Month: March 2020

New Ideas

Thoughts Of Death Yesterday, Now Life!

carolyncordon

Yesterday I was thinking on one thing that I’d done, a thing I was not at all happy at myself for doing. I’ve worked on those thoughts, assisted in part by a friend, John Malone, a poet and former teacher, who thinks about things in sometimes quirky, but wise, ways. He encouraged me to write a poem, or in fact a pair of poems about the troubling thing.

I thought on what he suggested, and yesterday in fact wrote those two poems. I’m not sure if other people would get the importance of this pair of poems, but they have much meaning for me. I feel better about myself, I feel like a good person again, doing what I can, when I can, but realising I am not perfect, no-one is.

So today, I’ve been thinking about all of this Covid 19 ‘stuff’ and how many of us are more or less locked away in our own homes. I know I haven’t been doing much at all, in terms of physical things, just sitting around, taking in hours and hours of bad news. But I decided that had to change, I need to be active, at least sometimes, and I needed to get going with it now.

Outside, being active, good things!

I did 31 minutes of Wii Fit exercises today, a fairly gentle exercise program. It’s been 61 days since I last did this, apparently. I did a mix, sticking with easier exercises mostly, and had a ‘results’ mix of rubbish and nearly OK. No Olympic efforts, that’s for sure.

I set myself a new weight loss challenge there, because my current weight is too high still, it was a bit over three and a half kilograms too much, I think. Not good enough. I’ve set a goal to lose half a kilogram in one month. I think I should be able to do that, if I more or less stay with my current diet, and keep on with the Wii Fit as often as possible, heading toward the harder items as feels possible.

Listening to my body, not my mind, doing it so I can really feel it, not woosing out. I still want to get my weight down to a particular weight, but carefully – slow, slow, no rush. It would be a good Christmas present, or even a birthday present to myself next year, maybe …

At Mallala Christmas Party

One thought I’ve had is halving the amount of chocolate I have at night. Easy to do. I’d slow down my consumption of the usual piece of chocolate, and mindfully focus on enjoying it slowly, deliciously … If I were to give up eating the usual chocolate, it would help with any weight loss, perhaps, but it’s the finer things in life, that make it worth living. So small amount of good chocolate, small glass of wine, occasionally, good coffee, but not too much of it.

If I commit to my plans, I can get things happening how I want them to be, in regards to my healthy body project. Will I be able to do the same with my writing projects? I hope so. I’ll think about it and get some words written down in regards to that some time soon. Tonight? Tomorrow? Next week? I don’t know, but hope it will happen, when the time seems right.

meaning in life, Philosophy

Thoughts of Death Haunt Me

carolyncordon

In these troubling and almost surreal times, I’m finding myself thinking about death, which would be fine, if the deaths were of characters in the Cosy Murder Mystery I’m supposed to be writing. But the deaths are not fictional deaths of some characters in my work-in-progress ‘Winds of Death at Talloola’, instead the deaths are real deaths, as the total of deaths from Covid 19 rise, and rise, and rise …

And there was a death in our house recently, one not caused by plague, but in response to something that sometimes becomes plague-like. It was a mouse, a not yet fully grown mouse, that made the mistake, as mice too often do, of coming into my house, my kitchen, and falling victim to our range of mouse traps.

This mouse fell victim to not just one, but two traps, both at once, and while it pains me, it is also good that it was trapped, and will never again invade my kitchen, possibly spreading disease … I’ve taken the mouse out of the traps, and released the body back to Nature, where other creatures will welcome the carcass, as much as I definitely didn’t welcome the living creature.

Mice are cute as pets, I suppose, but I don’t want them in my house.

There was another death too, this one caused entirely by me, and the guilt I feel is magnified by the esteem in which I hold the creature I killed. I was driving home from a needed visit to pick up something, and a quick visit to see my mother. The car I was driving has cruise control, and I was cruising along, on cruise control, when I saw this creature, but I didn’t slow down quickly enough, and crashed into the magnificent owl standing on the road, too close to where I was headed.

Crash, bang, an explosion of white feathers, and another owl fell victim to man’s most dangerous weapon, the motor vehicle … I’ve looked at some photographs and from what I’ve seen, it was quite likely an adolescent Barn Owl, out at the wrong time, and in the wrong place. There is a little less traffic out and about at the moment, but it only took one car to kill this magnificent bird. My car.

My heart aches, but that is nothing compared to the destruction of this bird’s life … There was going to be a poem written about this, but I am still too shaken about what happened to write that poem. It may remain inside my head forever, and I hope, may make me even more careful, when I drive. Cruise control is great, but I must be the one doing most of the ‘control’, and slow down when I need to …

The Barn Owl is a common bird, all around the world, but that doesn’t lessen this particular owl’s importance. To say I’m sorry is an understatement, but my sorrow, while comforting to acknowledge, does nothing to bring back the life of this bird … I can spread a little knowledge about the bird, and encourage other drivers, as well as myself, to be aware of all of the living creatures on and around the roads, when we are driving, human, animal, and particularly confused owls, who would have been safe at home in their nesting place, not standing on the road in the mid afternoon …

Some information about these owls : https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Owl/id

Life, in these times of Covid 19 virus-driven deaths, feels even more precious than ever.

Uncategorized

Difficult Times

carolyncordon

We’ve never in our lifetimes had as difficult time as we are facing right now, I suspect. Certainly I haven’t. I’m not able to go to the usual venue (the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler), to have our usual weekly meeting for two reasons. I’m not able to meet at a hotel, and the hotel is closed anyway.

In fact there isn’t really much I can do:

go to the doctor, yes, probably, if I have to

go to the supermarket, yes, but there may not be much to buy

go to the fruit and veg market, yes, but again, may not be as much there as usual

get my legs waxed, nails done etc, no (but I don’t get my legs waxed anyway, and cut my own nails …)

visit my friends, no, I’m not allowed to do that …

weddings, funerals, hair cuts, ‘boot camp’, barre, yes, but with only far reduced numbers allowed

These are strange times, and all around the world, governments are trying to work out the best ways to deal with the Covid 19 Virus pandemic, which is killing some of the people who contract the virus. And there are some ridiculous things being said and possible cures given by people tho have no real idea of what they’re talking.

And as a writer, I’m trying to settle my head to write a series of Cosy Murder Mysteries … Sheesh, it is so unlikely my brain will settle down to tell tales of gentle murder in a cosy little town, when the TV in front of me is talking non stop about people dying for real, when their lungs fail them because of this virus …

Poetry might be a better way to go, but again, the kinds of things I usually write seem so inappropriate to me right now … If I was a writer of post apocalyptic novels, then my brain could take up a lot of the stuff on my TV, but it would seem to be non fiction, rather that fiction. One of the members of my writing group is finding this very thing, actually, scary stuff.

I will do my best to get my life going on, ‘as normal’ but these are not normal times. I wish all the best to everyone out there, as you also try to deal with these ‘interesting times’.

Uncategorized

A Perfect Time To Write!

carolyncordon

If you’ve been looking for something to do, during these crazy Covid 10/Coronavirus times, obviously writing is the perfect time to write. Some of us are contemplating our own lives, as we wait at home, avidly watching, or strongly avoiding, the talks on the media about death rates, and such things.

When you have to stay at home, to keep safe from this virus, sit down, think about your life, and the things you want to be remembered about what that life has been, what you’re realised, what you’ve achieved, or wish you’d achieved. Or maybe now is the time to write silly little ditties, to get, and give a few giggles, in these serious times.

Or perhaps now is the time to get stuck right into that novel they’ve been thinking about writing. You’re stuck at home, and there’s only so much dire TV reportage a person can face, so why not write that detective story, or romance, or Science Fiction book, now is surely the time! If there is an explosion of new fiction, we can all read our way through our lock down times …

Poetry, a poem about this, and that, and there are many ways to share our poetic words with others, other than being jammed into a small room, reading out, or performing our poems. We all have phones these days, and laptops, and can easily record ourselves ‘doing’ our poems, and post them online. I saw such a thing live earlier today, and it was great! (thank you to my friend Martin Christmas for the heads up)

Writing time, or lock down?

Or you could record yourself performing poetry written previously, keep on practising until you get it just right, and then put it up, ‘out there’ on your blog. Or if you don’t have a blog yet, now could be the very best time ever to do that! Blogging is the perfect way to keep connected with others, doing the things you love doing,

And of course, your garden is always out there, waiting for you to go out there and smell the roses, or the rosemary, or whatever it is you have growing outside. Good times, even in these worrying times. Do the best you can, and keep safe!

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Living in Challenging Times …

carolyncordon

When life becomes more threatening than what I may write in a Murder Mystery book, I have to admit I’m finding it extremely difficult to get any words of my Cosy Murder Mystery book happening.

Today is a new day, and still there are no new words written for my Cosy Murder Mystery … I’ve toyed with and then dumped any idea of putting details of a mystery virus causing havoc in the town of Talloola, where my Cosy Murder Mysteries are set. Although, hmm, maybe? Or no?
Any thoughts about this would be welcome, is it too soon to use Covid 19? Or simply nowhere near a ‘cosy’ thing to put into such a novel?

I might have a go at writing a piece of flash fiction, set in the town of Talloola, where my cosy murder mysteries are all going to be set. I was thinking about what is happening in Mallala, the small town closest to where I live, as I was there, catching up with a friend, and visiting the Op Shop and Cafe there.

Things are not quite as usual, the cafe has moved outside, and we were all sitting further away from each other than is usual. These are certainly challenging times, and while we’re all washing our hands often, and definitely not hugging, ‘to keep safe’, we can only hope that scientists will come up soon with a solution to this killer virus.

Thinking about lots of things, and pondering the mindset of some people, whose reaction to potential disaster is to buy up toilet paper in an effort to make their fortune off the misfortunes of others. The price of toilet paper is going through the roof, as supplies are quickly snapped up in supermarkets, and the government tries to keep it all under control …

And in the midst of this kind of toxic capitalism, there are many beautiful acts of kindness happening, where neighbourhoods join together to help each other, and needed goods shared, where they can be spared. This is the kind of world I wish to live in, not the nasty ‘snatch it up, it’s mine!’ kind of world. These kinds of ideas are suitable to think on for me, whatever kind of writing I’m doing.

Image by Alexas_Fotos from Pixabay

One of my writing-related roles is as the Editor of the Mallala Crossroad Chronicle, and I was certainly thinking about these kinds of thoughts, as I was writing the front page of the March issue, which is due to be published before the end of March. Mallala is very much like Talloola, and who knows how much of this current challenging situation might one day leach out into fiction?

Mark Wasley, Mallala Mayor, on Australia Day 2020 at Mallala oval.

One of my writing group members is writing a novel, set slightly in the future, and her current work is eerily putting out story lines that are now coming true … Can she see into the future, I wonder? She certainly makes no such claims, but I wonder … Or is she an intelligent listener and reader, who thinks a lot, and makes conclusions based on the evidence presented …

All of these thoughts are bouncing around in my head, and I wonder when, or if, things will ever feel ‘normal’ again? But writing,in various forms, will go on being written, and as performances of many kinds are being cancelled, due to this coronavirus, books will be written and bought, perhaps online though, rather than in shops. Time, as they say, will tell. What do you think?