Nano & Knitting

I'm off to a very slow start on Nanowrimo this year.  Usually I start  off keys ablazing, but not this year.  Maybe that means I'll pick up the pace in the middle instead of losing steam, as in years past.  One can hope, right?!  As of today, Nov 4th, I have a whopping little 3,062 words.  And some of those are alternate word choices I tossed in to fiddle with later. 

    

When I'm away from the keyboard, or paper, my mind is full of conversations, plot points, character growth ideas.  But when I sit down to write them... nada.  Brain freeze.  Or brain cramp.  Yesterday, I took a notepad to Barnes & Noble.  After browsing the racks, getting a yummy Pumpkin Spice Latte and a bagel, I sat down and wrote two pages pretty quickly.  Probably would have written more, but I had to leave to pick up the J-bug from school.  So was it the change of scenery, or the Latte, or writing with pen and paper?  Or, uh, no access to the internet?? :)    Most likely the last one!   I can't go to the book store to write today, but I can turn off the internet!

To help with my brain cramping, I'm going to leave my document open, and knit a while.  Knitting seems to drain away all the daily flotsam and jetsam so I can focus on my book ideas.  I'm going to work on the second  "Autumn Storm" sock.  I'd like it finished in the next couple weeks so the pair will qualify as a finished object in the SKA group on Ravelry.  It would be nice to win one of the awesome prizes, even though odds are slim due to so many participants.  But at the very least I get a great pair of socks!  I really like the "Storm" pattern, and the first sock fits perfectly. 

And it's a good day to work on this project, as it's pouring rain outside.  Autumn Storm indeed.  Now I'm off to knit my way into my Nano project (titled Thunder Road for now).  Have a good day!

Until next time...

The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea. ~Isak Dinesen

That quote is certainly true for me.  When I'm frustrated, I have to work it off in sweat equity.  Whether I'm happy or sad, you can bet tears are gonna flow.  And when I'm adrift in life, it's to the sea I run.  And there's no better time than late autumn, when the beaches are nearly empty, the air crisp and cold, the waves wild and high.  I could sit there forever watching the ebb and flow, feeling the ocean work its healing magic.  I'm centered again.  Whole.  Alive.  Me.

Although I'm a child of the mountains, I'm more at home when I'm near the ocean.  Wonder why that is?  Does it have something to do with my Scorpio sign?  Born in the house of the scorpion, with Scorpio rising.  Perhaps.  Or maybe it's the certain predictability of the tide.  Even though wild and untamed, the tide comes and goes on schedule day after day, year after year.

Maybe I'm drawn to that.  I dislike routines--have always chafed against them, yet certain ones provide comfort.  I know, doesn't make a lick of sense.  But there it is, just the same.  So what does that say about me?  I like ordered chaos?  Ha!  Yeah, I guess that fits to a degree.  All I really know for sure is that the sounds and smells of the surf can soothe me like nothing else.  Instant stress-relief.  I can literally feel the shift within.  I feel better, I think more clearly, I'm at peace with myself.   All the stressors are still there.  I just know what I can and can't do about them in a much clearer way.  I really should live near the ocean!  Wonder if it that soothing property would diminish over time?  What an awful thought!  I'm choosing to believe it will always be soothing, and perhaps some day I'll live close to the ocean again.  A lovely dream, something good and right to hold on to.  Now to make it happen! ;) 

for whatever we lose (like a you or a me),
it's always our self we find in the sea.
~e.e. cummings

Until next time...

I voted... Did you?

For better or worse, right or wrong, I did something for my country today.  I voted.  Amazing that something so quick, so small, can be so powerful.  One quiet voice among many shall be heard.  My voice.  Will yours be heard?

In my younger days, I didn't vote.  Wasn't even registered.  I wasted my vote, my voice.  It wasn't that I didn't have the time.  Or that I didn't care about the country.  Nope, it was a selfish, petty reason.  I didn't want to be called for jury duty!  How silly is that? Geez!

Might I have made a difference?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Maybe there wouldn't be so many American steel mills idle now.  Maybe there would be less foreign autos sold, and more Americans would be working, turning out American vehicles to American consumers.  Maybe there would have been fewer lives lost in war, less parents mourning sons and daughters.  Maybe more American dollars would be spent on our kids' educations and less on CEOs' retirement funds.   I'll never know.  

I do know that I'll never give up my right to vote again though.  What we say and do today has a far-reaching impact on our country, our economy, our own future.  More than I ever imagined when I was in my twenties.  Casting my vote today may be a small thing, but hopefully it will have a positive impact on the world of my children and granchildren.  I can only hope. 

Are you going to make a difference today?  What are you waiting for?  GO VOTE! 
Until next time...


ps.  Though I do go when called upon, I still would rather not be called for jury duty!

Dipping my toes into the blog pool...

Instead of tackling the home-front chores.  Or the socks and shawls waiting on the knitting needles.  Or reading over my notes for Nanowrimo, which starts in three days.  Am I ready for it?  bwa hahahaha  How do you spell procrastination?  B-L-O-G!  At least for this fine Thursday.  I've managed to waste most of the day put together a background, some pics, and a bit about myself, as well as this inaugural post. 

My vision--which isn't far-reaching or etched in stone--is to use this for my Nanowrimo progress/updates next month, and perhaps to follow up on the book that will (hopefully) emerge from Nano'ing.  I'll also talk about knitting, and yarn, and my ongoing projects.  I love knitting!  It's so soothing, and I get a lovely item to wear or gift when I'm done.  And from time to time I'll post a few travelogues.  Travel is as much a part of my life as family, writing, knitting, and well... breathing! 

And now I'm off to list some of my fave blogs.  If you have time, dear reader, click on a link or two and visit some of the wonderful blogs I've found in my web wandering.   

Until next time...