How do you make time for writing?

/ Katie / 23 Comments

This is something I’ve been struggling with lately. My days have been filled with meetings and phone calls, my evenings with emails, and my competing priorities – all important, all very loved and in some cases personal projects – have been keeping me busy. In the middle of all of it, I’m finding it hard to carve out real, significant time to write.

Case in point: I’m writing this on a Sunday night and scheduling it for Monday morning, when I’ll be on the road for several hours.

What to do?

I’ve played with schedules, with different ways of making and looking at to-do lists. I’ve tried mornings and evenings. I’m sort of at a loss, and while I AM getting my writing done, I’d just really like to get my arms around it better.

So, readers and writers, I’m curious. How do you make time to write? How do you balance life’s busy-ness and actually get words on the page? I’d love to hear your techniques, your ideas, your advice…

I’m not pleading for help or anything, but, you know, never hurts to have good tools in the toolbox. 😊

Found Friday #28: Redbud in Bloom

/ Katie / 9 Comments

Are you tired of my posts about spring and blooms and blossoms yet? Because I’m not! I just can’t seem to get enough of the spring.

Today, I thought I’d share some pictures of our redbud tree.

They grow all around the village, but I’m really happy to have one right in my front yard. And it’s putting on quite a show this year.

I grew up seeing the redbuds bloom every spring in southwest Virginia, so it almost feels like having a little piece of home here in the NOVA.

And, fun fact! A couple of years ago, I learned that there are white redbuds trees, too!

Beautiful in every color.

Memories of School Picture Day(s) (A Poem)

/ Katie / 14 Comments

“Smile,” they said,
and I did,
crooked.
“Your eyes are closed.”
Unsurprising.
“We’ll try again,” they offered,
which was kind
all things considered,
especially the line that day.
What can I say?
I’ve never been what they call
photogenic.
I’m good with it.
I hear a picture’s worth a thousand words,
and well,
pictures of me
will certainly
get you talking.

The Garden Path (A Poem)

/ Katie / 8 Comments

There’s something magic,

isn’t there,

about a garden path in spring?

Always worth the following,

I think,

if only to see where it leads.

Or even just the slant of the light

along the way,

just right to make

the everyday

extraordinary,

and the ordinary

enchanting.

Found Friday #27: The First Apple Blossom

/ Katie / 18 Comments

I’ve mentioned a few times that we’ve been planting some fruit trees over the course of the last couple of years. Just apples and cherries for now, but we’re hoping to eventually add plums, and maybe peaches, as well.

In the meantime, watching our mini-orchard grow and change has become something of a pastime for us. This week, Graham snagged a picture of our very first apple blossom.

Isn’t it lovely?

Our trees are just babies right now, but eventually they’ll grow. And then, I’ll bake all the things.

A Foggy Morning Hike Through a Hidden Gem

/ Katie / 25 Comments

*This post is a little shorter than I’d initially planned. I had my second COVID vaccination yesterday, and today I’m feeling a bit under the weather. (It was worth it. I’d do it again. I’m so grateful and relieved and happy and hopeful, and I can’t wait to hug my vaccinated friends and family. I’ve missed hugs.) Now, with that out of the way…*

I’d mentioned in a previous post that we want to do more hiking and get outside more this year, and I’ve featured one of our hikes already. Here’s another.

On Saturday, we pulled ourselves out of bed at 7:30 in the rainy, foggy morning, and made our way to a beautiful hidden gem.

I suppose there are lots of people in the area who’ve visited Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve before, but I honestly had no idea it existed. I’m so happy that’s changed!

It’s an amazing, quiet place with lots of native flora. I kept having to stop and take pictures. It was just so lovely.

It’s bluebell season here in Virginia, and I can’t get enough of it. They’re so vibrant – purple when they’re young, and then their signature color as they grow and bloom.

The hike itself was low-key and easy. The rolling hills weren’t difficult to manage at all, and the scenery was distracting enough that I probably wouldn’t have noticed anyway.

Next time, I think we’re going to try something a little more challenging, but for now, I’m so happy to know this place exists, and I absolutely plan to go back.

Ode to Beer (A Poem for National Beer Day)

/ Katie / 13 Comments

Did you know there’s a National Beer Day? I didn’t, but I do now. And yes, of course I’m celebrating. Here’s a silly poem to prove it.

For you, O Mighty Brew,
libation of
fierce warriors
and
humble monks
alike,
we celebrate this day.

Quencher, and friend,
foe, and consoler,
partner in pleasure,
in sadness,
and (sometimes, perhaps) in crime
(we won’t speak of that now…),
you are a time in yourself,
a moment of fizzy bliss,
of foamy joy.

You, Oh Ancient Potion,
are powerful, potable,
volatile magic.
You make us brave
(but foolish).
You make us wise
(for a while).

To you, I tip my hat.
And then drop it.
Thanks for that.

An Old Song for the New Season

/ Katie / 3 Comments

It’s been a while since my last music post, so I thought I’d share this bluegrass tune today. It’s one of my favorites. I always think of this song as the seasons change, and it’s in my head now, looking out at the blossoms and the newly green grass.