Thursday 1 December 2016

The long and winding road of recovery...

I’m still in recovery with my three best buddies and unable to spend long periods of time at the computer. Dictation has been the way that I have managed to keep up with the daily emails and communication. While this feature of dictating to my phone has been helpful in the day to day repartee, it’s not as easy for me to craft a story that way… 


As such, I’m in still in the process of working on the finishing updates to Resonance, our letter K; and now, this month’s Love Wins character. We’ll be ending the year with a being whose existence is antithetical to the traditional species I write about which are vulnerable or on the brink of extinction. Rather, December’s Love Wins being is more like a character from the reels of a creature feature… 

Be sure to check in on winter solstice for the update to Resonance and on New Year's Eve to meet our letter L in No Love Lost… 



Tuesday 1 November 2016

Full Circle


I've been recovering from a concussion for over a week now. It’s hard to have one’s routine and process interrupted in such a way that it affects one’s creative method. I’m used to writing through the keyboard. I’ve never been one to dictate, but since looking at a computer screen gives me a headache at this point in time I am required to adapt to a new way to record my ideas and thoughts.

I remember as a child I relied on keystrokes and keyboard shortcuts for my digital work and play. One day my father came home with a mouse. I vowed I’d never use it. Well, I broke that vow and I adapted to the mouse in concert with keystrokes. I am still wary of touch screen laptops though as a result of my digital imaging background. The thought of fingerprints obstructing a clean view of my imagery makes me cringe. Now I am faced with the new adaptation of dictation. It seems that the words have always flowed more effortlessly through my fingers than through my voice. However, I have no choice and will have to practice listening to my stories and thoughts out loud rather than through my inside voice, which leads me to my experiences from yesterday…


On my way back from my doctor's appointment I walked by the lagoon hoping to see the salmon run. Although I'll be out of full force commission for the next two weeks my doctor recommended that I extend my walks and keep to low-key activities. I had heard about the yearly journey of these determined swimmers but had never managed to catch their passage in time. It's fascinating to think about what goes through the minds of the Coho and Chum as they return to spawn. It always looked exciting in pictures and so I thought I'd make the effort and take my walk along the causeway where the upstream expedition begins. I find nature to be a calming force and so this seemed like an ideal low-key activity that included my prescribed walk. 


As I stood on the walkway with the ducks and geese, I watched the gulls along the edges of the bridge. We both seemed to be hoping to see fish fly up from the water on their fatal mission. I saw one giant Chum struggle against the current but no airborne Coho soaring up the fish ladder. But sadly, the reality is also that some take a dead end path and may not even complete their journey. While I initially walked away saddened by that thought, it wasn't long before a couple of heads bobbed up in the distance that made me smile knowing that a different cycle would be completed by those that took "wrong turns"...


And so, although I was equally disheartened by my doctor's revelation in the delay of my full recovery I'll head his prescription and speak my thoughts for now. I’ll look forward to catching up with Love Wins in December. Until then…



Friday 30 September 2016

Resonance

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment, and in retrospection…” Anaïs NIN

K is for...  Resonance at Love Wins for September. 

A prelude... 

Please be sure to come back as I add more over the month of October about my beloved feathered letter K...

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