Apathy and Inertia

I only have a few minutes before I need to leave for my water aerobics class so I really don’t have time to write this post. And I stayed up late reading a thriller/mystery by Lars Kepler, “The Hypnotist” so I don’t feel like writing or exercising. Maybe I should just go nap.

But before I give up on any productive activity today, or go back to reading the mystery, which is what I really want to do, I will mention another book, this one a friend lent to me, “Bird by Bird” by Anne Lamott.

Lamott’s a writer and a writing teacher who recounts some amusing anecdotes as well as giving tips for writing. Her main suggestion is a lot like what most other good writing instructors say, “Apply bottom to chair and sit there until you write something.”

I usually don’t have too much trouble stringing words together once I sit in front of the computer. The words may not be all that amazing. But I can run them along and then go back. The right brain is for stringing the thoughts together. The left brain can go back and edit them later. But the rest of the body doesn’t always want to cooperate and perform the hardest task, which  is just what Annie says, make yourself sit down and get started.

Exercise is a lot like that. I try to go to a water aerobics class three times a week. I love the exercise; I love the water; and I love the instructors and the people in the class. But some days I have a really hard time getting myself to the point of actually going to the gym and getting in the pool.

So, like my mental excuses for why I can’t exercise, I also have been concocting excuses for not writing lately. I think it has to do with a well-known physics principle: bodies at rest tend to stay at rest.

I’m going to now go and see if I can overcome that principle and put this body in motion. I hope to be able to do that more often with my writing too. See you in the pool or on the blog.

Post Derby Reflections

Hope you will excuse the blog-lag of late. But in Louisville we have been celebrating, or shall I say enduring, what's known as Derby. And that's not just the first Saturday in May. Derby events go on for weeks before hand. Then we need at least a week to recover. By that standard I'm a day early in posting.

Seriously, I did not engage in Derby activities for all of the several weeks. But it's true I needed almost a week to recover since we did enjoyed a few Derby-related events. That is, beyond higher gasoline prices, excessive traffic and crowded restaurants, all also a big part of Derby week.

We celebrated the great steamboat race at a fantastic outdoor party and enjoyed the melodious sounds of Keltricity, a local musical group we often hear at the Bards Town. We also enjoyed entertaining out-of-town visitors by taking them to some Louisville attractions, including the Cherokee Art Festival, the Bob Dylan concert at the Louisville Palace, and Churchill Downs earlier in  the week of Derby. And we had the good fortune to be invited to the Derby itself.

Derby activities are a great way and time to show off Louisville. Often the weather cooperates for a beautiful spring. This Derby was wet but for most of Derby week pretty weather prevailed. And we enjoyed a spruced-up up city with flowers everywhere. Despite the crowds, traffic, and higher prices, my friends were struck by the Louisvillians' usual show of courtesy and friendliness we who live here tend to take for granted. Thank you Louisville for doing us proud.

I'll share some photos and reflections on friendship in future posts. In the meantime, I'll wish you a happy post-Derby. You can now move on to celebrating Mother's Day weekend.