Fall Distractions

My day started off very productive. Before 11am I had applied for a job online, put out my daily blog post, done a little PR email for my book signing this Saturday, and spoke with my publisher about loose ends. I even managed to spend an hour or so splitting wood. It’s that time of year again, but I’ll save that for Friday’s post.

I was so pleased with myself I decided instead of lunch, I would go out for a fall “walk-about” with Night. My human riding partner has had her own share of distractions, but was available at noon.  We rode down the road, keeping to level footing. Traffic is a relative word when you live out in the country.  That said, our road is a cut-through for lots of drivers from other towns. They careen around the narrow corners, and though I can hear them before they can see me, sometimes there is no safe option, short of jumping down into the woods. We figured this time of day would be safe and it was, except for one driver.  I yelled as he appeared and waved my arm to indicate SLOW DOWN (idiot was assumed, but not said.)  He was distracted and didn’t slow until he was almost past us. Later, we were turning onto a dirt road when he came back and stopped. “I’m really sorry. You were right I had no idea how fast I was going.”

Dumbstruck I struggled to acknowledge his apology and explain I live, ride and walk here and too many drivers have been really discourteous. He smiled and drove away and I thought, yes, it does feel OK to admit a mistake.  There are people who do get that.

From there the day went downhill rapidly from a focus-perspective. I got home and was checking emails, returning phone calls and working on ideas for blog posts. Creatively, I am stumped, so I wandered down to the kitchen to get a drink. Well, that lead to “what shall I cook for dinner” and a quick perusal of the freezer was depressing. As if to echo my sentiments, the fridge did that loud, resounding THUNK it has been doing on an all too regular basis lately.  OK, it’s empty anyway, why not give it a good defrost and cleaning? I hauled the coolers out of the garage for the meager amount of provisions, unplugged it and decided to let it sit.

So while it sat, I brought my laptop down to the dining room table and looked for inspiration to write. Everything that came to mind required photos that live on the desk-top machine upstairs. Run back up, transfer photos, back to the laptop. The breeze was lovely and the colors rich. Fluffy clouds collided on a fall-blue sky. That reminded me that the bees are out of water.

I grabbed a water bottle and headed out across the yard. Leaves have started to come down and are crunchy. Somewhere nearby, a neighbor was burning leaves and I caught a heady whiff. The bees are not happy with the mouse guard I’ve installed. They are cranky and wary.  This is the time of year other insects will come in to rob the hive, not to mention the mice who are now banned by the guard. My lovely golden ladies know everyone represents a threat to their existence.  How do they know this when none of them were alive at this time last year?

Back in the kitchen I look around. What was I doing again?  Oh, yeah the freezer project…

My Cranky Bees