Sorry I’ve been missing in action for the past couple of weeks. It’s been an incredibly hectic
time. But now the journey has ended, the boxes have been unpacked, and we are settling into our new home in the South Carolina Low Country.
And today is my birthday. A biggie, too – the Medicare Birthday. Got the insurance card to
prove it. But what I feel is young.
As I write this, I’m looking out at a vista of towering cedars that ring the perimeter of our court.
Old desk, new view. I have been off autopilot and long to stay that way, taking in the sights
(loons diving in our lagoon, Spanish moss draping the trees), sounds (frogs outside our bedroom window at night) and scents (the aromatic fragrance of burning wood).
I hope I never get used to this wonderful place.
And being new makes it so easy to be gregarious – to greet strangers, ask questions, introduce yourself. I’d lost that kind of spontaneity before the move. People here seem warm and friendly, even though practically everyone I’ve met is from someplace else. Maybe the Low Country does that to people – draws them out. Or thaws them out.
So these days I feel mindful, engaged and open. I’ll try to sustain these qualities and bring them to my writing. I finished the first draft of my new thriller, Tell On You, before I left New Jersey. It has been patiently awaiting my attention while I’ve been gadding about and gawking at loons and egrets. I hope I can bring fresh, open, young/old eyes to the manuscript as I work on revisions. Because change can be glorious.
Happy birthday!