When the temperature jumped from 60°F into the 80s last week, I moved my writing outdoors. I also changed my writing station from a pair of wobbly wooden tv trays to a more stable camping table that Clare got me for my birthday. Other than my neighbor’s daily racket with various pieces of lawn care machinery (I think he owns more gas-powered lawn tools than most professional groundskeepers), I hear only birds and the din of traffic from two blocks away. I feel set for a summer of enjoyable writing on my front porch.
Most early mornings so far have been cool, so I have been wearing a jacket when I write. My hands get a little bit cold, but I prefer being outside. Today I wondered if there is such a thing as writing gloves. There seems to be a specialty item for just about everything else, so why not gloves for writing? I googled it, and they do exist. They are thin woolen gloves with the thumb, index finger, and middle finger cut out. In the photographs, they look more like a fashion statement than a way to keep my hands warm. If they are functional, they are designed for writing with pen and paper, not a keyboard. That appeals to me, but how many others still write longhand in cold weather? Birdwatchers who keep field notes? Meter readers? Do meter readers still exist?
I would not say that I write better when I write outdoors. The quality of the prose remains the same, and the quantity suffers. There are too many distractions. I watch the birds and the squirrels, I am more likely to write emails to friends, and I get up to check the progress of the seedlings in my garden. Once or twice a week I stop writing altogether when I realize that it is a good morning for a bicycle ride.
Last summer I did not write outside at all. My old and ailing dog was more comfortable indoors, and he always wanted to be by my side while I wrote. Jack is gone now, having lived eighteen good years, so now I am back on the porch.
Manyu has told me that I have become boring in my old age. I have to admit that spending the first two hours this morning sitting on my front porch writing about sitting on my front porch is not exactly seizing the day.
Recent Comments