mother-writer, writer-mother

sunrise: 5:12

I thought it might be cool if we hit a date that exactly matched the time of sunrise, but we just miss.  Today, 5/11, the sunrise is at 5:12.  Tomorrow, 5/12, it will rise at 5:11. 

That's only in my location, of course.  If anyone feels like checking their own - go the US naval observatory website.   You can type in your state and town, or zip code, and you'll get your own sunrise/sunset chart.

Here's the last I'll see of the morning moon for a while.

Someone asked me the other day, "So how is the writing going?"

"It's great!" was my immediate reply.  But I think they were asking about my book, which is fairly often on the back burner.  The fact is, I have created a writing routine which is hugely satisfying (this blog), and I have a writing job which offers credibility, some obligation, a public platform, and flexibility to write more or less depending on my week (examiner.com).  I have lots of ideas about writing and I've been able to follow up on them, time and again.  And I have put out more submissions to magazines in the last few months than I have in the last couple of years.

T. has one month of school left, and A. was here for a couple of days this weekend/early week.  Part of my goal during this transition from full time mom to full time empty nester was not to lose track of the full time mom part too soon.  There have been times when I have not succeeded that well.  I really took pause a few weeks ago when T. told me one of the reasons why she does not want children (an assertion she has made for as long as I can remember, so this was not a new idea).

T. wants to do creative work along the lines of writing and production.  "...and I'm always annoying you when you're trying to write," she said.

Yikes.  That hit me pretty hard.  So I'm trying to back off the sighs when she interrupts me at work.   I am not into the guilt thing and do not like the fact that she's feeling it.  And part of my job is to help her know that she is valuable, interesting and worthy of attention.  On the other hand, I don't mind her seeing the model of a mom with other meaningful work to do, and the discipline to do it.  It's always a trade off.  There it is, again and again - balance, balance, balance.

In any case, I plan to turn my heart towards its first deeply meaningful profession for the next month, and just string along the writing part as best I can.  One last month of school mom to go, and I don't want to fritter it away.

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Clara sniffed out another critter in a tree.  I thought it was a porcupine at first,

but it was, instead, one of our favorite creatures on earth. 

a raccoon.  looking rather concerned up there in a tree that was, luckily, just over the electric dog line.