Sometimes day-to-day life overruns my attempts at writing prose. I want to write prose, believe me. The words are there, ready to spill onto the page, but the countless details of the actual business of being a published author, having a day job, and the needs of family and friends roar to the forefront and are not to be denied. We do not live in a vacuum, although we may sometimes long for that bubble of cold silence to keep the world at bay so we can free the voices inside us. Bottle them up for long, and they vanish.
And speaking of vanishing…For some unknown reason, my computer blue screened on me last night. Yes, boys and girls, the new Dell, circa 2009, is NOT the machine the old Dell, circa 2003, was. Three gigabytes of RAM aside, I am not impressed. Next time, I will ask if the power switch is lighted, too. I don’t care for that feature at all. I’m worried it will burn out and I’ll have to cart the bloody thing off to be replaced. This one may not make it through full depreciation and simply become a loss.
I didn’t start blogging to bitch. Honest. Well, maybe a tad, but certainly not about my processor, which, in truth, suffices well enough for now. What I really came to share was that this morning brought a harbinger of spring to my little postage stamp sized piece of the planet I’m blessed to hold in trust and call my own. The blackbirds arrived. At dawn.
No, really. At the (butt)crack of dawn. If you’ve never had a flock of blackbirds in your treetops, you’re probably wondering what’s the big deal. Well, writer or not, words fail me to adequately describe the cacophony of sound hundreds of blackbirds can create. I’m not joking or exaggerating – hundreds of them. I woke from a rather restful sleep to all this noise and lay there, in the dark, until my brain managed to process what was going on. My first thoughts were not charitable ones about all God’s creatures, great and small. Thankfully, they disturbed one of my neighbors, who responded by firing one [loud] shot that scared the flock away.
Rising at dawn brings its own rewards. I found my slippers, pushed the button to brew the coffee, and took inventory of my now quiet world. Spring is coming.
The tips of the maple trees have pushed out tiny red buds. There is a blush of new green in the lawn.The snow has finally melted enough for me to see the green tips of daffodils and hyacinths pushing up along the edge of my back walkway. There is even one lonely clump of crocus, although it's a bit shabbier than the old photo above. Maybe today, I’ll see the first robin of the year. I feel spring coming, too, its power of renewal seeping into me, warming and lifting me like a returning lover.
I’ve much to do today, from the usual Saturday chores to a baby shower for my young second cousin. I have a special gift for her – a baby quilt that was made for me many years ago.
The blocks were embroidered by my aunt, who is her grandmother. Then it was quilted by my great-grandmother and her great-great-grandmother, a woman she never knew, but her father did, and whose name she carries. The quilt was presented to my mother before my birth. My mother treasured it, and kept it for her own grandchildren, but that was not to be. It’s fitting that after so many years kept safe in my cedar chest, I pass it to the next generation. Such are the ties that bind us.
Later, after the family celebration, I hope to settle down with the current work-in-progress, and write prose. I’m excited about this story. It’s a stretch for me, being that one of the characters is a shapeshifter. I’ve gotten to the chapter where our main hero realizes his lover has this unique little “gift,” and it’s been fun to write. I’m anxious to finish it, and see exactly how the ending will play out. The characters haven’t revealed the closing paragraphs yet.
After that, a blue-collar worker will live part of my dream vacation. He’s traveling to see the great national parks found in the United States, which is the trip I've sworn will be a retirement gift to myself. Anyway, he stops in a small town and finds someone he never expected to find. I can’t wait to get going on this one.
Spring is definitely coming.
KC Kendricks
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