Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, March 12, 2024, or: Grappling with Florida’s DCF, Burning My Bridges, and Emotional Turmoil Were Not Conducive to Writing Yesterday

Late Morning, Tuesday, March 12, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Hi, everyone. It’s a lovely – if perhaps nippy – early spring day here in eastern New Hampshire on this second day of the workweek. Currently, the temperature is 38°F (3°C) under sunny conditions. With the wind blowing from the north-northwest at 7 MPH (11 KMH) and humidity at 44%, the feels-like factor is 46°F (8°C). Today’s forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 47°F (8°C). Tonight, we can expect clear skies and a low of 22°F (-5°C).

Dealing with Florida’s DCF, Burning My Bridges, and Emotional Repercussions

Yesterday, I planned to work on Scene Seven of Reunion: Coda’s 13^th chapter, but because I have to go to Health and Human Services for a scheduled meeting regarding my application for Medicaid and SNAP (food assistance) benefits, I had to spend much of my time to let Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) that I am no longer a resident of my home state and that I need a written statement that my case with DCF is closed. I needed my friend Patti’s help for two reasons.

First, even at my age (61), I get easily rattled when I must deal with anything bureaucratic, at least when it comes to state and federal government agencies. (Academic bureaucracies…such as those I dealt with in high school and at Miami-Dade Community College back in the day…they made me nervous on occasion, but not as much as government agencies.)  I’m hard of hearing, as well, so whenever I must talk to anyone – bureaucrat or friend – on the phone, I get extremely nervous.

Second, even though I have a MyACCESS account with DCF, the website is not easy to navigate, and for some reason, I couldn’t log on with the user ID and password I have stored on Chrome. Thankfully, Patti was able to log me in on her phone. She did all of the “type your information” crap on her phone, and then we spent over an hour waiting for a human at DCF to talk to about closing my case and asking them to send me a confirmation email so that I can prove tomorrow that, yes, I no longer have Florida benefits, and that I need New Hampshire ones.

Not only did this process, which I acknowledge is important, cut into my writing schedule, but It also left me feeling extremely sad and agitated. I’ve known ever since I arrived here that I’m not going to go back to the Sunshine State any time soon, and that the political and economic situation there – as well as my family issues – prevented me from even thinking about returning to Florida. But…it still hurts. Florida was where I was born in March of 1963, and as you know, I was never expecting to move to New England…until I had to.

On Writing & Storytelling: A Bump on the Road to Chapter Seven

Sadness, frustration, bitterness, and homesickness are not conducive to good writing, so even though Patti left sometime after 2:30 PM and I could still have worked on Scene Seven, I was too upset to even think about my novel. I wanted to work…I find that focusing on Reunion: Coda keeps the “bad thoughts” in my head at bay. Plus, despite what some people have said about me to my face, I am a writer. Writing is my passion. It’s what I’ve wanted to do since I was 10 or 11 years old. And, sometimes, I even think I’m pretty good at it. So, when I don’t write, I feel awfully depressed. Like I’m letting down my late mom and those friends who are living who believe in my ability to tell stories.

Blessedly, thanks to my friend (and Beta Reader) Denise Longrie, I did get to work on Reunion: Coda in the late afternoon/early evening shift. It involved, naturally, the editing and revising phase of Scenes Five and Six rather than starting Scene Seven (the final one in the chapter), but some work is better than no work at all.

Aww, this was so sweet and so heartbreaking. I enjoyed it.

Denise Longrie, Beta Reader Comments

I’m not going to give you a detailed account of my late afternoon rewriting activities; it’s almost time for my midday break, and I’m sure that folks who aren’t into the nuts and bolts of writing fiction will not find such a tale to be interesting. I will say that Denise liked what she saw for the most part –  Aww, this was so sweet and so heartbreaking. I enjoyed it. – and caught some minor goofs that got past Word’s spellcheck feature and my own editor’s eyes. She also made a few suggestions, mostly about rewording a few short passages slightly, some of which I followed up on right away, and others that I’ll consider seriously.

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’re already familiar with my workday routine. For new or infrequent visitors, I normally write these blog posts in the late morning, then take a two-hour “lunch and rest” break around noon. I then resume work – exclusively on the novel – between 1:30 PM (if I get restless during my break, anyway) and 2 PM and stay at my desk until 5 or 6 PM (and sometimes even later if I’m feeling inspired and can’t stop writing).

My plan for the day, then, is to work on Reunion: Coda. Whether I end up writing fresh copy to begin Scene Seven or working on revisions and edits, I don’t know yet. It depends on how I’m feeling when I get back to work after the break.

Well, like I said, it’s getting late per my schedule, so I’m going to leave your company now. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.