Chuckles aplenty . . . thanks Maxine!

I don't know why this cranky old broad appeals to me so, but she always makes me smile. Here's one to kick off Halloween week.

Things aren't always what they appear . . .

SIDEWALK ART . . . WHAT'S REAL AND WHAT'S NOT!

I tried to be terribly creative and ground these images to how I work as a writer. The whole 'words are big and needed to be reduced to size to fit our page', or 'this is how I feel when I write my characters into a corner and need my muse to throw me a life-line', etc. But how about this . . . I simply love sidewalk art. It speaks to the artist trapped inside me -- the one who will never get free because I can't draw a straight line without the help of a ruler. I'm always in awe at the images folks can create with a box of chalk and an load of imagination.

So in the end: Enjoy the talents of the artist below. I did.

Snap shots

Sorry to have been out of touch. My family is experiencing a state of emergency, and I haven't been by the blogs in awhile. Promise to do better.

However, I went through one of my 'many' journals yesterday and found a great writing exercise.

Snapshot!

Now, it can be done with any of our senses, but the point is to take a moment -- one that you're experiencing -- and list sights, sounds, smells, . . . well, you get the picture.

Two years ago, my son was admitted for an emergency appendectomy. They sent us home, then he developed complication and we returned to the hospital for another 72-hour-stay.

While all was quiet and my son was sleeping, these were the sounds that surrounded me.

Wheels on the floor -- gurneys, trays, and monitors.

The steady slap of tennis shoes against the squeaky clean floor.

The rise and fall of voices.

Clattering of metal trays.

The ever-persistent beep of the IV units. The occasional squall of an IV alarm when the bag empties.

The quick squeak of voiced announcements over the PA system.

The humming trill of the nurses' phones.

A child's protesting wail.

A toddler's piercing scream.

A muffled moan of pain

The ripping of plastic bags as syringes, medicine and needles are feed.

An occasional laugh.

I discovered that hospitals are anything but quiet and still. Constant motion, constant noise.

Observations are the basis for a good writer.
Exercising those senses is necessary to be a great writer.

Take a snapshot today and tell me what you saw, smelled, heard, tasted or felt.

It's raining today. Can't wait to get out on the porch for a little cool weather. Maybe I'll take a snapshot there.

~Until later,
Sandra