Musings & Thoughts for Saturday, August 19, 2023, or: Weekend Update, Part the First

Late Morning/Midday, Saturday, August 19, 2023, Lithia, Florida

“August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born. The odd uneven time.” ― Sylvia Plath, The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

Hi, there, Dear Reader.

Well, here it is late morning on another steamy late summer day in the Tampa Bay area, where the sun is shining and the air outside is sticky with subtropical humidity. As I begin writing this post, the temperature is 88°F/31°C under sunny conditions. With humidity at 63% and the wind barely blowing at 4 MPH/7 KMH, the feels-like temperature is 96°F/31°C. Today’s forecast calls for a high of 93°F/33°C, which means the heat index will be in the low 100s/low 40s.

Yuck. Late summer in Florida sure isn’t as pleasant as it used to be.

To Write or Not to Write, That is the Question

Today is Saturday, so technically it’s my day off from working on Reunion: Coda. And part of me – okay, most of me – wants to take the day off and rest both my mind and body from the various challenges and stresses that come from writing.

As of right now I don’t feel particularly tired. I slept relatively well last night; although I did wake up earlier than I would have liked, I am not exhausted like I sometimes am when I rise unexpectedly before dawn. I had a decent breakfast, and I made two cups of coffee, so the power of caffeine is still with me.

In theory, I could take a couple of hours off from writing – this blog post counts as writing, even if it’s not for immediate financial gain, it does earn ad revenue – and then work on the manuscript for at least a while to make up for yesterday’s “on account of weather” stoppage.

In practice, however, do I want to shut myself in my room and type several hundred words on the rough draft’s Word docx. file on a day when I can just take it easy and not catch all kinds of flak for not writing?

Right now, my answer is “no.”

I didn’t wake up this morning with any fresh ideas for the novel or any particularly interesting bit of dialogue to give any of my characters. No spark of creativity…no particular bit of inspiration has struck my imagination on this torrid August Saturday.

So, just like last Saturday, my options for today are limited to:

• Watching one of my movies or TV shows on physical media (DVD, Blu-ray, or 4K UHD Blu-ray)
• Reading one of the many books on my To Be Read (TBR) stack
• Listening to music (either on Amazon Music or one of my CDs)
• Gaming
• Working on the novel, however half-heartedly, on my day off

As of press time, I haven’t a clue. I’ll decide after my midday break.

Anyway, it’s now a bit past noon, and the temperature has risen a few degrees since I began this post, so going out for a walk is not in the cards. I do, however, need to wrap this up so I can rest my eyes (they’re tired) and choose what to do with the balance of the afternoon.

So, until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.