The weeks news. Dinner with friends, and more of my scattered thoughts
It’s been a quiet week up here on the mountain, so quiet, in fact, that there’s really nothing exciting to write about. We are now in a holding pattern, between the last hurrahs of summer and the death grip of winter.
The lovely wife and I had a dinner invitation this past week at a couple’s cabin near ours. They bought the land a few years ago, built a small cabin, complete with an outhouse with a real flush toilet, sink tub and shower, along with a fire tower where they like to sleep, looking out over the town below them. Mike and Dru only come up occasionally, staying for a few days before heading home. They’re, roughly, our age, and from the first time we met them, they have become good friends. We will miss them when me move, but have promised to stay in touch.
While talking with Dru, I mentioned that I didn’t know what I was going to do with my blog site once we no longer lived off grid, she told me that I would think of something. I might write about writing, maybe even throwing in a few blogs about model railroading. Who knows, the possibilities are endless. Towards that end, here’s my first attempt at something besides life off the grid.
I am a reader, and as such ,I have read many different genres, ranging from the classics, science fiction, fantasy, as well as writers such as Robert Fulghum, Richard Bach, Ernest Hemingway, and more. I have even read two books by George Carlin, and some of the musings of Garrison Kellor. Like many, I have enjoyed the different writings of each, though many authors of a hundred years ago or so can be very hard on the brain, the language they used far different then what we use today, and can put a strain on the most fervent reader. However, what will future generations think of our written words in a few hundred years time? What we wrote in the latter part of the last century, and the beginning of this, might just give future readers the same headache many of us suffer through now reading the old writings.
Many readers wish they could write, as I did. I just took that step because, damnit, I had something to say, and it needed to be put down on paper. So, I wrote, first, a book about my first year in my off grid cabin, then a few children’s books, and then a book containing many of my short stories. I have many other things written, in many different stages of completion, and with any luck, they will see print before I leave this world.
I have learned a lot about writing by reading many of the authors I have mentioned, and as a result, my writing style has improved greatly over the years, and it will likely continue to improve until they shovel dirt over me. Even then, I might be trying to finish one last book before the headstone is put in place. Because, let’s face it, writers are never satisfied with their work, even after it’s on the printed page, claiming that there was room for improvement. “I think, therefore I am.” Wise words, but I would add, “I write, therefore I am as well.”
That’s all the news for the week. Bye for now.
