Cassy's Corner
I have always like the fall best. It’s my favorite season. It represents to me the beginning. Yes, that sounds backwards, I understand. But, school starts in the fall. Long yellow pencils, clean notebooks, a new lunchbox complete with a thermos. There are new friends, though that was sometimes a little scary. My family moved many times as I was growing up. I’m visiting my parents right now, hence probably this wander down memory lane. My mother reminded yesterday that they’d moved 20 times. I’m not sure that’s right. I think it might be more. I moved 11 times before leaving for college. But, the moves were always in the late summer just before the fall- or start of school. So, that is the New Year for me.
My parents live almost four hours north of my own house. Four hours equals about two to three weeks of growing season. So, my daffodils are about finished. My tulips have been eaten by the deer and my grass needs to be mowed. Here, it is just beginning. The bulbs are pushing hard to break through the ground. The forsythia is brilliant.
Last week I was further west, though still north. I was in Minnesota. The climate was yet again different. Of course, you say. What a silly comment. But, it caused me to think.
I live on a lake. The seasons are clearly noted. The first goose family just presented their seven fluffy goslings. The swans are still strutting around, making us wait for what they offer to the landscape. I never know about the heron.
In our writing, we have phases. We have seasons. I know this is seeming a tad stretched. But my travel combined with the dramatic differences in the landscape really has me thinking about the influence of geography, climate, and weather on our writing.
We plan, we plot, we write, we edit, we edit yet again, and…well, we keep thinking about out projects until the next one begins. It is not unlike what I am looking at out the window. The change in what we see differs based on where we are. But, isn’t that just like our work? We have the seasons. We plant our ideas, we watch them grown, we trim and weed. Then, we hope they become their own sturdy lovely structures. And, then, we start again.
6 comments:
It's like what I was talking about the other day....setting the mood! For me, the seasons each bring a certain mood along with them. I love the seasons and often change my location of writing based on what's going on outside.
Great post, Cassy :-)
I always knew you marched to the tune of a different drummer. I can see very well your point about fall being the beginning for you. New school and all that entails. Winter is the season I dread the most. The cold. The bleakness. The emptiness. That darn snow.
I love summer. To me it represents vacations, family and fun. Since the temperature is higher(especially in Texas!!)you wear less clothes. That translates into more freedom to me.
And now I'm wondering why most of my stories are set in the Texas nippy fall air? Maybe because in my head I think of summer as being without problems, and we all know you can't write a novel without conflict.
We're already swimming in Texas, although last week I had to light the fire in the fireplace for a day or two. (Go figure.) Seeing my grandkids in the pool having so much fun with me right in the middle of them sliding down the slide as if I were still a teenager and didn't look like a blimp in my bathing suit, has got to be the greatest feeling for me. I love summer.
This Sunday is Mother's Day, and I'm so glad you are there with your mom, Cassy. Sending out wonderful wishes to every mother, sister, daughter and girlfriend out there since we all mother each other.
The kids are coming over to barbecue and swim on Sunday. How much better can it get? I'm not even going to worry that I haven't started Book 3 yet!!
Great responses, folks. I love you guys. It's interesting how each season brings on a reaction. One of the things I love so much about New England is that we have all four seasons. Though, admittedly, spring seems to come and go without any warning.
Yet, I was also trying to talk about our writing. We plant (plot), watch it all grow (write), harvest (edit) and then begin again. Sorry for the poor analogy, but as the witch hazel is leafing out my window and the few tulips left by the deer are trying valiantly to hang in there, it seems somehow appropriate to make the comparisons.
Beautifully said, Cassy. This was like reading poetry!
Spring is my least favorite season. Being from Alaska, we didn't have spring. We had Break Up. And it's just like it sounds. Winter leaves and summer arrives in about a two week period. Ice breaks up from the rivers and leaves burst out from their branches. Very dramatic. Now I have my springs in Utah and it's 3 to 4 months of drawn out misery. I much prefer the drama of an Alaskan spring to these long teaser months.
That being said, summers equate work since it's salmon season and winters are magic. A time to create. I love it snowing outside my window, a fire blazing in the hearth, and a mug of hot chocolate next to me as I lose myself either in my story or reading someone elses.
Lovely post, Cassy. May is one of my favorite months. It's magical and filled with hope.
But, I'm with you about Fall - in my mind, September starts the new year. The new school year when I was young, the new race to the holidays now. Friends are back from vacation, back to school, back to work and nature exhales a deep breath of color before going into hiding.
I truly love how you likened the writing process to seasons! The Spring of a new idea, the hot Summer of writing, the Autumn of edits, and the Winter of waiting for reaction.
Wonderful, thoughtful post. xo
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