Monsoons and Comfortable Silences

Last night was First Monday for The Group. People either arrived earlier (Jenny, Shane and Ali) or later (Fleur and Mary) than usual because of a violent thunderstorm that moved through the area from about five to six o'clock. Visibility was almost non-existent. Wind and mini-rivers on the sides of the roads made driving dangerous. Most of the usual suspects showed up anyway. John even joined us for the first time.

There was the usual spate of venting and catching up with each other. Some of us only see each other at these gatherings. Jenny asked her questions. We groaned, but had a good time answering. Then we'd go quiet for a few minutes. Some would stare off. Others nodded as if agreeing with something in their own minds. But it was never an uncomfortable silence. More of a collective breath-catching.

A half-hour after closing--the people at It's A Grind are really great about not throwing us out--we issued our final challenges to each other and walked out into a damp summer evening.

Now I'm ready to jump back into HM and get to the end. How what we do leads to renewed creative energy, I will probably never figure out. But it works.

Yes, Ali, I'll work on those earrings this weekend, too.

Getting to The End

Interesting First Monday last night. There was some great discussion about Deb's book, which I've read and like, but have a hard time with all the characters at the beginning. Then we moved on to our usual format.

Deb and Jenny spent a lot of time trying to figure out how the Harry Potter series will end. I guess I'll have to read the books one of these days. The movies are okay. I'm not sure why I've resisted reading them so much. Maybe it's all the hype around them.

Someone asked me about HM. I told them about the problems I'm having with just wanting to end it even though it's far too short. Shane asked if it wouldn't be okay to write the beginning, then the end, then the middle. I don't see why not.

I think that's what I'm going to do. I have a five-day weekend to put it in practice. Maybe that will be my process. Maybe not. But I feel like I need to experiment and the first book is the place to do that.