Good morning, Everyone.
It is a beautiful day in the Hilton Head neighborhood. If we were having coffee together, I would catch you up.
Matt and I traveled back from Florida to Hilton Head on Tuesday. We visited with my parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for the Super Bowl weekend. We also got to see hometown friends who live in the area. The east coast of Florida is lovely in February. As you would expect, my clan is drawn to the sea, so the Intracoastal and ocean views from the condos ground our souls. We did get to go fishing. Somehow I lost a pole to the briny deep. I am still baffled by it since the fish we were catching were too small to keep.
My parents and their contemporaries move slower and cautiously. Their conversations have turned to walker accessories discussions and the value of afternoon naps. These are the same people who packed picnics for a beach day that could have sustained a brood for a week. They repaired boat engines while underway, competed with each other in creative diving off of roofs overlooking the canal and bulkheads (and encouraged us kids to follow their lead), and played pinochle all night. Crazy.
If we were having coffee together, I would tell you how happy I was to return to Hilton Head and have my two-year-old grandson burst through the door and jump in my arms, shouting, “Nonny! Nonny!” I was soon covered in snotty kisses. This snowbird experiment has been magical by being able to spend real time with my grandkids. I am not going to think about it ending in three weeks.
If we were having coffee together, I would complain a little about the editing process. I feel I need to sequester myself for a solid week to pay attention and analyze the flow of the story, my characters’ transformations, scene setting and plot authenticity, and sentence structure. I am lucky to get a two to three hour stint in at a time. Early mornings are best. Other writing projects need attention and time, like the Weekend Coffee Share, a newsletter (UH! I didn’t get January’s out), and then fitting in writerly readings and craft practice. My attention is constantly pulled in dozens of directions. Don’t get me started on national and world news and worry. The day quickly fills up with have-to-dos involving meal planning, laundry, keeping the little apartment tidy and clean, and want-to-dos like beach walks, picking up the kids in the afternoon, cooking for everyone, reading stories. Fatigue hits at sunset, which is funny to me since, in my not too distant past, night time was my time to write at a somewhat fluid pace.
That’s enough lamenting. I’ll get what needs to get done done. I always do.
Big thank yous go out to Ecelic Ali for keeping the Weekend Coffee Share up and running.
Have a good weekend and week, Everyone. Make it great.
Antoinette Truglio Martin is the author of Hug Everyone You Know: A Year of Community, Courage, and Cancer. The memoir is a wimpy patient’s journey through her first year of breast cancer treatment.
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Love reading these posts Ann!
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Love having you as a fan!
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Florida weather would be lovely. Good like with your sequestering plans for the week, I hope it goes well. Have a great weekend. Thanks for the virtual cup.
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I love when you talk about your parents, Antoinette. They are an amazing couple.
My husband’s and my conversations now frequently include the value of an afternoon nap. Glad that we are in good company.
Good luck with your writing. I admire all those who have the dedication that book writing takes. Doing a single blog post usually knock me flat out. Thus the value of an afternoon nap! 😀
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😄
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Glad you enjoyed Florida! It is sort of hard to watch our parents age, I think. My mom and dad, being of totally different mindsets, are both greeting it differently. Best of luck with the editing.
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Hello Antoinette.
Knee deep in the details of producing a great story I see. I think you must be in your element and, unless snotty kisses from grand kids are available, you’d likely be doing nothing else.
Oh, and about that now submerged pole, I’d weave a story about how even when you were baiting for something small you managed to hook something epic and your equipment was just not up to the challenge.
Must have been startling, but hopefully funny so some degree.
Blessings.
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Antoinette, Your fishing pole may still show up somewhere, likely a find for someone else. Too funny, on how the fish were too small. Your words about your parents and their contemporaries are very poignant. It is good to remember who they used to be. I try to remind my children how their grandparents were not always old. Nice to catch up, Antoinette. I am sure I would enjoy coffee with you.
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Thanks for reading. I still don’t believe my parents are old.
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It is always good to be return home and get into routine again.
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Sorry to hear about your pole.. Maybe you’ll find it later, washed up on the shore?
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Oh, I am so with you on the editing. There never seems to be time to do it, but it needs to be done so bad! Oh well, maybe tomorrow, right? Have a great week!
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