Some Routines for One’s Routine

A possible bad thing about getting a new computer is losing some writing in the process. I discovered last night one of my unfinished stories—novelette, I intend—is missing. I still have the old hard drive; so my computer expert will just have to retrieve it for me. It pays to keep a hard copy of everything and it probably is in my hard-copy filing cabinet. If so, I would rather retype it, possibly revising as I do so, than have the computer gone for a day or two. This is a new Dell which I like, but I’m still trying to get used to a wireless mouse purchased on Thursday. It wants to fly off the monitor. I practice using it by means of solitaire. I’m improving.

Solitaire reminds me: when you are at your computer and writing from the heart, perhaps shedding tears for a moment, don’t jump up too quickly when you finish the touching scene. You could have a heart attack. Sit there another five minutes and play solitaire till you are a bit calmer. Another good idea is to have some icons for especially chosen comfort “items” on your desk top that you can bring up with two clicks. I have two of these on my screen: a photo of my fifteen-year-old granddaughter, Piper, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia. I seldom see her and have not seen her since her mother, my daughter, Susan, died in 2006. But Piper’s darling face on the monitor is so much like Susan’s, it is a comfort. It’s amazing to look into her chiseled features and know she is fluent in the Japanese language and has been since before first grade. At age three she began attending a Japanese school in Atlanta and in order to stay in the school, she had to become fluent in the language by the time she entered first grade. Her older brothers had a similar program but in French and Spanish. France, Spain, and Japan are countries that Susan worked in as an international fashion model. She loved languages and she must have learned more of each of these as her children learned them.

The other calming icon on my desk top contains the Twenty-third Psalm, with artwork. Reading this is an excellent way to begin one’s time at the keyboard. After two days of glorious summer, today is dark. rainy, windy, a great time for writing. With these yellow walls, Piper’s face, and the 23rd Psalm, the weather outside is of no consideration. It can be summer in what I write.

♥