Sometimes life — and death — just gets in the way of the work.
This week has been a whirlwind of obstacles to my writing, or even getting near the keyboard. Travel time on familiar highways. Time at shops getting a car serviced or body work done (again). Time spent with a blown tire on the side of an interstate highway, or limping on the spare to a tire shop 40 miles away.
And that’s only the car! Then there was the fundraising project, the season-sensitive lawn-thatching and seed-sowing, the home repairs large and small. And today we took a long walk on a bike trail we’ve been meaning to see since we came to the islands.
Life gets in the way of writing, but it provides fodder for when we finally can set aside time for it.
And death? It gets in the way, too. At the end of this very long week, I finally made my way to my office to write this Week in Review post two days late. But as I stepped out the door, I found the carcass of a mourning dove that had flown into our window.
Naturally, I took the time to scoop it up and give it a proper burial before sitting down to blog. Is that procrastination? Lost writing time? Or a chance to be aware of the experience, and think of how to describe it, and file it away for future work?
Perhaps all three.
Observations: I find I get antsy when I can’t find time to write. There always seems to be something taking priority.
Interaction: Little this week, mostly because I delivered little to interact with.
Professional development: Continuing to work on transcribing the original “Margery” script when I can fit it into the schedule.
Next week: More time to work instead of running around with busy work? Who knows?
In case you missed it …
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Top-of-the-head inventory, 1979
Reading Time: 2 minutes “Items in Stock” was, in truth, a misnomer. Some were complete, or ready for a final draft or a rewrite. Others were ideas or characters in search of a plot.
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Award-winning coverage? (1979)
Reading Time: 3 minutes Newspapers have associations, which sponsor competitions. But it’s a long trip from “thinking of sending it” to actually receiving an award.
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A dead-end job? (1979)
Reading Time: 2 minutes Now, Howard. Listen carefully. It’s important to be honest with a potential employer. But there’s such a thing as being TOO honest.
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No realistic understanding, 1979
Reading Time: 2 minutes Know what your work is worth. Not knowing may mean either you won’t get the job, or you’ll be undercutting yourself.
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The end is in sight, 1979
Reading Time: 2 minutes Returning to the fraternity house, which alumni sometimes did, was a Really Bad Idea. I was already spending way too much time there.