On Walks, Metaphors for Writing, and Mile Markers

on nature walk April, 2017

"When you're writing a book, it's rather like going on a very long walk, across valleys and mountains and things, and you get the first view of what you see and you write it down. Then you walk a bit further, maybe up onto the top of a hill, and you see something else. Then you write that and you go on like that, day after day, getting different views of the same landscape really. The highest mountain on the walk is obviously the end of the book, because it's got to be the best view of all, when everything comes together and you can look back and see that everything you've done all ties up. But it is a very, very long, slow process." --Roald Dahl

A long walk as a metaphor for writing a book? Perfect--especially for a those of us who thrive on walks and writing. Thanks, Mr. Dahl for the analogy.

Blogging is a bit like taking that long walk, too--all those steps (posts), vantage points (exploring so many subjects), rewards (friends and encouragement), and results (accumulated writings you wouldn't have otherwise). And then one day you look back and say: wow, look how far I've walked! 

This just happened to me. I blinked and realized my last post was number 400. How did that mile marker almost slip past? Sure didn't know starting out where this hike would take me :-) 

Any mile markers come along for you recently? What metaphor would you use for writing a book?

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At the Lake, with Quotes

Lake Cumberland 2016

"The enormous lake stretched flat and smooth and white all the way to the edge of the gray sky. Wagon tracks went away across it, so far that you could not see where they went; they ended in nothing at all." --Laura Ingalls Wilder, Little House on the Prairie, Chapter One

Well, our recent journey was not in the winter as was Laura's nor to Minnesota, and yet our tracks did take us to a lake that stretched far and to a destination that offered new and memorable experiences: Kentucky's Lake Cumberland. This is where we went for a 'mini-vacation,' kids and grandkids all in tow. We did most of those things you do when you go to a lake--fishing, boating, swimming, hiking--but mostly it was all about good family time and beautiful sights and sounds. Sharing favorite snapshots along with accompanying quotes. Hope they brighten your day as the trip did ours.

"Instructions for living a life: Pay Attention. Be Astonished. Tell about it." 

--Mary Oliver, from her poem 'Sometimes' 

" 'Now shall I walk or shall I ride?'

   'Ride,' Pleasure said;

   'Walk,' Joy replied." 

--W.H. Davies, Welch poet

"The sky is the daily bread of the eyes." 

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, 

somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. 

Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be." 

--Anne Frank

"Never be afraid to sit awhile and think." 

--Lorraine Hansberry, playwright

Where is your favorite place to sit awhile and think?

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October Morning Gallery

We took a walk this morning, hubby and I, to the top of the hill beyond our house. We do this a couple of times a year, different times, different seasons. Thought I'd share pocket-sized views of October from over this way. It's been a beautiful day.

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." --Ralph Waldo Emerson

"The poetry of the earth is never dead." --John Keats

"To me a lush carpet of pine needles or spongy grass is more

welcome than the most luxurious Persian carpet." --Helen Keller

"Climb up on some hill at sunrise. Everybody needs perspective

once in a while, and you'll find it there." --Robb Sagendorph

"The world is mud-luscious and puddle-wonderful." --e.e. cummings

"Truly it may be said that the outside of a mountain is good for the inside of a man."

--George Wherry, Alpine Notes and the Climbing Foot, 1896

"Nature is the art of God." --Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, 1635

"Nature is a writer's best friend." --Agave Powers

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Have a great rest of the weekend! Hope your pockets are filled with beauty, too.

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