Today I’ll be driving from Urbana, Illinois to just north of Indianapolis where I’ll spend the night with my niece and her family. The drive will be mostly off-interstate. It takes longer, but it’s pretty country and there are very few trucks along the way.
The weather should be dry. That will be a nice change. Last Tuesday I made the trip from the Indy airport to Illinois in the rain. It took three hours instead of the usual two and a half. Part of that was because I took a shortcut to the interstate to avoid the bypass around Indianapolis, and I ended up sitting at a railroad crossing while the longest train in the the history of the universe crept past. Well, that might be an exaggeration, but it was a very long train.
Yesterday was a leisurely do-nothing-except-run-a-couple-of-errands-day. The high point (not counting family time) was lunch at Steak n’ Shake. We don’t have S&S in Northern Colorado, so I make it a point to make my taste buds happy at least once when I’m back home.
Mom’s parakeet, which seemed to be ailing a good part of the week, has perked up the last couple of days. Earlier in the week I was sure we’d be having a birdee funeral while I was here. Happily, she (Birdee) seems to have made a full recovery.
Can you tell I am totally not in writer mode? Even last Friday, when I was scheduled to speak to the creative writing class at my old high school, things didn’t work out. The school was operating on a shortened schedule for early dismissal, and there was a scheduling snafu that resulted in me being on a tour of the school when I was supposed to be speaking to the students. I made it to the class in time for a two-minute rapid-fire pep talk.
As I explained to my hostess, the wonderful lady in charge of alums, writers are accustomed to events, presentations, and signings going wrong for one reason or another. We learn to go with the flow, and we don’t worry about things we can’t control. If we don’t learn anything else from getting published, we definitely learn to be flexible.
More notes tomorrow, and after that I’ll be reporting about the workshop and Bouchercon.
Pat, as a teacher I appreciate your being flexible. Too many times things just do not go as planned in an educational setting, but then what can you expect when you put 1200+ teenagers in a building? : )
I hope you have a lovely trip.
Drue
Good for you! The ability to think on your feet is a wonderful asset – you’re right, as writers we often have to expect the unexpected in these types of venues. Why is it things never seem to go as planned at these events?!
Have a wonderful time!
Nancy
Had to chuckle. Only a writer can write THAT much while lamenting not being in “writer mode.” Tee hee. Hey have a wonderful trip!
The Old Silly
There’s no law (or none that I’ve heard of) that says you have to be in writing mode all the time. Enjoy the time away from the writing monster. Feed other monsters instead.
Elspeth
Blessed are the Flexible! I live by this motto.
Stephen Tremp
I found that sometimes it’s good to step out of the writing mode and just be.
It does pay to be flexible – but it is a good thing you don’t rattle easily. I’m not sure I’d have been so cool.
I think I’d have been rattled, Patricia, at the sudden change and the necessity of a quick delivery! Good for you for rolling with it.
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder