How many distractions do mere mortals need to deal with at any given time? We just finished the Winter Holiday season; yet, how much of the fun and frivolities have already been forgotten? When do we really slow down and pay attention to the world in front of us? I’m trying my best. I am always a better writer when my mind can focus on only one or two things at a time. Like, the plot and the characters. It’s always easier to write my stories when I have a plot and some characters. Funny how that works.
Yet, it is difficult to turn on a television to check the news or walk outside my home and engage with other humans without dealing with the myriad of things that want my attention and engage in plans to distract me from writing. The list of distractions is quite long. February is quite the busy month!
First, this weekend I will be busy ignoring the Super Bowl. Yes, the commercials are funny and the half-time show can be entertaining, but I can see all that in a much shorter format after the game is over. I will hear about any scandal on the news and then go to social media to see what happened. Also, I must stand firm in my belief that Taylor Swift is not a part of any conspiracies. I think it is sad how some men get so upset by a powerful and successful woman. Watch the game if you want and get over yourselves.
This year we have both Mardi Gras and Valentines Day mixed up together. I, myself, do not celebrate Mardi Gras, but many people do. Galveston devotes two weekends to parades and parties. I have never been to any of them. Valentines Day I enjoy, because my skeletons enjoy getting dressed up in a lot of red. Don’t they look cute? My neighbors are really coming around to enjoying my skeleton displays. They may still think me odd, but the skeletons are harmless. At least they are during the day.
I don’t know enough about Lunar New year, but I enjoy the dragon dances. And this is the year of the dragon! Back in my teaching days, I always had some exchange students from Hong Kong who would give me red envelopes. I felt special and so international.
As soon as the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras are over, people will begin focusing on the Rodeo. Of course, this is always a good reason to attend parties, concerts and look at all the different animals. Since I moved to Texas back in 1979, I have been exactly twice. I just don’t have the wardrobe for the Rodeo. I have been known to squeak my way through Go Western Day once a year, but that’s the best I can hope to accomplish in that arena.
What is my favorite holiday? I enjoy any event where I can dress up the skeletons. Whatever they want to dress up for is fine with me. So far, in the month of February, that includes Valentines Day. My skeletal friends have a wardrobe for the heart day. Also, working with my skeletal friends will always remind me of a story plot or another character I need to write about. My theory here is that if I want to engage in creative writing, then it is very important for me to live a creative life. Art inspires writing which then inspires more art. It is a constant cycle. Also, artistic projects help me to focus on what I am writing and bring my ideas into my visual realm. What fun!
So I am off to be creative some more. I hope you are too.
Until next time.….….
Look! Up in the sky! It’s a bird? It’s a plane? No, it’s not Superman. It’s a kite. Actually it is a bird kite. I took this picture on a warm and windy day on top of what is now referred to in Houston as the Land Bridge. It is one of the nice spots here that gives the impression that there are people in this Bayou City that care about environmental matters. In fact there are really two land bridges that span Memorial Drive and provide a great place for walking, jogging and flying kites.
One nice feature of this area is all of the green space that surrounds it. This includes an arboretum, jogging and biking trails and picnic areas. These land bridges connect two of the largest sections of the park. Even though I went there in the middle of the day during the week, there were lots of others enjoying the space. I was resting at the top of one of the bridges when I spotted this one gentleman walking along with a kite that appeared to be taller than himself.
Since it really was quite windy, I had to watch the skill involved with flying this beautiful piece of art. As you can see in two of these pictures, he flew the kite quite successfully. I watched for a while and when I moved on, the flight of the many colored bird was still in process.
