Winter Blooms

It's a cold, cold week, isn't it? All over the place I'm hearing about schools closing, pipes freezing, and freak cold fronts sweeping the nation. It's mighty cold here - I've taken to knitting socks like a madwoman to keep my feet warm - but it's *only* about 5 degrees colder than normal. 

Even so, that's still pretty darned cold, plus we've got that smog to contend with. Luckily, I planned ahead for this. Around Christmas, I bought an amaryllis at the grocery store, and it's just now coming into bloom.

And, drumroll please, this is the first year that I've forced narcissus on my own. Some people hate their cloying smell, but I love it. Whenever I catch a whiff when I walk by them, I think of springtime. And how could you not love these sweet little blooms?

This one just coming into bloom now, and I've got a whole army of pots that are in various stages of getting ready to bloom. Hopefully they'll see me all the way through these cold January weeks.

How are you keeping warm?

Desk Friend

I work in an office that doesn't have much of a view of the outside world. Even if I could see outside, there wouldn't be much of nature to see - just some trees planted in the sidewalk that always make me wonder how they manage to survive. So I decided I needed a desk buddy, and this is it. (There's actually another one too - I rotate them between the office and home to make sure they both get enough light.)

It Gets Better

It's been a good day. Like so many writers, I have days where the words flow from my fingers, the ideas swirl around my head faster than I can get them out, and I'm a storm of wonderful productivity. Then there are days where I mean to write, but can't, or don't. Then there's guilt and wondering whether I'm cut out for this.

Luckily today has been one of the good days. I wrote all morning and even lost track of lunchtime. Maybe it's the sun, or the weather starting to clear up. I've been very hopeful today, which is always a good thing. And there have been so many empty days before this one - it feel so good to get caught up.

One thing I've been doing to keep the creative edge up is to take a picture a day. I'm keeping a folder on my computer of hte whole year. It helps with keeping track of memories and is an exercise in honing my photography skills, but it's also a great writing tool. Have you ever thought, That dinner the other night was great, I should write a blog post...but crap, I don't have a picture! That sort of thing doesn't happen anymore. I haven't lost myself behind the lens of the camera like I was afraid I might. Instead, I'm enjoying it, and looking forward to a year of memories without the long dry spells.

It feels great to be so productive, but somebody's not happy about it:

Odie just wants to play! Don't worry, pup. It gets better.