November Diary :: Friday, 16th

The western sky a little past four o'clock in the afternoon.

I spent most of the day working on my writing project. I didn't get as far along as I had hoped, but I still made good forward progress. Most importantly, I was totally immersed in the stream of my work; whole hours passed in a single moment, and it felt like play. It was great fun. I can't wait to do it again! 

These days I feel really good about the story I am writing. For a while I wondered if I was wasting my time--because writing takes up so much of it. The book that takes you a week to read may have taken the author a year or more to write. But, now I am confident that it has been time well-spent. Not only have I enjoyed the process of writing it, but I like my story. And, I have learned so much. One of the greatest lessons being, Write with the door closed, rewrite with the door open. (Stephen King)

My girls and I went to the yarn shop on Wednesday and bought some Noro Silk Garden color 84 (which looks a little "muddy" in this photo; in person the colors are brighter). Last night I cast on for a Super Simple Cowl (see sidebar for link to free pattern). I decided to use standard Silk Garden rather than sock weight, so I needed to buy two balls. And, I'm using size ten needles. So far, the pattern is great fun and knitting-up fast.

Amy, Emmeline, Luke and I spent yesterday afternoon at the Aquarium. Zach volunteers there all day on Thursdays, and we haven't visited in a while. What a great time we had! We loved the new shark and ray touch-tank; rays have the softest skin. Our planet has been misnamed. It should be called Ocean rather than Earth since 99% of the planet's living space is in its seas.

A few years ago my friend Kortney introduced me to the medieval visionary Hildegard von Bingen. I felt an immediate kinship with this 900 year old woman. After reading Mary Sharratt's novel, Illuminations, I feel like I know her. I have begun to talk to her every morning and evening, and believe that St. Hildegard and I are true friends. During her life one of the things she said was, "The soul is not in the body; the body is in the soul." In pondering these words I thought about how often we get things upside down, and how turning them around can change everything.