Take time to See What’s out the Window and Imagine what Isn’t

Recently, I was puttering on Insta, looking at pictures, trying to figure out what to post for my own Insta accounts, trying to pick a Book Cover picture to promote my latest book signing (wearing a mask, from 6 feet, of course!) and I came across my own pictures of sunsets.  I also came across other pictures of people outside on beautiful sunny days.

I prefer rainy days, but I enjoy sunny ones as well.  (No, I’m not going to don a dress and start belting songs from “The Sound of Music” anytime soon.).  It occurred to me, that I never open the curtains except for the plants to get sunlight or maybe I open the blinds at breakfast.  I don’t have a window in my office at work or near my desk in my writing room on purpose - yes, here I am another day dreaming reader who would stare out of the window all day long if I could and then I would get ZERO work done!

But windows are not just for the imagination, I thought.  They are for letting in some sunshine, too.  

What an eye opening experience.  I asked myself, I asked my husband why have I not been opening the curtains more often?  

Of course, there was no good answer to that.  It’s almost as if I forget the sun existed except in instances where I sought it out.

When I was a kid in elementary school, I was super quiet and never ever in trouble ... except for one thing - I would always but always stop and stare out of the windows when I would be in the stairwells.  I would be late for class, I would take too long to run a teacher errand, and I would get caught and get in trouble for it. 

It was my 4th grade teacher who ended my getting in trouble because he actually asked me why do you stop and stare out of the windows all the time?  I told him because I like to see what else is out there and to imagine what isn’t.  

After that, no one minded that I took a little longer to walk past the windows.  

What Goes Around Goes Around (aka There Will be Mud)

Yesterday, we went hiking with some friends around a lake in the mountain off the Blue Ridge Parkway.  There are a few different ways to get on the trail, and the lake itself is something you cross while traveling on the Parkway.  So, while we had been by it here and there, we hadn’t actually been on the trail itself in many years.

While preparing to go hiking, I tried to remember what I could of the last time I’d been on the trail.  The only thing I could remember about it was that it was muddy.

While I like being outdoors and spent most of my childhood in a tree, or climbing one, I’m not really a hardcore hiker.   Without going into TMI and too many details, I am not the most surefooted person in the world even with a hiking stick.  

Thinking there would still be mud, after all these years, I still took my hiking stick.  It’s decorative, heavy and large.  (If I keep going on trails, I need to get some of those lighter weight collapsible hiking sticks to use!). 

What else did I pack?  Bottled water, snacks, a notebook in case I wanted to write something, and a small purse (very tiny) with some first aid supplies. 

The walk was 2.5 miles.  There were lots of tree roots and slick spots, hard for me - not so much for everyone else.  We saw a snake!  Actually, I spotted it coiled up, resting and hiding.  I was proud of myself for not screaming!

We saw other families, warning them of the snake sighting or saying “Hi.”  Some wore masks.  Some didn’t.  And there were plenty of dogs.  And there was also plenty of kayaks, canoes and paddle boards on the lake.

It was a beautiful day for a hike.  It was simply a beautiful place to be.

I’m not sure why it took us so many years to come back to this trail - maybe because I’m not so big on hiking or walking trails much due to my lack of balance.  It was my friend who suggested we go hike the lake trail because she likes to hike.  I am glad that we went.  I’m all for new experiences or even trying something we did once again to see what it’s like the second time!

It’s hard sometimes to try something new.  It’s hard sometimes to back off your typical weekly or weekend routine.

It was a good way to kick off our weekend (later that same day we helped my Mom clean our her freezer, and then we did the normal morning chores list later that afternoon when we got home) and get out and about.  You can’t have experiences if you never “experience” anything.

And if the worst thing you encounter is mud (and a snake), you’ll probably be fine.  I kept my white and pink shoes out of the mud by the way, and I traversed even the trickiest of muddied spots without landing in it.

It’s safe to say, in life, there’s always but always gonna be some kind of mud and you’ll be better off for having been in it, around it, or near it!

The River Tales

One of my favorite all time books or book of stories is “The Canterbury Tales.”  I absolutely loved it when we studied it in my British Lit class in college.   “Beowulf” not so much even with the movie and popular recent translation.  I was fascinated by British works for some time.

I was lucky as I actually got to visit several of the real locations in “The Canterbury Tales” on a trip to England.  It’s like a wanderer’s tale, all the travelers he meets along the way.

I felt like that yesterday while riding bikes along a river trail.  I headed out on it with no cell service as it’s just that remote and with no maps either.  I suppose I thought there would be trail markers along the way.  There were mile markers and one information billboard, that was it.  I didn’t think to stop and pick up a map or even look for one, just blindly hopping on my rented bike and heading out.

It was an excellent weather day.  I did have extra tire tubes and tools in case I got a flat - not that I have any idea how to change a bicycle tire in the first place.  I had a mountain bike, I think, with those wide thick tires.

So with extra gear in tow, a few energy bars, a cell phone useless except as a camera as there’s no cell service at all on the trail, and water, I headed out.  I was looking for a specific spot on the trail.   This trail had been used for the C&O railroad.  It stopped being used in 1958.  I don’t know when the railroad tracks where pulled up and a trail was made, but it’s a good use of a former train run in my opinion.

At first the trail was paved, then a gravel path finally ending in dirt and mud.  Some places it was all the way across and wide enough for a car.  Other places it was two narrow paths on either side.  A lot of poison ivy bordered the trail, causing me to ride in the middle so my ankles didn’t brush the poisonous plant.

The trail runs along the river.  With the lack of rain, it’s shallow now.  I’ve seen it before, overflowing.

I had to make myself keep looking straight ahead and not at the river so I didn’t accidentally head down the embankment into the water.  (Later on there was a rope swing and I could’ve landed in the river on purpose, but didn’t!  As a kid, I would’ve been on that rope swing in a flash.  Now I overthink things, (sigh)).

My intended trail sight was about 10 miles from my start point.  And along the way 3, maybe 4 maybe even 5 times, I wanted to give up.  Each time I stopped about ready to turn around, another biker would come along.  I would ask them about the landmark and the trail.  Each time they encouraged me to keep going.

I would continue forth a little longer and then get tired and stop again.  A lady who passed me going the other way told me where it was, but when I didn’t find the spot 2-3 miles later I was about to give up again.

Then came along a Grandfather and his Grandson traveling the same way as me, but faster.  The Grandfather had been there before and he told me we were close.  A few pedals later, he stopped and handed me a map he’d found discarded on the trail.  He said he didn’t need it as he had 2 maps already from his previous trail rides.  He and his Grandson kept on riding and I followed way behind them.

Finally, I made it there, to the bridge crossing the river, to the old railroad tunnel underneath the thick mountain rocks.  The Grandfather and his Grandson were near the riverside, having taken the steps down to it.  The Grandson was on the rope swing!  (He did get in the river!)

I smiled and waved at them and rode across the wooden bridge and went on through the tunnel, in the dark, and then turned around and came back.  It was well worth the long trip and I was thankful for the travelers I met along the way!

After I took a few pictures, I thanked the Grandfather and Grandson for showing me the way, and then I made the long trek back probably in much faster time than on the way there.  I had my own traveling Tale, my own Canterbury right beside the Greenbrier river, on a cool summer mountain day.

Stop the Glow

Stop the Glow

Curb the flow
Don’t let the little
Screen
Flash light on your
Face
Take time to put
It
Down and see the
Real
World: forest, waterfalls, lakes
Talk
To people and listen
Read
A book or newspaper
And
Watch the red melting
Sunset
Don’t even pick it
Up
Let that phone hibernate
And
Go off grid

Take time to Stop and Smell the Tigger (Tiger) Lillies

Today while riding bikes on the Greenway, I saw a few Tiger Lilies either ready to bloom or full-blown bloomed.  The orange and pink ones were at full bloom.  The yellow ones were just budding.

Growing up, my Dad always called Tiger Lillies, “Tigger” lilies.  He like to say things in unusual ways or change words around.  Of course, we both read Winnie the Pooh.

He was an avid reader, like me.  We often shared books.  I have another blog devoted to the books he left me.  I hope to get to them all one day.

It’s hard when you’ve lost a parent and all you have left of them are memories and things.  This time of year is especially hard for me.  You just don’t forget the birthday day of someone who was special to you.

Seeing the Tiger Lilies bouncing along the trail as I rode by erased my melancholy feelings and filled me with joy.  Then later after the bike ride, I discussed a poetry class I’m teaching tomorrow and participated in a poetry radio show that’s online.  Anything to do with poetry, usually fills me with joy as well.

Be sure to spend time doing things that fill you with joy.  And be sure that joy fills your time.

The Blank Journal

I received a blank journal in the mail.  I love to write long hand still preferring to write out my poems and then edit weeks or months or years later when I type them.  I don’t write stories out, I do type those. Still, I was pleasantly surprised to receive this blank journal from a publication I get in the mail.  It’s as if they are encouraging you to write your own story.

I try to relate what I write in my stories to real life.  Many things I put in them are events or people I have observed.  But you have to know what will work in your story or won’t.  You have to know what pieces to keep, what pieces to discard.

Just like with a blank journal:  What will you put on the pages?, What will you keep?  What will you leave blank?

The possibilities are endless.  Part of the fun in the love of writing, is starting with that blank piece of paper and seeing where it ends up!

What will you put in your journal?

Bicycle Poem

How fast the bike zooms downhill at speed around curves be sure to dodge the cars, the kids, the dogs, the skateboards and oh yes the mailboxes, be sure to lean in or lean forward to catch the wind the sun glinting down on your helmet your hands loose or tight on the brakes the gears cluck and click when you turn them up or down on the hills you can coast on the flat parts ride slow or fast and then uphill zig and zag and try to maintain your energy your speed how fast the bike zooms past the creeks the walkers on the same pathway and over small wooden bridges the water gurgles along the path and in the hot blazing sun each patch of shade becomes an oasis the green tall grass and weeds wave and salute as the feet and the gears churn up and down then circling around and finally back up the long steep hill so much fun to zoom down but much slower going back and walking up the ride complete.

Read Your Poems

Often when I critique poems or manuscripts for poets, I recommend they read their poems out loud.  When you do this, you can hear the flow, how it sounds, if you have the spacing and punctuation right, etc.

You can also hear if you have used words that are hard to pronounce.  I am a word lover so I often use words that no I can’t really pronounce even if I’ve used a Dictionary app to tell me how to say them.

Some poems are better on paper to be read.  Some poems are better to be read aloud.  It truly depends on the poem!

As with writing itself, when you write your poems ask yourself what is the intended outcome of your poem?  Are you sharing it with a loved one, is it just for you, do you want it published somewhere, do you want it in a poetry book, or is it more suited to a song lyric with added music?  There are so many outcomes.

Many a time, I’ve picked up a book that once I start or finish reading it I realize it probably would’ve been better as a short story, and so on.  You have to know what form your work truly fits.

Reading your poems out loud, though, can give a new life to your work.  These days with so much online, video meetings and readings and so on, you have plenty of opportunities to read a poem for an open mic.  It’s good to workshop a poem that way.

Everyone has their own process for writing.  I like to handwrite most of my poems and then rework them when I type them into my tablet or computer.  After that, I may read them at an open mic to make sure I get everything exactly right.

You can also practice reading other favorite poems by other poets.  That will give you good practice as well.

Reading your poems so you can hear them is so important even if you get someone else to read them to you!

Backgrounds

With all the stay at home orders, or just plain staying at home when you’re not at work if you’re an essential worker, more of us (me included) have been using those built in cameras on our devices, you know as actual cameras!  I don’t really think about the camera on my computer or tablet, as I’m either using a regular one or the one on my smart phone to take videos or pictures.  Until now, I haven’t really used them for online meetings.

This past week, I was in a virtual meeting two times.  I’ve met with some of my friends two other times so we could catch up with each other in a way besides our group texts.

I also participated in a few radio shows, where there was no visual representation only voices.  And also in a couple of visual poetry readings and a writing workshop here or there.  I also videoed myself reading some poems for a virtual poetry reading celebration.

I’ve got a YouTube channel, as most authors do, but I don’t do a lot with it.  I post the occasional video from a poetry or book reading, or from an open mic night.  I also post train videos!  I really have done very little with my channel.  (Search LB Sedlacek on YT if you want to subscribe.).

As a result, I’ve done very little with my cameras.  Usually any video I’m posting is filmed outdoors or at a venue like a book store or art space.

Filming or doing a live feed indoors, though, I’ve noticed presents a whole new challenge.  What do you have in your background?

What’s behind your head?  When I used one service on my phone, I could change my background to any picture I wanted so I used a sunset.  Upon using that same service on my computer, I couldn’t use a picture background.  I had to use what was right behind me!

What’s behind my computer desk?  My friends from the group text, were discussing how interesting it is!  A bookshelf is behind my chair, behind my desk.  If you weren’t aware of it, I love Scooby-Doo!  I have a few Scooby-Doo items in my bookshelf.  The same bookshelf where I keep my writing supplies and copies of my books to sell at readings, etc.  I also have a few toys I’ve saved for sentimental reasons. I have other bookshelves with actual books on them, some mine, some by my favorite authors.  The shelf behind me, if I’m on camera, doesn’t have any books in it other than my author copies!

I thought about trying to put up a poster about my books - I have “Poetry in LA” and “The Mailbox of the Kindred” covers to go behind me and cover the bookshelf.  I couldn’t quite figure out the logistics.  I thought about moving my camera. Too much trouble!  I thought about just using my phone and going outside, but it would’ve been too noisy.

In the end, I decided to just keep my background representative of me:  full of writing supplies and author copies and toys and yes Scooby-Doo!  (Did you see the new movie “Scoob!”?  It’s awesome!”). I’m not on TV, I don’t have to worry about my smart looking background or being rated on how great it is in a magazine, lol.

I think backgrounds of all kinds, where your from, what you like, things you experienced growing up or not, all contribute to your writing life.  And yes, what’s behind you can contribute to it, too!  I don’t write anything much related to toys or cartoons, but it somewhat keeps me kid like and helps my imagination to soar, and that’s what you need whenever you write.

What’s in your background?  Comment here, I’d love to know!

Remote Writing or Not Everyone Can Write “Harry Potter”

Writing on the road.  Writing in the wilderness?

Either one used to have to be done by pen or pencil and paper and then you would type your post later.  But now it’s easier than ever to post from wherever you may be.

Right now, I’m sitting at a picnic table by a grill with a fire going and also fighting off bugs of all colors and sizes.  There are lanterns,  which brings more bugs.

It’s a typical Spring southern night.  It’s cool, but warm.

What’s on the table besides my tablet?  Water bottles, bags of various chips, food from the grill, condiments, flashlights, and plastic utensils.  There’s also a smart phone.

We decided to use the smart phone to call a relative in a different state to check on them and we have been talking for some time while I post.  How nice it is to hear a real voice on the phone or to actually use your smart phone as an actual phone.

How different is that?  My screen time was down 24% last week according to my phone.  That means I’ve not been using it so much for social media.

That makes me think of the different ways of writing.  How was writing intended to be displayed or consumed or shared in the first place?  How do you write?  Why do you write?  What is your end goal for what you write?

As my father in law put it, not everyone can write “Harry Potter.”  Truth be told, I wouldn’t want to have written that book even as successful as they are.  I write for myself in the genres I like (poetry, mystery, sci fi, romance) and I write for my audience at the same time.  I am also super content to have a few true real fans of my writing.  I do think I would enjoy having one huge best seller, but I wouldn’t want to have to be required to churn out more mimicking works of the same said best seller unless that’s what I wanted to write.

The freedom from writing outdoors is the same freedom you should feel when you write..  It needs to be something you like to do, have to do as well as something you can do for a living or extra income.

It’s living your life as a writer that matters.

I’m NOT Bored (or No Electronic Lobotomies Here)

Really.  I'm not bored.  In fact, I am rarely bored.  I never say it.  I hardly every think it.  I’ve probably never really thought about the state of being bored since I was a child.  At that point, my options were limited to playing in my room, what my parents would allow me to do for after school activities, playing in my yard, stuff like that.

These days, though, as an adult with countless responsibilities, I am not bored.  During this time of the pandemic (COVID-19), it seems, though, that many people of all ages are bored at home ... at least they are posting on social media that they are.  Why are they bored?  One of my sister in law’s tells her kids if they say they are bored, then they need more chores to do!

Even if I have an abundance of free time, rare again for me, I am not the type to sit and watch endless TV or binge watch anything.  It’s just not that interesting to me to watch show after show after show, or movie after movie. I do enjoy reading, but I’m not going to spend all day doing that either unless I’m on vacation and even then maybe for a few hours here and there.

I’m not bored probably because I have always believed in making the most of each drop of free time you get.  For me, I would and do use that time to read, write, meditate, take a walk, work out in the yard, go swimming, go bike riding, get groceries for people who can’t get them themselves, talk to a friend, write some more, write a letter, send a friend an email, think, cook, play my guitar or ukulele, play a game, sing, something other than sitting around (or standing) and saying I’m bored.  We have more options than ever to occupy our time.  In order to not be bored, though, you have to have goals, a future goal, or end goal in mind set for something - i.e. you need to be thinking about something or planning something or actually doing something.  And if you just can’t think of anything to do, there’s always volunteering.  I’ve done some of that, too.

I’m fortunate to have visited or to have lived in many places, so I have a lot of interests including social media scrolling (it’s a time sink, and I usually find I’m kicking myself at how much time I’ve wasted upon doing it).  Maybe that’s where the “I’m Bored” anthem of a socially raised and bred generation gets it from ... life doesn’t really happen in short snippets or 60 seconds (or less) bursts of time on a video or in a meme or in a post.  It’s as if we’ve let artificial intelligence invade the front lobes of our brains to give us an electronic lobotomy.   Why?  It’s simply counterproductive.  How meaningful is your online life vs your real life?

Each day I make a list of things I need to do for myself, my job, my writing, my relatives, my family, etc. to see what is the most pressing.  Never does that list include how to spend my downtown because if I have any, I will do any of the things I’ve mentioned above.  I think if you fill up your life with good things for yourself, your family, your friends, your passions, you are not going to be bored.

The trick is you have to find what means the most to you and take time for that.  Don’t ever take time, though, to be bored, pandemic or not, each moment, each second, is precious and you won’t ever get those back, but you knew that already.