Editing creativity’s spark

You know those Monday’s where the day starts off rough (forgot to set the alarm?!) and you know you have a list of things to get done? But you forgot to write a sticky note with said list or at least a hint of what you wanted to do. Rewrites are like that.

I took last week off to focus on my other writing. Too many times it never made it on that sticky note of things to do. Or it always seemed to be the only item not crossed off and then (horrors), the sticky note was thrown away. That last, of the last, item still not crossed off.

My New Year’s resolution (or one of them) was to be more intentional with my blog this year. (This topic jogged my memory and I remembered a resolution, yay!) Being intentional, I mean as, don’t forget to write a post or to write several short ones in advance so I wouldn’t have to think about it during the busy seasons (like planting or harvest). It’s okay to write a few in advance but it got to (last year) where I felt I was skipping out on my own passion for writing and taking the ‘easy’ way out and not being real, in the moment, with life. And the agriculture life doesn’t sit still either, the farmer or the plants. I decided that a week off from blogging was in order and to be intentional (for the moment at least) about my other writing.

Rewrites are hard, scrapping some of my favorite or most-attached-to moments. Sometimes the muse, or creativity, takes a leave of absence. And the process goes something like this:

With creativity out for coffee and back who knows when, the back-to-the-drawing-board moments get real; usually with complete minutes of time with… nothing. How to jump start that creativity? Maybe jumper cables? Hmm. Maybe a little too electrifying for my taste. Coffee just makes the floor tap, I mean, my feet tap on the floor. Chocolate is a distraction unfortunately. The crackling wrappers and the plain, absolute goodness of great chocolate, you see how it’s a distraction; especially when the bag is mysteriously empty. Silence is golden but sometimes suffocating. And it begins to echo in your mind, definitely drowning out any possible creative thought. The radio lures you into singing along (in this case, Christmas carols or songs). Print-out copies are a blessing. You can scratch out lines, write ideas, and scribble arrows to move sentences (or whole paragraphs!).

Turns out just me looking at my own work wasn’t enough. The whole sentimentality thing is a strong force; plus, who doesn’t think their story is awesome? (Just maybe not in the original, original version.) My critique group is awesome! I’ve learned to better switch between artist/creator and the rewrite/editor mode. Critique groups are the mirror of truth. Many a fun word like ‘rakish’ has died one tap of the delete button at a time, sadly. However, their comments only help me shape it into the story that I’d envisioned in creativity’s spark. Paring words down like peeling an apple is truly an art; much like peeling an apple with one long, curly peel. Too easily do I get caught up in the miniscule details and drawing back to look at the story from the outside is the challenge.

So rewrites, while difficult at times and a crazy, rollercoaster ride of fun and inspiration at others; are positive change. Unless it ends up being one of those rare moments of deleeeeeeeeete; everything gone and a blank page staring back at me. Ah well. Clearly that spark of creativity was weak.

May your week be sunny, the candy canes sweet and the eggnog rich.

What no one tells you about the holidays

Clearly a big little snow

The holidays aka Christmas are a time of family, shopping, baking and radio stations stuck on repeat. There’s snow, maybe some big snowmen and ice skating. And there may or may not be hockey (typical winter sport right?).

What no one tells you about the holidays:

                Snow, no snow, big snow, little snow

                All the cleaning!

                Don’t lose your kittens

                Eating too much good food

                New Year’s resolutions are right around the corner

Okay, so December typically has snow right?! We had some snow but a warm snap melted most of it. I got so excited last night that there was a big snow system on the edge of the radar and coming our way. This crazy thought popped in my mind that I should prolong the blog writing until morning and post some good snow photos too. Yeah… that didn’t quite happen like I’d thought. The snow this morning was a little snow, mini snowflakes that danced and leaped as they fell from the foggy sky.

While I was anticipating the snow hubs was eagerly cleaning the house. Now, this phenomenon had started while I was finishing harvest in SoDak with dad. I don’t know how to explain hubs’ atypical behavior other than he likes things organized and tidy. Now when I say hubs was cleaning, I mean he was digging into closets, sorting through the cupboards (lucky for him, I’d been waiting for such a time to get rid of a few things) and prowling the garage. He even sorted through the unending collection of jackets he collects, much like those ball cap collections every farmer has. 

No, he didn’t even glance at the closet that holds his zippered hoodie jackets; claiming that he’s always cold so he has to keep them.  You’d think I’d asked him to shave an eyebrow from the look he gave me. Ah well, he was so industrious that I couldn’t force a downsize on those hoodie jackets. He and Scooter quickly volunteered to take the new donations to the local thrift store; he even cleaned the shop (!) and took a truck load to the dump and recycling center.

All his hard work and energy was repaid with a new rawhide and those bacon jerky strips he loves. Scooter never passes up opportunities for treats. Hubs got an apple pie and homemade whipped cream.

Farmer modified, forget the hand crank bolts

Don’t lose your kittens. I know it’s hard because cats are difficult creatures to herd and they’re always right there to trip you up on the pretense of showing affection (and leaving hair on your pants). The middle of the week was a beautiful day, sunny and warm, above freezing in other words. So he decides to let the kittens out of the shop to play outside and sunbathe. At lunch time he comes in with a worried look. He’d lost the kittens. 

Three of these kittens we’d gotten young and had to bottle feed them. The other two had only been with us a short month. After all the hard work and time we’d put into these little buggers we didn’t want them to disappear on us. Hubs and Scooter, who was a terrible tracker with his nose, tramped the wind break for an hour before finding the kittens. Kittens who were happily playing in a set of tires stacked behind the machine shed. Scooter, the silly pup, didn’t see them until hubs pointed them out. Crunchy leaves, sticks and trees oh my were apparently such fun to tramp through and pounce on. Herding cats are tough but hanging on to squirming kittens with claws is a challenge.

Chow time is the war for food

As with any holiday, good food abounds. It seems as if there’s always a turkey or ham to be found and the traditional accompanying sides. If you’re really fortunate though, there’s lutefisk (boiled, not baked, to perfection) with melted butter to drizzle over it, perhaps rumegrot (a warm, sweet custard), lefse (a delicate and thin potato bread that’s spread with butter and dusted with cinnamon sugar; and maybe a few non-standard cookies like krumkake (a rolled, fluted almond flavored cookie) or rosettes (a delicate, deep-fried cookie and gently doused in sugar for a frosted look). I do miss lefse as the one attempt (so far) to make it gluten-free was a dismal failure. It ended up more like mini pancake sizes than the big pizza pan size, before it’s folded and cut into smaller serving sizes. I steal a bite from hubs when he gets a piece.

Scooter watching tv & the dog in the movie

Of course, the New Year and typical resolutions quickly follow the Christmas holiday. But does anyone really think of their resolutions (current or new to come) during the holiday? I know I don’t. I usually forget about whatever I had resolved to do by March. Unfortunately that elephant-like memory kicks in January 1 about what my previous resolution was. Usually it’s a good effort on the ‘x’ resolution; I can’t even tell you right now what this year’s is. Maybe it was a resolution not to have a resolution. An easy win, eh?

 

May your holiday shopping be enjoyable, the presents hidden (or under the tree), and your snowman building skills on point.