Friday, May 13, 2022

Friday Thoughts on Writing

 


Outside my window this morning layers of white and grey clouds drift inland from the Pacific, promising more rain. The garden is lush with green, but the flowers are slower to open because of the chilly spring temperatures. But wisteria hangs in fragrant clusters over the garden shed and just standing under it is intoxicating. 


Every spring I smile at the way fig trees begin to leaf out from the very tips of their branches, looking like butterflies about to fly off. 

In a writing group I belong to, the question of the month is "What writing projects make your heart sing?" I've been thinking long and hard about this topic and have come to a few conclusions. 


I love writing this blog. Few of my real life friends read it, along with a few family members, but for the most part, I've never met my readers face to face. Yet something connects us. How could that connection be defined? I'm still thinking about that one. 

I love writing about nature, and combining words with images. Not in a scientific way, but just observing the wonders of creation - what goes on in my garden, and in the geographies I visit. 

I love writing little stories about my life - short interactions with strangers, or sweet things I observe about my grandchildren.

Yesterday I went for a walk with Iris and Cora. Cora is slow to talk, but doesn't miss a beat. I mentioned the word 'park' at her house and she made a beeline for the door. Later, on the walk, she stopped occasionally to cup her little hand behind her even tinier ear as if to say, "I hear something" - a dog or construction machinery, or a bird, and she nods vigorously, and says 'yes', when I mention what it is. 

Not all stories make it to the blog, of course. I'm working on a memoir of our family's time in Ecuador. It's been derailed by teaching this semester, but I will soon continue work on it. 


I love to write the kinds of things I love to read - mysteries (they are hard to write!), poetry, essays or paragraphs about food and home-keeping, stories of the past and the present.

In my collected quotations this one, again by L. M. Montgomery in Anne's House of Dreams, where Anne is conversing with Gilbert, perhaps describes my favourite writing projects best, 

"I'd like to add some beauty to life," said Anne dreamily. 
"I don't exactly want to make people know more...
I'd love to make them have a pleasanter time 
because of me...to have some little joy
or happy thought that would never have existed 
if I hadn't been born."


I'll leave you with one last cloud of fragrant wisteria, and wish you all a lovely weekend. 


27 comments:

  1. I really enjoy your blog. I love the way your wind words together to create pictures. Even without photos I can see what you are saying! Have a wonderful weekend.

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  2. It is interesting how we connect via the blog, feel like we are friends, which indeed we are, yet have never met. I enjoy reading your bog and seeing the lovely photos.

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  3. I am happy to read you to see your family and the beautiful landscapes and nature that you have.
    You are the only one I can leave comments on some others I can but anonymous.
    I also wish you a happy weekend!

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  4. Your writings adds to our lives too! Love those blooms as well.

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  5. "..make your heart sing" - is a bit of an exaggeration.
    I agree with you about blog writing. I feel it offers me a lot: knowledge, interaction with people (bloggers), opportunity to express my views on things.

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  6. Writing mysteries, I agree is difficult. Writing groups are nice to think about joining. Maybe someday.
    Thank you for bringing back a beautiful memory via wisteria. That episode of my life faded until now.

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  7. I LOVE your blog, Lorrie! It's one of my happy places in life. And I enjoy all the many wonderful little tales you share with us along with your beautiful photos. The L.M. Montgomery quote you share at the end is a very favourite of mine too.

    Happy weekend!

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  8. I really enjoy your writing :) It reminds
    To enjoy the beauty of what I observe I my daily life ❤️

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  9. We do have connections and friendships through our blogging, I agree, Lorrie. We get to know each other through our words and photos. I love that! I wish I could take a stroll through your garden and inhale all those delightful scents. Happy weekend!

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  10. The blogging community is something that is hard to describe. It has some similarity to pen pals. You express yourself beautifully. That wisteria...so beautiful. Have a lovely weekend.

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  11. You are a gifted writer, Lorrie! Since I first discovered your blog, I have admired how you put words together in a kind of poetic prose.

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  12. I was really interested to learn that you are writing about your time in Ecuador. That is something that is so worthwhile, especially for your children and grandchildren. So many things happen in our lives that the younger generation do not know about. My paternal grandparents travelled around the world for many months in the early 1940s, but I didn't know about it until after they had gone. I came across their old photos, and really wished I could have talked to them about their esperiences and adventures, and where they visited.
    I agree with Cheryl - you are a gifted writer Lorrie.

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  13. So enjoyed reading your words and your photographs are lovely.
    Happy weekend wishes.

    All the best Jan

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  14. Your blog is delightful. I am so glad I happened upon it. It is so interesting to read about gardens far from me in central Texas, where we are suffering a terrible drought. I envy your rains and cool days….we’ll get to 100 this weekend. But I do love Texas and this is my home. But it is fun to travel briefly to visit you and read what you are seeing in your garden. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

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  15. Oh that Anne of Lucy's. What a perfect description of what most of us would hope for. Course, I do find myself wishing I could teach grammar. 😂

    I doubt that your "real" friends would enjoy your prose. Mine don't anyway. My family has been known to keel over laughing at my affectations. Your blogging friends love what you say and appreciate all your photography.

    A happy weekend...

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  16. Lorrie, I hope you will get back to writing the memoir of your life in Ecuador as I would love to read it. I think you admirably fulfill Anne's writing goals because it is always a joy to read your blog. So many times I've read a sentence or paragraph you've written out loud several times from sheer admiration of your talent. I once tried writing a mystery book that was to be the first of a series. She was a minor character in another book I was writing and I had her down pat, loved her, had the plots mapped out. Ha! I soon found out that I was not a mystery writer, even though I love reading them. I wish you better luck with it than I had!

    Best wishes in all your writing adventures from another grandmother to a little Cora,
    Dewena

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  17. Your Wisteria is to die for, stunning 💕 It’s nearly 7 years that I have been blogging and it feels great to get to know other bloggers. Thy feel almost like friends.

    It must be exciting to write about your years in Ecuador. A precious project also for your children & grands. Wishing a happy new week.

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  18. Beautiful flowers and sentiments. I know exactly what you mean, Lorrie, about your blog connecting with so many wonderful friends that you have never met! I feel the same about my blog. Very few of my friends or family read my blog, but in turn, I feel as if I have become friends with many all around the world. They have all enriched my life in many, many ways, including you!

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  19. Wisteria has to be one of my favourites particularly the fragrance. I so agree with you about blogging. It is that connection with people you have never met that makes it so special. And like you very few family or friends read it. It’s my special world. B x

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  20. Flower pics... Pure Joy.

    Your writing in your blog.... Also Pure Joy...

    Thank you and please continue.

    🌸🌱🌷🌱🌸🌱🌷🌱🌸🌱🌷🌱🌸

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  21. I love, love, love your blog, Lorrie. I enjoy stopping by to read about the happenings in your corner of the world

    So glad we connected!

    Here's to many, many more years of bloggyship!!

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  22. I agree with what has been said, that you express yourself beautifully! I've never really thought about it, but there is something to be said about writing what one likes to read. I have been going through old posts and find they are gifts to me now. There are many things I would have forgotten. Also, when I write about real life and it makes me cry, it's okay, because someone else is sure to identify.

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  23. I'm thankful we met through Blogland. I think blogging is a wonderful opportunity to connect with people with similar interests. I started my blog so I would stop boring my family and friends with my tea obsession. LOL.

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  24. Your writing groups sounds just wonderful.
    Funny, but most of my friends and none of my family read my writing on my blog. I enjoy writing it and reading what others are doing too.
    The wisteria are amazing. There is one wisteria I have been visiting this spring and can't wait for it to be in full bloom. It seems to be slow, but I am enjoying the process of watching.

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  25. This is lovely Lori. Your beautiful Spring flowers perfectly described and perfectly pictured (the sweet aroma of Wisteria will be in my thoughts all day -- it's one of the Spring flowers I miss here in Florida). But I want especially to thank you for your writing. I have thought a lot about the unique relationship we have with other bloggers. So interesting to feel as if we know people whom we've never met. It is a gift I certainly didn't expect and one I value. I love reading your blog -- and I'm honored always and a little awed when a *real* writer comes to visit mine and takes time to leave a comment. Thank you.

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  26. Lorrie, I thoroughly enjoy reading your blog. You are a lovely writer and I think like minds somehow find a way to connect. The things you write about interest me always and I am pleased to tag along with you on your adventures, even if it is virtually.

    It is beginning to warm up a bit here and things are beginning to pop in the garden, especially the peonies. Have a wonderful remainder of the week, Lorrie.

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  27. A lovely post, Lorrie. I always enjoy visiting your blog and reading your beautiful prose about your life. Writing feeds me, too, and blogging is such a nice way to connect with other writers. I am in search of a writing group that fits my schedule and that meets in person. In the meantime, it's so nice to read posts like this one, to listen to what inspires you and to hear about your works in progress.

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Thank you for your comment. I read and value each one, cherishing the connections we can make although far apart. Usually, I visit your blog in return, although if you ask a question I try to contact you directly.

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