Like a writer

My plans for the month of June

Woman Writer sitting at a desk with papers strewn around

The last couple weeks have passed by in a blur. Sometimes I’ve been holed up in my room with the blinds closed and a lavendar filled eye pillow over my face, wondering why I needed another nap and why was my head pounding again. Other times I’ve been watching youtubers and knowing that I was just wasting time. I call it my percolating time.

In a week I’ll hit my eight months with a new kidney. I’m trying to adjust to the Las Vegas heat of the last three days, just like the other seniors in my building, I’m dragging when I try to walk in the early morning. I’m dragging when I walk to pick up my mail. Temperatures of 106 degrees outside even when we are in air conditioned spaces makes the air around us feel heavy.

But even through the excuses, I’ve managed to do my writing excercises. I describe an object every morning— priming the pump is the expression. Do any of you know how to prime a pump anymore?

In my early teen years, I grew up in high desert that was very isolated. It took 3 hours to drive to the nearest town on mainly dirt roads. During the spring rains, we wouldn’t even leave the property for a few weeks because the mud was so thick that if you drove over or walked over it, you could get stuck. We would put boards on the ground so we could get to the animals—cows, chickens, and goats—so that we wouldn’t be carrying an extra 4 inches of mud, which was damn heavy.

My dad replaced the old hand pump with an electric pump for the cistern because priming a pump took a lot of effort and time. First you would pull the handle up and begin pumping up and down several times until you started to hear it creak. If you want to know why the old farmers and their children had such great muscled arms, you should try it. (Insert laughter here) I’m very sure you won’t find one of the old pumps anymore.

Then you would make sure the pump had a bucket in front of it. Finally after several minutes of trying, water would gush out with each pump. When you stopped and put another bucket in front of the pump, you would have to pump a few times to get the water going again. Electric pumps are so much better.

Eventually we had to put huge 50 gallon barrels in the kitchen because of an unfortunate accident. A rodent slipped under the cover of the cistern and died in the water. It made the water taste bad and we didn’t even know what it did to our insides. We left that place when I was almost fifteen.

Anyway my mind has been focused on healing and it’s like that original pump. It’s taken me days, weeks, and months to prime it. Lately though I can feel the sluggishness get a little more flowy. I’m finding it easier to write poetry and song lyrics than stories..

PLANS FOR JUNE

So this is where I get down to business. I do have a few things I’m doing.

1. I’m teaching two mini-classes a month in my writer’s group.

   We have a small core of people who are always there. We do writer’s sprints, help each other out with stories, and do mini lessons. This week I did a lesson on similes and metaphors. Both of these are interesting and important in writing poetry, song lyrics, and even stories. It is one of the ways I prime my pump.

2. I’m writing song lyrics and editing my old lyrics.

   In the past I wanted to be a song writer. My life diverged from that path, but with AI music, I’ve been able to blend my lyrics with it and create some interesting songs.

3. Youtube channel: I will debut a music channel soon. I’ve made a banner and I have a few blended songs ready to go. What’s stopping me is that I’m learning how to put the songs in a video format. I will probably have to find a tutorial for this on Canva. Below is the banner I created on Canva for the channel.

Banner for Youtube music channal using Canva.

In between all of this, I have to make sure I’m taking my pills on time, taking daily walks, and eating right. I cook most of my food and rarely eat processed food.

My days are full, especially when I run out of energy.

Wish me luck.