Fun for a rainy day

Jan 13, 2006 by Naomi.

I have a notion to write and haven’t a thought in mind so I will write words and see where they go. The rain in Spain may fall mainly on the plain but it cannot possibly compare with the rain in Bellingham. Every day the rain falls, usually not in the hour I walk in Whatcom Park, but always before and after. The size of puddles on the trail do not reflect the amount of rainfall. Sometimes when it rains all night the puddles are smaller than when rain falls for a few minutes. I keep comparing that phenomenon daily and the reason eludes me. Not the reason I make the comparison, just the reason for the unexpected variation in puddle size.

Now rainfall in Bellingham must be explained. Water falls in small drops spread over large spaces. I can walk for a half hour and only get marginally wet. That may not describe the rainfall you are acquainted with. I recall being rained on while walking across a parking lot in Montgomery, Alabama. That rainfall was intense. It can only be described as coming down in sheets. Without an umbrella I would have been soaked to the skin. Come to think of it, I got soaked from the crotch down anyway. Small umbrella. Sideways sheets.

When I drove out of Houston, Texas, 14 years ago, the Texas sized deluge did not begin until I was out in the middle of an Interstate freeway during a convention of 18 wheelers and I found little consideration among them. Were my arms stiff in the time it took me to work my way to the right lane and find an exit! Yes they were! Whew! That was an experience I do not want to repeat. There have been one or two such experiences on other freeways in other states where I was able to exit in shorter order. But you know what? That was easier than driving in a blinding blizzard and I’ve done that too.

Now the point of this exercise is an illustration for wanna be writers who always ask: Where do you get your ideas? Answer: You go hunting. You find them among the cute little square blocks on your computer keyboard - the ones that have letters of the alphabet printed on them. You can use the other blocks because they are sometimes useful. I use them mostly for cuss words that explode from the mouths of uncouth characters in my stories.

Or if you are still in possession of a manual typewriter you can hit the cute little circular blocks connected to actual letters that are catapulted to the plenum and hit the paper to print the words right before your eyes. Bet some of you can’t visualize what that machine is all about. But see what I mean? A writer puts fingers to a keyboard or a pen and words come out. Frequent writers get words together that form articles and books that people pay money to read. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Try it. It really is fun.

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