FROM YESTERYEAR
Back in 1980 we moved back to Vermont . . . previous wife, previous life . . . we rented an old house in a town named Northfield when we first got there, but eventually we purchased a log home in East Calais.
That log home was beautiful! It was on five acres with a year-round stream flowing through the property (and a waterfall); it had a daylight basement and wraparound deck, and the whole home was heated by a big woodstove down in the basement.
Back then Vermont did not have many people living in it; still doesn’t I’m sure. And the town of East Calais probably didn’t have more than a hundred or so residents. I remember there were no street lights at all. The homes were so far from each other, most tucked into the woods, so that at night there really was no light to speak of. I could step off our porch and not be able to see twenty feet in front of me.
Now I mention all this because at night, on a clear night, the stars were vivid. There was no ambient light to ruin the show, as it were, so I swear every star in the sky was visible. It was spectacular! Of course, if we turned the porch light on, the stars were harder to see, and if we had a patio party at night, with lanterns and such, it was also harder to see the stars.
The less distractions the better!
The less we interfered with the natural order of things, the better!
Do you sense a metaphor at work here?
JUST TALKING ABOUT ME RIGHT NOW
More naps these days
I do my best writing in a peaceful setting. Too much noise makes Bill a fidgety writer. Noise beyond the acceptable level makes Bill a crazy man.
It’s just how I’m wired.
It’s the same when I’m reflecting on life, or when I have an important decision to make. Drop me down in the middle of a virgin forest and I’ll pull up a stump and solve the problems of mankind. Stick me in a crowded room, or a busy restaurant, with wall-to-wall noise, and I’ll only add to the problems of mankind.
I need to allow my senses to embrace the moment. I need to smell my surroundings, to hear my surroundings, to taste, really see, and to touch it all. In so doing, my mind is freed of chains, and I am then allowed to absorb it all and find clarity.
I don’t know how you rock n roll, but that’s how this boy enters the creative process.
A QUESTION FROM A WRITER FRIEND
On my weekly series “The Writer’s Mailbag,” someone asked me about marketing and in particular online marketing on social media. He asked if it was all right to befriend someone on Facebook in order to promote your writing.
To me no, it isn’t.
I will make mention of the new novel I’m writing from time to time, but that’s only because some people want to know about my progress made. I actually don’t care if anyone buys it in 2019 or not. I’m certainly not going to ask anyone to buy it. I write my novels because I love to write. I love to entertain people, and I love to toss out my thoughts and reflections about life in a way which is less overbearing. If people purchase those books that’s nice; if they don’t, that’s nice as well.
It’s all good, folks!
And with that I will bid you a fond farewell for this week. I wish for you peace of mind and heart this week and beyond. Treat yourself, and treat others, with compassion and love.
Bill
“Helping writers to spread their wings and fly.”
Billybuc
Aw, Bill, I loved learning something new about you here today with having lived in Vermont. In all the years I have known you I don’t recall knowing this. That said, thanks for sharing that and more here. Now, wishing you a peaceful and Happy Tuesday 🙂
Awww, thanks Janine! I loved Vermont. Loved everything about it except the twenty below temps and five feet of snow. lol
Have a great Tuesday, my friend!
I feel what you say here Bill. I also add to the chaotic state when in surroundings where many people are. Solitude is my best writing atmosphere.
Have a great day my friend.
Thanks Greg! I shall do that, my friend, and I wish the same for you.
Hi Bill – Vermont, five feet of snow, twenty below? I am looking for a sweater when the temps drop into the 60’s. As for quiet. Quiet is the best thing in the world, a luxury and few get to revel in it.
I thought that was cold for sure, Mike, until I spent a year in Alaska. That changed my definition of cold.
Your log cabin sounds like it was wonderful, and being someone else who likes quiet, I’m sure it would have been a great place for contemplation.
Thank you Andrea. I have fond memories of that home.
New zealand has some great forests and it is great for solitude and reflection. Mind you, America is great too. Peace Bro.
I would love to see those forests, Manatita! Perhaps in my next lifetime. Peace always my brother.
I have a little different take on my novels in that I have written them to share, but then to each his own, right?
Very true, Donna! Whatever works for you.
I remember when I was a kid, there used to be so much less light pollution so you could study the stars much easier. It’s interesting (in good and bad ways) how everything has changed so much with regards to human population, our impact on the planet, and even what light pollution is doing to us.
When I was in Vermont last summer, it was gorgeous! It still felt “East Coast” to me, meaning it seemed crowded, relative to the space available. I say that because I spent the first 21 years of my life in Colorado and moving east was an exercise in getting used to a lot more people and more “squished in” land. It brought a whole new meaning to what “wide open spaces” meant to me.
Less interference of the natural order of things. Yes, please. Yes, that. Have a wonderful week, my friend. This hurricane thing is going to make life interesting later this week…lol
Lil Sis, stay safe. I’ll be singing a silent song of hope that you all make it through this storm with no harm to you. Hugs from Oly!
Bill
It’s really good to get to know you a little better. I think I’m wired differently to most writers in that I mastered the art of ‘shutting off’ in a crowd sometimes, I just don’t know when I first did it!
Yes, I like peace and quiet, but when I’ve got an idea for writing I just can’t let go, even in a crowd, and even at work I’ve been known to retreat to that ‘inner place’ to write when bedlam’s breaking out, but that’s me, and as my family used to tell me, “When God made you he threw the mould away!”
Unfortunately, it does have one drawback, I can get so lost in things that time disappears (and so does sleep).
Lawrence, it would be wonderful to be able to do that. I am severely limited in time and place, needing quiet to write or even reflect.
Bill, your home in Vermont sounds glorious. Imagine having all that nature right on your doorstep. I’ve always felt that Mother Nature has it all worked out. We just need to get out or her way and let her get on with it.
You have a great week, too.
Thank you Zulma! That’s true of almost everything I am involved in which gives me trouble. I just need to get out of the way and allow the natural order of things to take place.
There’s nothing more magical than a star-studded sky. Unfortunately, here in Florida, they no longer pepper the sky as they once did. I don’t know if it’s due to global warming or not, but I really miss getting lost in the stars.
Your place in Vermont sounds wonderful. Do you have pictures you can share with us, Bill?
I don’t have photos of that, Sha! Those went to my ex-wife, who is now dead, so no clue what happened to them. It’s a shame because I would love to show it to everyone.
Hi Bill…
Great post as always and you dropped me into those far off places I would come alive. Often 250 miles from anyone and a place where my senses came alive just being a part of where I was.
Like you I hate noise, probably one of the main reasons I am a nighthawk at heart. It is that place in the wee hours the sound being made is the sound of the keyboard. While I was living in Calgary many years ago where houses are 4-6 feet apart. The house next door went on the market. I came home late one afternoon to find a moving truck in front of the house that had sold. I did the neighbourly thing and went and got two large pizza for the crew moving in. When I asked what they did for work I was told they were a rock band.
The next year was pure hell with them practising and coming and going all hours of the night. That constant thumping of a stereo and them practising drove most neighbours crazy. It was only through a court order were we able to have it stopped… talk about losing your peace…
Glad I moved to a much smaller town where people are considerate…
Blessings and Hugs as always.
Rolly, that would be enough to send me over the edge….seriously over the edge. And I love rock n roll!!!
Good to hear from you my friend. I really need to find out what you have been up to lately.
Peace from Oly