Well, this is different: no music while I’m writing. We’re almost at the end of another session of Camp NaNoWriMo (see Other Writing for more) and I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. But I wanted to to take time out to say that this is the first time in a long time I’ve been able to stay at home to write without having loud music blaring in my ears to cover up the sound of a blaring TV (which TV is not even on at the moment and may not be on for many more hours). The house is peaceful, serene and quiet. I’m listening to nothing but the tapping of my fingers on the keyboard, the sound of sleeping dogs (wonder of wonders, they’re not even snoring), and the songs of birds in the woods behind the house. I’ve rearranged my back deck and added plants out there to make it an extension of what has become my refuge. I’m writing away and more relaxed than I have been in years. To tell you the truth, I didn’t realize what a bundle of nerves I had become.* That didn’t help my writing one little bit. Yes, Virginia, a woman needs a room of her own and this woman seems to need a whole house!**

*Please keep my Dad and the rest of my family in your prayers. He’s gone to live in a memory care facility in sunny Florida (and it is truly due to him and his kindness that I am able to pursue writing right now at all). Thank you and God bless you!

**Living in a house with other people makes it very difficult for me as a writer. Or even as a person. I thrive on seclusion, solitude, peacefulness. Einstein was able to think in the midst of chaos; I’m no Einstein and I tend to shut down. I see this trait of mine as a flaw. But it’s there, nonetheless. I do like to go out into the world and see friends and explore. But how I love to turn away from all that and run back to my little refuge with no one talking at me or yelling, allowing me to have a thought and follow that thought wherever it may lead without losing it the second after it began. Hopefully this will mean less spinning of the wheels in my head and more getting this rough draft actually and finally written.