To Write, or Let it Rot?

The more I read good stuff, the more I want to write again. I cannot express how much it means to me when someone asks what happened to the novel I was working on several years ago. It touches me that they would remember and ask, and it grieves me deeply that those manuscripts (plural) have become dry and dusty relics. I think I will write again. My characters are still there, alive after all these years, and maybe there are more stories to be written besides those two. Time will tell.

But I will not dwell on failure -- my own failure to launch. Maybe it wasn't the right time, maybe I wasn't adequately seasoned just then. It sure was fun, though. Time to see what comes next.

I have recently discovered that I have "severe" obstructive sleep apnea. So severe that I wonder how I have managed to put one foot in front of the other each day. Now that I have my very own CPAP machine and am already seeing successful treatment, I wonder what superpowers I will unleash with a few good weeks of sleep. Maybe this writing this could come back into being? And maybe, finally, an increase in physical stamina? I could stand to lose a few pounds, too, so maybe that. Focus is always good. We'll see.

One of my favorite features of blogging is being able to add photo illustrations. However, it's easy to work on my photos OR write the text. If I'm going to write tonight, I need to stick to writing. I'll add photos soon, but not tonight. Words will have to be enough. Words can be amazing, too, on a good writing day. Ha -- the best thing about my photos is that I get to crop them to show the very best of the composition! I've heard that writing is like that. Cropping out the extra, distracting, material in order to highlight the heart.

I've let the compost pile rot long enough. I'd like to write. We'll see what happens.

Penthouse Real Estate in Heronville

I went walking near home today... and even though I'm not ready for spring to start, it's clear that other folks are more than ready. Here's the local heron rookery, sizing up the nesting situation and occasionally bronking at the neighbors. Amazing to see so many herons at once. That's part of the beauty of winter, you know -- no leaves on the trees, obstructing the views.

"I Need a Four Who KNOWS Something!"

The action in this weekend's game didn't bring me near the players so that I could overhear any incriminating comments, but I did catch this one from the head coach.

It was kind of a sorry excuse for a game. The other team, according to my sports-history-buff husband, might never have had a winning season. Ouch. Lots of reasons for this year not getting off to a good start, and all I can say is that I'm glad it's not us. It's one thing to have a horrible, awful, three- or four- or seven-year losing streak. But what about never attaining better than a .500 record, ever? Plodding along, trying to build a program, teaching fundamentals and evaluating your players' strengths and trying to come up with an overall plan that maximizes every potential, so that maybe this year you might come out ahead of your main rival.

During the second half, late in the second half, the other guys were moving the ball up the field against our subs. Our coach has never been one to run up the score, and he wasn't going to put in any first-string kids, but OH MY GOODNESS he got a little upset when a particular player didn't perform his duties adequately. Thus, the imperative statement quoted above. Sorry, I don't know what a "four" is, but that's beside the point.

It's hard to be a sub. It's hard to be ready, knowing that you're only going into the game if there's a significant injury or a substantial lead. It's hard to be out there under the lights and remember everything you've been taught in practice. Everything. And it's hard to play for a team with a mediocre record. No matter how good your best effort is, there are probably several players on the other team who are bigger, faster, stronger than you are, and they'll eat you for lunch.

What do you do, then? Keep practicing, learn your position (even you "fours"), and make sure you've got all your gear on for every game. You never know. You just never know. It could be just a short series of plays, or it could be the game on which the whole season depends.

Servants, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.