Once-a-month blogging

Isn't something I'd recommend. I miss putting down thoughts and ideas. I did a little writing on vacation, but mostly I read and soaked up the sun and the sea.

I understand my dh's feeling when he's out in a field and up in a tree and is watching the wildlife come and go underneath him. He belongs there. I don't share the feeling for his location of choice at all, but I understand that he feels the same sense of belonging that I do whenever I am in, on or around the sea.

I wish I could describe it better, the way the joints and muscles sort of loosen. There is nothing stiff or anxious about my heart, mind or thoughts. Everything seems to melt into something larger, something that welcomes and soothes. It cradles and teaches all at the same time. I have watched pelicans before, but the thrill of seeing them fold and dive is still the same. I learned that they fly in formation; that was something I'd never seen nor known before. They are amazingly graceful as a unit. I also learned there's a special way the upper bill positions fish so that they go easily down their throat, thanks to my brother who has to position the fish just so for the pelican they feed every day who lost the top part of his bill.

Then there's the clouds. Oh my goodness. They rival Oklahoma's; the sea and the beaches are just as flat as the prairie. Only these white clusters rise up in vertical columns and play with whatever else is in the sky. Eventually they beckon other clouds until enough accumulate for the afternoon heat to massage rain from them.

The ocean was bathtub warm. Of course someone had to bring up the fact that hot sea water is a precursor to disaster. Apparently the water temperature was hovering around 80 F when the seas gave birth to last year's monster hurricanes. I am not a good gauge of temperature, but I can tell you there was absolutely no need to stick in a toe to test the water, or gradually get used to the water by going in, backing up, then going in a little further until you're as wet as you want to be and used to the temperature all at the same time.

So I enjoyed Florida, needless to say, but I also enjoyed the journey. Probably because I didn't have to drive, and was in the back of the van with teens who kept themselves occupied. Given no one was relying on me for company or entertainment, I was free to read, read, read. Or stare at the window and wonder about the lives that were crossing mine at intersections. Traveling does this to me. I become aware that I am passing through the everyday lives of other people. Is that couple on the road because they are headed to the hospital so that they can visit a new niece? Or was that man headed to a job he hates, wishing he'd win the lottery so he could quit? Are they looking at the license plate on the back of our van wondering who we are, why we're there, or where we're going? So many people crisscross without touching or smiling or even acknowledging the swirling life that surrounds them. I can't help but think that it was not intended to be this way.

I did write. I got a new book by Bonnie Neubauer called The Write-Brain Workbook. It contains 366 exercises to "liberate your writing." I wanted to try to break out of that sequential part of me that insists on order and obedience to rules--either spoken or implied. With 366 exercises, it's quite obvious that the book is intended to be used daily for a year. So what if I got mine in May? Why couldn't I just start with exercise one in May and work through it. They I got more daring. Why did I have to do them in order? Why couldn't I chose one at random each day?

The answer to that question is I end up searching till I find something that I want to write, and that pretty much defeats the purpose of having a daily assignment to mold and teach. I finally gave up and browsed, soon noticing that some exercises are definitely related to the time of year that would be occurring if one started the book in January. So I have stopped reading, leaving a bit a surprise for me to play with. I will keep the book by my chair and see how far I get into it in the new year before I start skipping around in it again. We'll see how sequential and disciplined I become by then. Yeah, right.

That being said, I highly recommend the book. Get it so it arrives in January, and you'll have quite a treat to get you started writing write in 2007.

Then there's the computer--my laptop went in for servicing and now I can't do a thing with it. It is so frustrating. But that's a story that has no business rubbing shoulders with accounts of sun and surf and marvelous seafood. Oh, seafood. If you ever get the opportunity to eat at The Wharf (St. Petersburg Beach), make sure you have plenty of time to savor every last bite. Yum, yum, yum.

And that will close out this month's addition. :) Hopefully not. I want to get back to more regular writing, especially since I've been focusing on critiquing and editing. My urge to put new words down hits me in traffic or when the buttery full moon hovers on the horizon. My old friend has been refilled and renewed and is waiting to serve me well. I can feel it.