Tag Archives: spring

Writing Life: Procrastination? Who,me?

©2014 by Raymond Alexander Kukkee   [caption id="attachment_2622" align="aligncenter" width="326"]Wait a minute... Wait a minute...[/caption]   Procrastination?  Who, me?  I'm reluctant to admit I've been procrastinating. Procrastination is not helpful in the writing life.  Perhaps we could soften the guilt by calling it a mandatory sabbatical of sorts.   I like the comfort offered by that concept, a self-induced stress-relieving sabbatical.  At least that's the excuse reasoning I am tempted to  use, since I habitually and stubbornly resist believing in or admitting to suffering from the writer's block that other, better writers curse  wail about upon occasion. There's always something to write about, I happily tell my blank screen. The cursor blinks, and the empty coffee cup is reminding me there is much going on in the world, many Incoming bytes,  major world events of late,  curiosities,  mysterious fireballs in the eastern sky of Canada, commercial airliners missing for almost 3 weeks with hundreds of passengers missing without a trace, endless war in Syria, Russian expansionism and the invasion of the Ukraine Crimea—let's call it what it is,  but  I'll get to those later, I'll just get up and fill the coffee mug once again before I get on with it. And have lunch too. Procrastination, who, me?  Wait, I'm back, but I  just remembered I better go walk the dogs too, you know those loyal, patient companions of mine,  a.k.a.   T.T.T. (Tilly the Tall) and E.T.S. (Ebony the Short).  Before committing to any serious tapping away on the keyboard, that is. As an aside, the keyboard on my Gateway laptop  has  letters worn invisible. It also proudly displays a physical dent worn into the space bar where the thumb reminds the text to move on. Questionable Querty  (Q.Q. for short)  no  longer displays any indexing bumps, they're worn right off of this seemingly inferior keyboard too.   That sucks for a busy writer that touch-types. To avoid having to look at the keyboard and revert to hunt and peck,  I cleverly installed  fuzzy thick stickers on those two keys ('F' and 'J' , I'm guessing, it's so long since I saw them )  instead, problem solved. Whilst procrastinating, we wouldn't want to have to be slowed down by hunting and pecking for 'F' and 'J',   for 'D'  and 'E',   and 'S'  and 'L'   and a few others now fading fast,  never mind the space bar which editors seem to want to break off of my keyboard anyway. I have to wonder why. No matter, at least those two keys now type warm, fuzzy stuff. I wonder, perhaps all of the keys should have fuzzy stickers on them, would that make everything come out warmer and fuzzier? On time?  Even distractions and product failures can end up warm and fuzzy, or at the least, offer that illusion. We're procrastinating again, see what happens? Do you procrastinate? How does it affect your productivity?  Do you enjoy your comforting, stress-reducing sabbaticals?   Let's try hard to avoid procrastinating in the future, wait, want a coffee?  How about a nice walk out in that fresh air that's supposed to be spring-like?   Procrastination? Who, me? We'll be catching up next time...after the sabbatical and a snooze, that is.   Is that Incoming I hear? +  
Posted in Humanity, Life, Reflections, The Human Mind, Uncategorized, Writing Life | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Think Squirrels and Nuts

© by Raymond Alexander Kukkee [caption id="attachment_1466" align="aligncenter" width="584"]Squirrels stick out their tongues at Bad Weather Even Squirrels stick out their tongues at Unnecessarily Bad  Weather[/caption] Today, May 6th --it is finally warming up. Sun's out!  Imagine that! It's been a long, cold spring here in Northwestern Ontario. A major snowstorm on April 12th, and more snow, repeatedly, after that. Unusual to say the least.  Enough already?    Even the wildlife has been complaining about it, only showing their bird-seedy-sunflower-loving beaks and tender noses on even  the best of the worst days. Cabin fever.  A distraction may help. Think squirrels and nuts. Squirrels and nuts. Chant now, 'ohmmmmmmm....ohmmmmm' , got it? Wildlife is smarter than we are; they bunk in for the duration, while we humans look about with wary eye, frowning and thinking and finally admitting this weather is just plain miserable, unusual, bitter, unnecessarily cold, crappy and un-Canadian.  Bite 'yer lip and get used to it, Jack,  think squirrels and nuts instead. Hm..thinking about it,  according to the photo, even squirrels stick out their tongues at unnecessarily bad weather. [caption id="attachment_1467" align="aligncenter" width="584"]Winter Hood Ornament Hood Ornament Waiting for Spring[/caption]     Do squirrels, chipmunks and birds know something about weather we don't? They are incredibly clever, after all. For example in early autumn they snitch all of the nuts from the trees very neatly--and usually just a day or two before we decide the nuts are ripe enough, full kernel,  delicious and well worth  picking.  We rarely stand a chance. That would be with both wild hazelnuts and acorns.  We make excuses.  Squirrels and nuts go together, after all, should we complain about that? Maybe we should just pay more attention to their skill sets,  think squirrels and nuts.   "We are immensely clever, after all..." [caption id="attachment_1470" align="aligncenter" width="584"]We are immensely clever, after all... We are immensely clever, after all...[/caption]   "And we know how to help ourselves We even climb down wires into the bird feeder.  How about that? We like the chopped apples and bread bits and oh, don't forget those delicious sunflower seeds too....hm....." [caption id="attachment_1471" align="aligncenter" width="584"]Down the wires and into the Bird Feeder is easy... Down the wires and into the Bird Feeder is easy...[/caption]   "And we're just waiting for  maple sap to start running in this young sugar maple tree, kids, over here, over here!...." (Check this out.....maybe there's something to this after all,  the squirrels are way ahead of us...again... think squirrels and nuts, and maple syrup....) [caption id="attachment_1472" align="alignleft" width="584"]Inspecting the young sugar maple trees for sweet sap Red Squirrels inspecting young sugar maple trees for sweet sap[/caption]     "Are we smart or not?" Hmffjmm..hm.. it seems so.  Maybe there's a genuine lesson here for all of us human types...think squirrels and nuts...squirrels and nuts.. think about it...and the sun is shining too.... ommmm....ommmmm....ommmmmm... Coffee, that ought to do it...   #   Is that Incoming I hear?   Photo credits: All photos  ©2013  wlk photography    
Posted in Home & Hearth, Life, Nature, Reflections, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments