My Writing Sessions are Evolving
and an interesting end to the week.
Saturday AM 10.6.23
I smell the sweet aroma of freshly baled hay. I see and hear a loud and boisterous flock of starlings streaming overhead from their overnight roost deep in the woods. I feel a cool, dry breeze on my legs and arms. Another cool front is coming in. Yesterday was quite humid and warm but it seems it is gone this morning. My morning coffee tastes sweet and slightly bitter. My overall mental well being is calm, content, and inspired. Of course it’s the weekend and when I am granted this free time, that’s usually how I always feel at the beginning. By Sunday afternoon, it’s a different story. But lucky me, I have a 3 day weekend!
I feel like I’m going to be updating my “Come Write with Me” description again. But that’s ok. This blog is evolving as I am. Ultimately, I want this blog to inspire you to write by seeing my writing process. I just want everyone that feels the urge to write, to release those thoughts through their fingertips and onto paper or computer. We all have a story to tell and that story will live on, long after we’re gone.
I thought that I would have time to post my writings during the week, but I’m finding it difficult just to find the time to write. This week, I was able to squeeze out a couple of writing sessions in my new “under the magnolia tree writing” nook. I would go out before the sun came up, plug up the lights, and sit under the tree for 15 minutes writing. These are the three 15 minute writing sessions I got out:
Finding a Space to Write
The cool autumnal mornings have finally arrived in south Georgia. I moved our little outdoor dining set from the pool area, which was taken down once the leaves began falling. Now it sits next to the front door under the shade of our huge Magnolia tree that my Granny planted over 70 years ago. We lack a front porch here at the farm. There was one when I was growing up, but during the last remodel, that little room was closed in to make a tiny office for my Daddy. It has been a creative nook in the past as I’ve edited many videos in that space. Once I get it decluttered, I think it will be a good writing space in the winter. I am going to make it my goal to create writing nooks all over the farm.
The fields are foggy, the roosters are crowing, the birds are awakening, the remnants of little boy adventures lie all around me. What better way to start a day?
Breathe in…….Breathe out
Breathe in…….Breathe out
Breathe in…….Breathe out
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Ode to October
Cool mornings,
Foggy fields.
Colorful leaves raining down from the black cherry trees.
Baby turkeys cheeping, while mama turkey purrs softly.
I’ve been seeing baby deer everywhere, no longer in spots.
Old enough that mama is ready for the rutting bucks, to start the cycle again.
Time to cut back the chocolate mint, lemon balm, & asparagus,
And hope for a minimal fall harvest.
The seedlings started in August, set out in September, are now flourishing in the ground.
Perhaps by the end of the month a first pot of collards?
I do believe October is quickly becoming my favorite month!
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Thursday AM 10.5.23
Yesterday as I was preparing for a presentation I will be giving tonight at one of our local council meetings, I came across an article that just reminded me again how rooted I am to this place. I’ll include a link to it here. Apparently back in the early 1930s, in this little small town, there was an all female council that got statewide attention because it was the first of it’s kind. Of the 5 women mentioned in the article, 2 were my ancestors.
One of the current council members was my 5th grade teacher. I have so many ties to this community. I am trying not to be too nervous about this short talk, but public speaking is not my favorite. I have avoided it for a long time, but I know if I push myself through these things that give me anxiety, it will only help me keep moving forward. Learning to be calm and peaceful in my own skin in all situations.
Writing is also helping because I’m seeing the world as one big story. Each event that comes up in my life, even the mundane, I ask myself, “What’s the story here?” That way I have a never-ending fodder of material to pull from. It’s also helping me figure out how to develop a story…something I really need to work on. I’m hoping I will be able to work with Janisse Ray, one of my favorite southern authors, on that. She’s offering some great courses this fall. Check them out here.
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And now back to….Saturday AM 10.6.23
Yesterday, I slept in a little so I didn’t have the time for a writing session. The city council meeting I presented at the evening before, went well and I had consumed a couple cups of coffee before arriving at the 7:00 PM meeting. You have to understand, my brain is usually turned off by 8:00 PM every evening. I’m either in bed already or unwinding to get there soon.
I woke up in a rush Friday morning, so no writing session, however, I was able to snap a picture of a gorgeous sunrise over the greenhouse and wild garden.
I made it through the day, but I knew after the past couple weeks, I needed some unwinding time. Rather than go home and pile up in the recliner, I decided to go down to the river house and hang out a bit. I noticed when I went by, my brother was home. I rarely see him because he lives with my mom in South Carolina and when he does make it home, he stays quite busy and farm life is pretty tedious.
I often wonder what kind of feelings he gets from being on the farm. He grew up on this farm as well, and he has his own memories of this place and our lost loved ones. We don’t talk about feelings very much. It took me a long time to come to terms with my own feelings and memories. Now I am comforted by them, but there was a time I was tortured by them, and I thought the grief would never end.
Since the weather has been drier lately, I decided I would try to burn some of the many piles of leaves I’ve made down at the river. The place hasn’t had a good yard clean up in almost 10 years. And there’s nothing like the smell of burning leaves on a fall afternoon, plus it deters the mosquitoes. My little brother has always loved a fire since he was a wee boy. I sent him a text and told him to come down and we could do some burning together. I really didn’t think he would come.
The first piles I wanted to burn were under the carport, because when I park under it, I normally have to step on one of the piles. I used a propane torch to light them, then started using my rake to turn the pile, to make sure it all burns. Tiny live oak leaves don’t burn easily. As I was turning the pile and pulling it further out from under the carport, I noticed a small snake coming towards me. I’m a herpetology lover, so that didn’t alarm me in the least. I have been since elementary school days when we had a local legend, “snake man” who would come catch snakes if any were in the school yard. There was also another legendary snake man, Okefenokee Joe, who would come and give presentations with snakes. In college, I studied herpetology as part of my biology degree which makes me pretty good at identifying venomous vs. non-venomous species.
As this little feller got closer, I could tell from its beautiful striped markings, it was a baby timber rattler. It didn’t even have any rattles yet, just a a little black button on the end of its tail. It did not appreciate being exposed and was slithering rather quickly for cover towards the burning pile of leaves. I took the rake and moved it off the car port. Then it curled itself into a ball in the grass trying to make itself invisible, but it kept lifting its head peering at me. I didn’t like where it was, because I was worried I may inadvertently step on it, so I took the rake and tried to shoo it out into the woods.
It stretched out its little body, couldn’t have been more than 10” long and slithered slowly up the sandy hill to the woods. It seemed to be moving very cautiously, then I realized, at that size they’re preyed upon by large birds and such. So I took the rake and pushed it up further into the tree line. It found a little patch of wire grass and curled up into it. It didn’t seem like enough to be good cover, so I took some leaves and put over it. It poked its little head out of the leaves and looked at me. I spoke to it and said, “Please remember that I helped you on this day, and when we’re out and about, stay away.”
A few minutes later, my brother drove up. I showed him the little snake nest I had made and he shined his flashlight in to get a better view of the baby rattler. Then we worked on the yard together. He brought some other yard equipment which he removed limbs with and did some light weed eating while I continued to rake and burn.
I was so grateful to have this time with him, doing a mundane task, but being in his presence is really all I need. You see, I love my little brother more than he’ll ever realize. There’s a bond there that will never be broken, no matter how long we go without seeing each other. As we were working, we heard the “Who cooks for you?”, from a barred owl down in the swamp. My brother answered back. We heard a northern flicker woodpecker calling with the “clear, clear” sound and drumming on a hollow tree somewhere nearby. We grew up in the woods and swamps which gave us a great base of knowledge for all the wild things that live there. I know that’s why the woods give me such an inner peace. I hope to instill all this woodland knowledge and peace in the grand boys. That’s why continuing to clean up our little river house is so important to me, and since I seem to have difficulty finding time for that as well, I’m going to make Friday afternoons, river time. I hope it can be a gathering place for us all. Just like it has been for generations of my family.
I hope you enjoyed some glimpses from my week and seeing how my writing process is changing as I go along. Thanks for reading and being here. Let me know how your writing sessions are coming along and if you are learning anything new about yourself.