which was now up side down. Ah, but all is well that ends well. As I said in my end-of-year blog, “What doesn’t kill me only makes me look forward to another adventure!).”
And then it came to pass, the cooking bug bit me. I was thinking of making some tuna-noodle casserole, but, for some reason, did not want to use canned cream of mushroom soup. Well, then, I’ll make my own! Mushrooms just happened to be on sale so I went for it. I didn’t stop at cream of mushroom. I made cream of broccoli w/cheddar cheese (regular and gluten free), cream of asparagus (gluten free), home made spaghetti sauce (twice), and have added salads with my own newly created home-made salad dressing, and avocados to my diet.
In the meantime, I had my sewing machine cleaned and fixed. It hadn’t been used in almost 30 years, but I kept lugging it from domicile to domicile thinking some day I’d use it. I guess the day has come! I have plans to recover the seat of a bench I bought while on the Cape, as well as make a slip cover for a hassock that needs to be covered up. I have no idea how to do either of those projects, but I’ll figure it out.
Do you get the picture? Suddenly my creative self has chosen other methods of creativity. How long it will last, I have no idea.
Glyn, your suggestion of “becoming” something or someone else is the second time that theme has crossed my consciousness in the past week. Perhaps that is the direction in which I need to go in order to find my Muse. In the meantime, I’m letting my life flow to see what interesting place I might land on next. Aren’t you glad you asked? J
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