I’m approaching this post as I do my writing these days: without a plan in mind, I just sit down in front of the keyboard and continue.
Taking a break from the Christmas list, I wonder whether to write about the holidays, which reminds me of the first line of a Dickens novel…or whether to write about something other than the holidays. I think about what I’d like to read myself.
One of my favorite books ever is Light Years by James Salter. It was published in 1975, and I read it for the first time in 1990. One of my favorite (maybe my favorite) quotes in the book is this:
Life is weather. Life is meals. Lunches on a blue checked cloth on which salt has spilled. The smell of tobacco. Brie, yellow apples, wood-handled knives.
James Salter and his wife Kay wrote a book together that was published in 2006– Life is Meals: A Food Lover’s Book of Days. The entry for December 18th is on dining rooms. Apparently Thomas Jefferson used the State Dining Room in the White House for his office and let his pet mockingbird fly around. I remember I used to let the kids play ping-pong on our dining room table. You can still see faint ping marks.
ping pong?? my my….what a fun moma!! 🙂
I always enjoy writing the most when I write without a plan. Even with editing and re-writing I try to lay the footwork down without a true plan.
I much prefer writing this way. It becomes a process of discovery and full of surprises. And I didn’t really think the marks would be permanent…
Life here at the moment is candlelit and cold and smells of pine. Much better than this afternoon when it was filled with traffic, angry drivers, and the smell of exhaust fumes.
Hope you have a lovely holiday. I look forward to another year of your wonderful blog posts.
Candlelit and cold and smelling of pine–lovely. I look forward to more of your wonderful comments, and I hope you have a great holiday–full of delicious smells.
How lovely to follow Darrelyn’s link here . . .
Kate, welcome to Catching Days. And thanks for taking the time to leave a comment. I hope you’ll be back.
Cynthia, it’s been too long since my last visit. I was away in London & Edinburgh & just now picking up life again. I know that whenever I visit here, there are treasures to unwrap, as it was in this, “Life is weather. Life is meals. Lunches on a blue checked cloth on which salt has spilled.” Thank you for the poetic sharing. Happy holidays to you & yours. 🙂
Terresa, so so sorry to have missed your lovely comment here. I appreciate it now even more as I try to pick up life again after the holidays and residency in Vermont. It’s calming to read Salter’s words again as I feel life swirling out of control.