Wednesday, May 27, 2020

Writing in the daylight

Rarely do I write this blog in the daylight hours. Writing seems more like a night-time thing to me, or perhaps, if I was a real writer, in the pre-dawn hours.  (It's obvious that I am not a real writer because I have NEVER wanted to get out of bed before dawn to write.  Ever.)  But here I sit, at 10:00 in the morning, blogging away like I do it every day!

Of the three people who read this on a semi-regular basis, one is my friend Margaret who chastises me (nicely) when it has been too long since I produced a blog post. It is because of Margaret that I am writing at this moment, while the sun is shining and the air is heating up and my stomach growls for breakfast.  Part of me wants another cup of coffee, the other (larger) part wants someone else to make it for me along with a toasted english muffin with a smear of peanut butter on it.  Breakfast of champions. But my stomach will need to growl some more before that happens. 

As is everyone else in our current situation, I am both tired of this lock-down and grateful for it.  There's nothing more to say about it than that.

Currently I am totally enjoying watching "Mad Men" on Netflix.  For some unknowable reason, I never watched it when it began in 2007.  But it is so good and so addictive!  Everything about it, from the stellar acting (and over-acting), the costumes, the sets, the portrayal of that 1960-1970 era, all of it is fascinating to watch.  Social, economic, political issues of that decade are dealt with, the advertising business is dissected like a lab rat and the outcome isn't very pretty.  The characters are flawed and often proud of those flaws. I could go on and on but if you haven't seen it, you better start watching soon.  In two weeks from today it will be gone from Netflix forever.

Reading:  fun,junky books (Robert Crais' Elvis Cole Private Detective series), old school books (Agatha Christie), memoirs ("Untamed" by Glennon Doyle , "The Sun is a Compass" by Caroline Van Hemert), poetry (Billy Collins),  pseudo-science fiction ("The Sparrow" by Mary Doria Russell), books off my shelf (Laurie Colwin again, Anne Lamott, Kate Atkinson) and books I have been slowly reading for some time ("Sapiens" by Yuval Noah Harai)  ...... I am reading everything.  There was a little time, about three weeks ago, where my attention span faltered and I couldn't read for more than 15 minutes at a time.  But my reading rhythm has returned, thankfully.  Especially this week, when it is so bloody hot outside (close to 100 degrees yesterday), there isn't anything to do but read. Too hot to sit outside, too hot to walk the dog past noon.  Friends have sent me books, dropped books off on my doorstep and I have learned to download books from the library to my phone.

Baking: for the first six weeks of the Don't Leave the House order I baked.  A lot.  Like every day.  Bread, cookies, pies, cakes, crackers.  Over and over, rinse and repeat.  I would give the results away to anyone close by or drop them off at friends and acquaintances homes, but one cannot bake without tasting the product, of course.  Sadly I realized I needed to stop baking for a few weeks and eat things that did not have flour and sugar in them. Things like fruits and vegetables!  Baking will return, but not for another couple of weeks.

Drinking: along with the baking, I was totally happy to make new, experimental cocktails and eagerly consume them.  I didn't overdo it, but like the baking, too many calories get consumed.  I have tapered that off for the next couple of weeks as well, limiting myself to one liquid libation a day.  Sad, yes, but better for my liver in the long run. And who knows how long that run will be?  Certainly not a marathon length. More like a 10K run.  Doable, good for the soul and body but not that strenuous.

That's the rundown for now.  Hope everyone is trying to be safe and happy.  Be careful out there.

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