I was feeling out of sorts today and not so engaged/enamored with writing so I said screw it and spent the warm, late July afternoon hiking around Fort Snelling and Pike Island here in St. Paul. I went alone, with my camera and some water for company, and spent three hours tromping around. I encountered only one human being the entire afternoon but did meet an entire family of turkeys (two adults and a dozen turkey kids-it was a true mutual surprise occasion), a deer, two woodpeckers, a squirrel, and four bad ass river geese. I read somewhere that being around trees is good for your health and it was nice to hear the wind whispering through the forest canopy. The summer wildflowers were amazing and smelled so sweet and fragrant.

Honestly I’m not feeling my usual writerly drive at the moment. I started and stopped a pair of novels and don’t feel inclined to edit the novel that needs editing. All my ideas seem…stupid? Yes, stupid. Stupid and not worth a whole novel treatment, that’s for sure. Maybe it’s the summer doldrums or maybe the doldrums are just in my heart. You can’t start a fire without a spark…right?