Week 35

Exercise week this week:

Exercise 16 - find a gap (that bit is easy, as you know) and write three sentences including a metaphor....

In my attempt to keep my writing flowing sometimes this forced structure is quite hard.  So, I'll choose a gap moment, write three sentences and keep my fingers crossed that one of them includes a metaphor.  I'll probably have to look that up.

The pains were now starting to come in waves, each one drowning her as it flowed through and over body.  The time between contractions was reducing rapidly and Frankie knew this was definitely time.  Finally, the birthing pool was ready and she climbed into it, submerging her throbbing stomach beneath the water.

Not sure if that works entirely from a metaphor perspective but hey ho.  Very pertinent timing though as tomorrow sees the anniversary of my becoming a parent just 14 years ago.  I always find it a very emotional day and am really intrigued by how my acupuncture session will go.  It's been a busy couple of weeks at work and the weekend has provided a much needed respite.  A friend helped me clear out some stuff from the attic last week and yesterday I took 28 boxes of children's clothes to a charity shop.  Yes, I did mean to write 28.  I had hoped to have child no 3 but it became quite clear that we didn't have the financial, physical or emotional capacity for a third and, while I had settled with that a while ago, I hadn't followed it through.  I did venture into a couple of the boxes but the majority of them went out of the house untouched.  It kicked off a wide variety of emotions, some good and some not so.  It was lovely to be reminded of times past, yet it was also difficult to be reminded of the hopes that would never be.  I'm very happy with the two children that I have, they are both amazing and I know that a third would have made it all very difficult.  Whilst I am disappointed, I also know that I am truly grateful for what I have and for where I am.  Anything else would have created a very different present and today is just right for me.

Week 31

Straight into the exercise this week, was lovely to hear a friend describe my posting gaps as a drought.  Please do prod me if at any time you feel I've been absent too long, nods to Mike and Matt who are doing that already.

Exercise 16.....
Go back to the material you spread across the floor and pick a gap. Write a description of what the weather is doing at the time in a way that might be relevant to the scene.... (Possibly more difficult to do when it's not printed and suggests that she may have been expecting more material than I have, but onward)

This one is quite difficult, I haven't found out what time of year Frankie is having her 'day' in and don't want that decision driven by today's fabulous winds.  I also don't have a gap between writings as I only have the beginning. So, I'll start and see where the weather appears......

Frankie looked through the window, watching the trees leaning in the wind.  Finn was running through the leaves having a ball, he loved this time of year.  He would happily spend hours making piles of leaves, sorting them into colours or shapes depending on his mood, and then running through all of them, giggling hysterically and throwing himself onto the ground.  Frankie loved it too.  The changing colours of the countryside.  She loved how some trees would take the lead and start to change while others clung onto the green of summer.  It was if they were striding off towards winter, bravely defiant, not worried about the loss of their clothing, while the others couldn't bear to go, wanted to stay where they were, fearful of what lay ahead.  The bushes along the lanes would join in, telling her which fields were colder, which felt the winds and where she would find shelter from them too.  The wind was up today, odd gusts taking Finn's piles away from him while others would bring extra bounty.  The arboretum was one of their favourite haunts, time and space for the two of them, to walk the dog, to clear her head.  Coffee and cake with no boundaries that would need effort to contain Finn.  The rain was beginning to join in now, an occasional shower passing over, the only sign of it the drops appearing on the glass in front of her.

Acupuncture was great today.  I feel re-energised, much like last week, ready for whatever's coming.  It has to be said it's making me a bit feisty, almost poky at times.  No longer taking what's thrown at me but starting to throw some of it back.  Possibly not so great for those nearest and dearest who do the most throwing and, therefore, receiving.  Hopefully for me it's an initial only point.  A first step into the ring of life, where previously I've been sat on the edge not knowing how to join in.  I have to come in now on the terms that I created before I can change the rules.  Step up to the plate and then learn how to drop my fists, how to say 'enough is enough', how to be peacemaker.  My acupuncture described it as lying on the track letting the trains roll over me not even aware that they were there.  Now I have developed an awareness of them, I need to learn how to roll away and then I can get up.  Maybe even climb onto the platform and leave the station.  He suggested that I could buy a ticket which I thought was a bit rash, especially for those souls still lying down out there.  We had a great discussion about the amount of energy it took to maintain anger in the body as well as the amount of energy to then contain it, which is apparently more than the same again.  It's fabulous to know that I'm finally processing mine, letting it go from its years of being boxed up in a very small, very well hidden box.  I am completely grateful for where it has brought me but its time is over, I'm ready to let it go and move on.  It has managed my life for long enough, there needs to be change.