21 Stories and 2 Moons, apparently
Back in the middle of August I started this very ambitious project to write and post 21 new short stories in one month, between two full moons. At the time I was staying at my son's house and spending my days babysitting my two year old grandson. I didn't expect to be leaving there or doing anything other than babysitting and writing until my Fall teaching job starts back up the week of September 12. Uh... woops!
A week and a half into the project my plans got turned upside down. I was suddenly not at my son's house any more and I was also not spending my days with my adorable grandson. What I did end up doing lead to more frustration, more distractions, and generally less energy to pour into the stories I wanted to bring to you. (You may wonder how it's more distracting when not babysitting, but you may recall that I said I was only spending my days sitting on the baby. Now I have distractions 24/7.)
When I started this project, my biggest fear was that I would run out of ideas for stories before the month was up. That was not a problem at all. The more I wrote, the more ideas bubbled up. As a result of that combined with the constant distractions in my life right now, I have four stories partially written on my hard drive right now, plus a bunch of other ideas that are percolating in my brain. So, I've decided that I'm going to keep plugging on.
For the next two weeks I will be house sitting for a friend in Moscow, Idaho, which is perfect since my Capoeira classes start back up this Saturday at the Spectrum II dance studio on Main Street. (If you are local, I want to see you there at 3pm! Your first class is free!!) By the time my house-sit is done, the Palouse Ice Rink will be opening for the Winter, and I'll be back to coaching full time.
In the meantime, you will get a story inspired by a lecture by Paul Stamets and another inspired by the experience this week of helping my friend pack her father's apartment and move him into a rehab center after a heart attack. There's a story about lovers who are destined to meet, and how we have to be open to synchronicity for the best things to come together. Another story that I've been working on for pretty much the whole month is about a woman I met in my son's neighborhood in Walla Walla. She's a sweet old lady with a fiery soul. I think you'll like her.
There's another couple of stories that started brewing in my head last night, in reaction to the death of my sister-in-law Eleanor Wall on September 12. One of them will be my take on the love of my brother for his wife of nearly 33 years, and another will be about sorting through my emotions on the news of her death. She had been sick for a long time, and had out-lived the predictions of her doctors over and over again. Even at the end she managed to turn "any day now" into over a month of additional moments with her kids, her grandkids, and her husband.
I am thankful for the Eleanor-shaped memories that created in the lives that she touched, and I dedicate this second month of the 21 Stories project to that memory.
The stories so far:
