Saturday, December 13, 2008

New Day #352

I'll be honest, this project has me worn out. As inconsequential as some of these new things have been, having to do one a day often feels like some kind of fairy-tale punishment: the unsatisfied writer wishes for something new every day and then is trapped by his desire. Careful what you wish for and all that.

Moreover, the weather here in Portland could charitably be described as Wuthering Heights.

So I woke up feeling blue and wondering why there was a mixup in the cosmic paperwork and I didn't end up with the life where "winter" is a verb, not a noun. As in "We winter on Catalina Island." In the last few days I've encountered people just back from, on the way to, or currently enjoying travels in warm climates, having adventures like swinging on zip lines in Costa Rica. Leaving me to ponder whether I'm somehow organizing my life wrong, the industrious ant constantly preparing for winter while the grasshoppers galivant about.

Still, while I'm prone to self-pity, I'm also self-motivated, so I cheered myself up by running my errands wearing a Santa hat on the entirely correct theory you can't be in a bad mood while wearing a Santa hat.

This is hardly aberrant behavior for me (as well as the sum total of my holiday spirit), so I continued scouting around for something new. And, like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, I found it in my own backyard. Or my neighbor's yard, to be precise. Inspired by his own trip to Costa Rica, Sam installed a zip line.

It's aptly named, for I did feel more zip after I sailed across his backyard. As well as a commitment to do the same off the Bridge of the Gods in Columbia Gorge this spring.

Because, fear not, I'll continue doing new things next year, but only once a week, which hopefully will free me up to be more adventuresome. Plus a new project to be unveiled in the new year.

In the meantime, just two weeks left of the fairy-tale curse.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Being one of those people who just returned (this morning) from a warmer clime (Hawaii), I wanted to cheer you up because a part of you came along with me: while wintering (for a week, at least) on Kauai, I read "Attack of the Theater People" (finally).

Please know that whenever you're feeling blue, someone out there could at that moment be reading one of your books and snorting Mai Tai out her nose as she came across the part about the "Swousers."

Thanks for bringing good laughs to all of your readers. And hey, it was a torrential downpour on Kauai the last few days, so the moors can be found anywhere.

Layne said...

FYI, it's also impossible to be in a bad mood while wearing a tiara. I do it all the time. I keep my house well-stocked with tiaras from the dollar store.

therese patrick, author said...

Wee Hee! Zippity doo dah! In a Santa hat too!