As I typed the word gloomy just now, the term “Gloomy Gus” came into my mind, so I went down that online rabbit hole to find the origin. What I found was fifteen or twenty entries about crossword puzzle clues. Not being a puzzle fan, I moved on and finally came to a Merriam-Webster definition. No surprise: a person who is habitually gloomy. I wanted some fascinating story about a guy named Gus!
Anyway,
yesterday was a gloomy day, with a wintry gray sky, not a bit of sunlight, and
a wicked cold wind. A day to stay inside, wrapped in blankets. I took my own
advice and spent much of the day at my desk with a woolly sweater over my
pajamas and my beloved but tattered prayer shawl on my legs. Sometime during
the night I had turned off the bedroom heater, which heats half the cottage;
come morning, I couldn’t figure out why I was so cold. Turning on that second
heater (one of those that hangs from the ceiling, sometimes called ductless or
mini-splits) made all the difference. This morning, the temperature outside is
all the way up to 37o, the sun is bright, and Sophie and I are cozy.
An
online writers’ group I belong to asks us each Monday to outline our plans and
goals for the week. For at least two weeks, I’ve brightly said I was going to
work on my Irene story-in-progress. But then I always found other, small chores
to distract me. I can’t even blame it on being semi-isolated: it was me as a
writer not knowing where I was going and not wanting to do the hard work
involved in finding out. Can you spell procrastination? The good things is
eventually I get so disgusted with myself, that I jump in and work on it. And
that’s what I did yesterday.
I
began the day with about 5,000 words written some time ago; I ended the day
with maybe 5,600, so not a big gain in words. But a big gain in attitude on my
part and, I hope, a good redirection of the story. There is a good side to
writerly procrastination. Sometimes at night as I wait for sleep, I try to
think about whatever I’m working on, or if I wake in the night and want to
redirect my mind away from an unpleasant dream. So Irene has been getting some subconscious
work but nothing committed to paper. Yesterday I made the one big plot change my
subconscious told me was needed and then moved on to make the rest of what I’d
written fit in with that. I only got two chapters done, but I think it was
because that was slow, concentrated, almost word-for-word work.
So
today I hope to do at least one more chapter. But household chores get in the
way. I have emptied all the trash and set it out for my private trash man—poor Jacob!
In a very few minutes, I will stop this and go to online church…..
As
always, especially on weekends, food is a major topic. Last night we had a
wonderful dinner—I sent the ingredients into the house and got back a plated
dinner. Green salad with blue cheese dressing, asparagus, and crab cake with
remoulade sauce. Christian did the crab cake in the air fryer (Yes, Mary D.,I
am becoming a fan) and it was perfect. MY contribution was to make the
remoulade sauce. My next thought is that burgers done in the air fryer might be
good on days like this when it is really too cold to grill.
But
today there is uncertainty. I have sent in a list of what meats I have in the
freezer and am waiting to hear. Wondering if anything will defrost in time. I
can always be happy with a can of salmon, if it comes to that. Hmmm…I do have
some remoulade left.
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