It’s cold out—39 degrees—as afternoon glides into evening. Rainy and raw. No sunlight today. We New Englanders are used to this in April. But in August, we’d welcome a good chill, trust me!
Today is Superbowl weather for a writer. Perfect for several hours of quiet, solitude, and getting work done on several projects: an article, a book proposal, and finishing content for this website. I have too many projects to work on and I get distracted easily. When writers need to think, to strategize, renew good energy, and get back to work, it’s anyone’s guess what they might do.
Everyone is different. Some run, some garden, others will nap, a few will take a long walk, and on and on. Still, many power through and not take a break. While I wish I was in the latter category, as diversions, I cook favorites like crabcake eggs benny, but mostly, I bake. Blueberry pie, strawberry pie, lemon tart, vanilla layer cake, citrus jelly roll, carrot cake with toasted coconut, tall berry shortcake, and key lime pie, depending on the time of year. I’ve included a few pics but they were taken with my mobile, so don’t expect magazine-worthy quality!
Unable to concentrate, I made a pot of Tuscan White Bean soup. I began with a mirepoix—that classic combo of onion, celery, and carrot, and let the ingredients sauté in several tablespoons of olive oil, and an ounce of butter to help the veggies caramelize. Three cloves of minced garlic complemented the mixture. A carton of chicken stock soaked everything in the pot. One can of white beans, another of red kidney, both drained, came next. In went a half a small bag of orzo.
Once the carrots were al dente, I added chopped fresh spinach and kale and those greens softened minutes later. Finished the soup off with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a smidge of grated parmesan and freshly ground pepper. Added some saltines to the side, the brand we all recognized as kids, and I dug in.
Between spoonful’s I tallied my to-do list. Email my copyeditor friend to review updated website content to my California-based tech guru. Make sure to include everything he needs: synopses of existing books and new ones I’m working on. Finish the book proposal for the Kennedy book. Update details for the loon book. I felt like I had mental whiplash. Then finally I figured out why I’m off kilter. I must include—and he says this is mandatory—a compelling ‘About the Author’ section, and I hate talking about myself.
What if people hate my books? Or me? Seriously saying here that I’m so ordinary, who’ll care? While these thoughts were rummaging through my mind, I left carrot peels and leftover kale and spinach bits by a pine grove for meandering rabbits who visit our yard every night.
This isn’t a website for amateur cooks, although that’s what I am, but my point is that composing language takes a lot of thought and mental alignment including stern self-direction, equal parts of humility and confidence, and perseverance, something I usually have in abundance, just not today. One just can’t sit and start. Some can, but I’m unable to do so. In the end, my husband loved the soup. It was more of a minestrone, but no one complained. In fact, I had so much, I gave our Amazon deliveryman a to-go cup.
Fortified, I’m back at work and am writing after an hour’s break. Really!
Thanks for listening! Be well, Theresa
