JUST LISTENING TO THE FALLING RAIN…..AND LETTING NATURE BE MY GUIDE

It has been an active winter of writing. I don't think I've composed more copy over a winter season, than I have this past seven months. My winter season writing jag begins after Thanksgiving, and carries on until spring chores force me outside again. The problem for me today, is that my body isn't what it used to be. I find myself hunching over this keyboard and practicing the poorest posture…..certainly contributing to a stiff back, stiff knees and a neck so rigid it feels as if I'm wearing a brace. I enjoy the work and I'm just glad to be interested in writing after all these years in the profession. It's obvious pain isn't going to keep me away from this keyboard.

This morning, it is wonderful to be sitting my cluttered, book-strewn office, coffee in hand, staring at a keyboard…..and feeling contented it has had a good winter-season work out. It is raining heavily outside, and the sound hitting the verandah roof, makes it seem so cottage-like and relaxing. I've always been lulled into subtle philosophy by such weather, and this morning, it is the perfect occasion to feel genuinely satisfied that the work over the past months has been successful. No I didn't write a best seller. Or even a modest seller. I don't want to travel around the world on a promotion tour, to sell such a book, if I had pumped one out! I like what I'm doing, with regional publications and my blog-sites which I adore. (I have five sites on different subjects). I don't have to jump on planes, and there are no real inconveniences at all….except for when I get too calm, and complacent, at this time of the year, when my body is beginning to heal itself from the work stresses. I could sit here for hours today, which is a professional danger, and not type one word on this beckoning keyboard. The rain is so wonderfully peace-inducing, that even the loon-shrill of a few moments ago, becomes startling and unsettling. I suppose most of all, I'm just pleased to have weathered another winter, and survived a touch of cabin fever….never missing much time at all, creating copy of all kinds for all uses. It's what any writer needs to feel. My summer season is the period I use to build interest in the next writing season….researching new projects and traveling all over the region as an antique dealer…..finding inspiration all over the place. It's an equally busy time of year in my professional pursuits, just not in writing.

This morning has been interrupted by work around the homestead. Domestic chores don't stop on account of rain. My daydreaming has ceased suddenly, when my son, just now, handed me a piece of paper that had fallen on the floor. It was a suggestion list left by my charming bride……with some expectations for the writer-on-hiatus.

And here I thought I could just sit here and listen to the rain.