Blog
September
Tuesday 1st September 2020
There was no August blog--I was deep in the process of editing Stealing Thunder, now available through Amazon.
And now it's September.
Ahh September.
I've written about this before—how the first of September is my NEW YEAR. In the past, it might have been about starting a new year at school. But as I got older it became a time of even bigger change—moving, changing jobs, starting projects. It's also about autumn—my absolute favorite season. The colors—all my favorites—yellows, golds, oranges. The crispness to the air. The whole idea about 'harvest'. The wildlife—active as they prepare for summer.
September is a time of restlessness for me. I want to get out, travel, make changes. Start my new year. I want to see the sun, now lower in the sky and casting an amber tone over the landscapes. I want to see hills dressed in their fall color. See herds of deer and flocks of wild turkeys making their way across the fields. Walk through leaves and smell their musty odor. Catch the scent of a wood fire as the nights get colder. I know there is a book inside me about this. I need to share these experiences that I used to take for granted but now, especially during the Covid epidemic, realize were very special.
Two other memorable September experiences involved being in hurricanes. I left home at 19 to move by myself from Ohio to Florida. My first night I was staying with a family friend in Ft. Dix, North Carolina. I had no idea a hurricane was expected (remember, this well before the internet). During the night Ginger came ashore. I was in my VW Bug and I remember being very frightened, staying awake listening to the wind growl, expecting my car to be swept away at any moment. By 4:00 AM I'd had enough and left—driving due west! What was I thinking—trying to outrun a storm in a VW Bug?
The next book in my BREAKING CAMP series has a working title of Taking the Sun. As my camping couple the Trasks so often do, they are traveling in September but this time to Florida, where I will be reliving some of those moments of the hurricanes. I may not be able to travel as I'd wish to right now, but there is no reason the Trasks can't! As I work on this story on my laptop and in my head—often in the middle of the night. I'm so grateful I have this creative outlet. Reading was an escape route for me as a child and now writing is my escape route as an adult.
Photo is from the Finger Lakes in NY State- where I'm from.
