What a Whirlwind of a Season!

Oh, how time flies.  If it wasn't for this heat, I could have sworn it was still March!  Maybe it was because of all the yard work I did that I lost track of time?

Yeah, maybe.  It was an everyday thing there for a while.

Yeah, maybe.  At least the yard is looking good!  I even have a tan this year!  You have no idea how weird that is for me.  My skin is fair, like, turns red at the mention of sun fair.  So, I guess that my idea of a tan may not be your idea of one, but it is definitely a huge change for me!  I can wear tank tops this year without glowing!  But the moment the outside temperature hit 90deg (Fahrenheit in case you were wondering), I was done.  The heat and humidity here are deadly.  I wish I was kidding.  For as long as I lived here, there has always been two or three, at least, news reports of some high schooler dropping dead at football practice.  Keep hydrated!  And take breaks!  This is why I am convinced I am living in the wrong part of the country.  Give me cold and snow any day!

After the heat kicked me out of the yard, I noticed that my social life became active.  No idea how that happened since I love hiding under my rock.  Maybe because of the road trip my husband and I took?  Or because my step-sister found an after-hours event at the zoo?  Or that it was my and her birthdays in June?  Or was it the traveling?  I've been on two major trips this summer (that's two more than my usual average).  Road trips don't count since I go on a few of those a year.  I guess I should define a major trip as one that would include airfare.

I feel like you want to talk about what's been going on.

I kinda do, but I also kinda don't.

Give the Cliffnotes version instead.

You asked for it.  Insert bullets!

• Yard was a disaster, after many fights with thorns and a new fear of coyotes dens (i.e. holes that you drop a foot into while mowing blind), it has been reclaimed.
• I got a tan!
• Roadtrip! Went to Stephenville, Texas for Memorial Day weekend.  My husband rode a horse for the first time.  We went to Dinosaur Valley State Park, twice.  That whole trip was full of adventures!
• Major trip one was to Lexington, Kentucky so I could see part of my sister's horse show.  The Kentucky Horse Park is massive!  And the distillery tour at Buffalo Trace was fascinating (I saw where Blanton's was made!)
• Zoo nights was a blast and I had no white clothes for the white-themed party, oh well.  It was a wine-tasting event and I somehow managed to win tickets to the Macklemore and Kesha concert that Saturday.  My husband, my step-sister, and I met up first then played a game of hide-and-selfie-seek with my sister.  That was funny, but we later found out that one end of our game she may have had a little too much to drink.  Long story short, do not pregame before going to a wine-tasting event. 
• Macklemore and Kesha concert!  It was much more fun than I expected.
• Major trip two was to Chicago.  A friend of mine, whom I have known since seventh grade, is pregnant!  I went to visit and help her move into her and her husband's new apartment since he was out-of-town due to work.  No problem!  I'm weird because I love building things and cleaning.  And if something happened to my friend, she had someone with her to help. 
• Road trip from Chicago to Lexington.  I was in Ohio for five minutes!
• Another Zoo night, rodeo-themed.  I got a free bandana and somehow managed to win, again, concert tickets.  Sugarland this time!
• Sugarland concert was interesting, but not how you would think.  The two opening acts, Lindsey Ells and Frankie Ballard, were good, but were, unfortunately, playing to a crowd who was not their target audience.  Then there was a plug for supporting a disadvantaged kid in South America.  Then there was some political stuff and my husband's and my fun were killed.
• Might go to Lexington again!

I should not have said anything, but you were right.  You have been busy.

*shrug*

However, despite all of this, you would think that, as a writer, I would have been able to sit down and write, right?  There were a lot of opportunities for inspiration to strike.  Well, two days, two days of writing, if you could call it that, was all I did.  Opened an old story and edited, then added some chapters, and changed the point of view from character A to character B for the sake of perceptions.  Okay, it was not as bad as I had thought, but two days!  Ug, I remember when I would write for days and nights on end, not wanting to sleep because I had to get the story out.  I miss those days.

I am a writer, one who has had horrible writer's block for a while, and, while I believe this is something I will struggle with forever, I have seen tiny glimmers of inspiration in the tiny details of life that have sparked mini stories to form.

While, at first, these little sparks amount to nothing major, their combined influence is significant.  I have doubted myself for my lack of creativity and loss of words.  My pen has not been moving, my keyboard has not been clacking, and my writing life has come to a standstill, stagnating in the heat begging to be refreshed, begging for water.

It was last night that I realized that I still am a writer.  I still am creative.  It has just been muted, hidden, sleeping if you will.  I had been lying in the dark, waiting for sleep, when a sentence popped into my head: "Two beasts meet on the battlefield."  This may have been from me playing Jurassic World Alive thirty minutes before, which reminds me, I should check if there are dinosaurs nearby!

*grabs phone*

You're obsessed.

It doesn't help that it is like Pokemon GO.  It is very similar, and some people say better.  And, hello, dinosaurs!

Okay, you have a point.  Dinosaurs are cool.

But you're right, I'll focus.

The image of two shadows formed in my mind's eye.  Two beasts.  Why would they be on a battlefield?  What kind of battlefield?  Were they enemies?  What were they?  What kind of beasts?  I was stuck on this for the next half hour before my sleeping medication kicked in.  At least I was smart enough to write down my thoughts, the following sentences that formed.

I was proud this morning when I woke and remembered the sentences.  Perhaps the scene that began will be useful?  Maybe it will be used in a story in progress?  Maybe it will become its own?  Maybe it will be dead by the end of the week?  Who knows?  That's the unholy fun of my writer's block!

You're weird.

Weirdness aside, the past few months have had me thinking.  Why did I start this blog?  Was it simply a whirlwind fancy?  Something to add to my resume?  Was for me to work myself out of my writer's block?  Why?  I have come to the conclusion that this blog, while it is fun to research, needs to adjust the direction it has been going.  Why not become more of a diary instead?  Show how my everyday life influences my writing?  Such as my travels, who wouldn't notice something sitting in an airport?  One of my favorite games is watching people and creating lives for them.  I did that with an old neighbor of mine too.  We hardly spoke, and he gave a vague description of what he did, so when I would wonder about who he was, silly stories popped up.

And I shall leave you with a song.  I heard it during the first concert of my summer and it was catchy!  Willy Wonka has found its way into my playlist and I love listening to it whenever I need to focus.  Enjoy!