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What crossed my path were cats of black,
Whose paws left in my mind no track.
Beneath the ladder steps I went,
And walked on through without repent.
I cracked my mirror into three;
A thing like this won’t bother me.
My ceiling sees umbrella tops;
It’s best to not get wet with drops.
I don’t skip cracks in old sidewalks,
But mom is stronger than an ox.
At risk of sounding double-faced,
I guess there’s always “just in case.”
But there’s no time on Earth today
To waste on silly games we play.
So you can see that I don’t care
For superstitions—or their fare.Happy October! I wrote the above poem, “Superstition,” almost 25 years ago today as an assignment to write a rhymed poem in tetrameter (da-duh, da-duh, da-duh, da-duh).
In addition to the fun of Halloween and the beautiful colors and crisp weather of the autumn season, I have a lot of reasons to celebrate this month. It is the month of my wedding anniversary (Happy Anniversary, Adam!) and it is also the anniversary of my new writing endeavor!
It’s hard to believe that an entire year has passed since I took the full leap to follow my dream of writing this book about “Gram.” I officially left my health and wellness ministry position at the end of July 2021, but my boss at the time (Hello, Mark!) had asked me to stay on to help with communications projects until his retirement in October. And of course I agreed!
When I left, I thought I would have a full manuscript drafted in a year’s time. Unfortunately, writing a little more than 14,000 words is a far cry from a completed novel!
My husband was quick to jump to my defense a few days ago when I started to get really down on myself for not having written more by now. He first pointed out that my word count is the “net” number after lots of editing, which I do every time I sit down to write. (I can’t help it—I must tinker and fix!) And in true Adam-fashion, he made some quick calculations, factoring in the overall percentages of time required by the research and business aspects of writing, and determined that I am exactly where I should be in my writing journey.
No matter how he drew this conclusion, in the end I was comforted, and I once again believe this project will be completed in my lifetime.
One undertaking that will surely help boost my word count is this year’s NaNoWriMo!
NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, challenges newbie writers and seasoned authors alike to write 50,000 words of their project in the 30 days of November. Published authors give (written) pep talks, and participants can receive emails with tips and other encouragement. Writing 50,000 words in 30 days means I will not have time to edit anything, so I’m psyching myself up to write with wild abandon!
Based on my current pace, a 50,000-word goal is probably out of reach. But I will consider this challenge a huge success if it causes me to get back into a regular writing routine. When I first set out, I was putting pen to paper every day (or fingers to keyboard, if you will). I miss that structure! NaNoWriMo is a great opportunity to build good writing habits, which will be especially important as we get into the chaos of the holiday season.
So, please be thinking of me in November!
I will be thinking of you in the coming months, and I pray that you and your loved ones have the happiest of holiday seasons!
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or send me an email reply to let me know what is happening in your world.
Thank you for being with me throughout this adventure!
I’ll leave you with a Halloween-inspired cartoon that I hope you enjoy:
Until next time,
Patty
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