Musings & Thoughts for Monday, April 1, 2024, or: Weekend Update, Part the Second…and a New Workweek Hath Begun

Late Morning, Monday, April 1, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Hi, there, Dear Reader. Well, here in Eidelweiss District – the neighborhood where I now live in eastern New Hampshire (or “Almost Maine,” if you prefer) – it’s a nice early spring day. Currently, the temperature is 46°F (8°C) under mostly cloudy conditions. With humidity at 34% and the wind blowing from the north at 6 MPH (10 Km/H), the feels-like temperature is 55°F (13°C). Today’s forecast calls for partly sunny skies and a high of 57°F (14°C). Tonight, we can expect partly cloudy skies and a low of 30°F (-1°C).

Weekend Update, Part the Second: My Restful Sunday

Although I did some chores in my office and bedroom yesterday, Sunday was far more restful than Saturday. I didn’t work on Reunion: Coda, for one; I worry that I’m not making as much progress on my first novel as I would like, but I also need to rest. I turned 61 last month, and I don’t have the stamina to work on one thing for more than four or five hours a day regularly. I get tired, both in my mind and body. I’m also still adjusting to living in a rural environment far from the two cities in Florida that I called home for 55 years; that, too, is enervating at times, especially when I’m scared or frustrated.

So, yep. I rested.

I tried to vary my leisure activities somewhat, although without much success. In the morning, I tried out one of the Star Wars Blu-rays (the “regular” high-definition disc with Star Wars: A New Hope, AKA the original 1977 film with its last George Lucas tweaks) on my 50-inch 4K UHD TV. I didn’t watch the entire movie. I just wanted to see if I could watch it without my glasses (which I’ve misplaced). I’m nearsighted, and I was afraid that I would not be able to read the subtitles if I watched Star Wars (or any movie, really) late at night with the sound turned down. To my satisfaction, I discovered that I can.

And even though I did not watch Star Wars all the way through, I still got an endorphin rush just from watching the first 20 minutes, especially the opening sequence with the 20^th Century Fox logo and fanfare, the “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” card, and the title crawl accompanied by John Williams’ magnificent “Main Title/Rebel Blockade Runner” musical cue. You might think it’s “stupid” or “childish,” but that brief glimpse of my favorite film brought me joy.

As for the rest of my Sunday?

I did what I usually do on weekends when I’m not stubbornly working – in some fashion – on the novel: I spent time – too much time, I think – on social media, listened to music on my Amazon Music app, watched several YouTube videos, and played several sessions of Regiments, this time on Medium difficulty level (after almost two years of playing the game, I thought it was time to up the ante a bit).

At night, I broke out the new frying pan that I bought at Hannaford on Friday and made “breakfast for dinner” – two scrambled eggs with two sausage links. I would have added English muffins, but I didn’t feel like using the oven again, so…. After that, I surfed the Web a bit more, then retired to my bedroom to watch Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit until I got sleepy and turned it off.

On Writing & Storytelling: A New Workweek and a New Month Begin

Well, today is Monday, which means it’s a working day for me. I hope that I will produce new content rather than have to settle for “editing and revising” when I return to my desk after I take my prerequisite midday break for lunch and relaxation. I want to get on with Chapter 14 and “push the story” closer to its conclusion, but sometimes Calliope, my Muse, is in a generous mood, and sometimes she’s not. I’ll find out soon enough when I come back, fire up Word again to open the .docx file with the manuscript, and stare intently at my computer screen, hoping to get some inspiration for Reunion: Coda.

To quote the 1980s Polaroid commercials with James Garner and Mariette Hartley: “We’ll see what develops!”