If a Tree Falls In a Forest and There Is Nobody There...

...It still makes one heck of a noise.

Today is a day for strange moods and odd thoughts which I wish did not occur quite as often as they seem to lately but, as it is those strange moments that have fueled so many of my writings, I really cannot complain about them too vigorously.

We have just returned from visiting some friends and a rather infirm relative of my boyfriend's, so the day is a mixture of happy and sad, bright and dull, dark and light feelings and moments. The clouds blowing across New England today seem reflective of these things as well. Multiple layers of different types and sizes of clouds, some dark and threatening, others light and wispy - as if they were just out for a day of fun in the Autumnal skies. As usual, the weather does seem to have an effect upon my emotional state and I feel as if I have been caught within a drift of clouds and circumstance all day, so far.

It is not merely a fancy on my part that the day is like this, as the moods of our various cats, my boyfriend's mood, the moods of our friends and their children, the entire day - bag and baggage - are all following this same trend, this path that is winding and crooked as any old back-country dirt trail, to end up God only knows where by the time evening settles in and the hoped for peace of a night's rest is regained for another day.

My Dad and step-mother finally read part of my blog and, it seems, really enjoyed what they read. I am glad because one of the things I was hoping to accomplish with this blog was to give some enjoyment to those reading my ramblings, stories, and poetry. So, thus far, mission (at least partially) accomplished. The clouds are still quite grey but the rest of the day seems to have lightened up a bit - I was not kidding about my moods and the weather being very closely tuned to one another!

This seems like a good time to make myself a list of some of the things I want to write about in future bloggings - our old babysitters, Wassi and Hilda; our housekeeper from my early childhood years, Elizabeth; some more short works of fiction; both of my novels, their progress and - perhaps - a few choice excerpts; more about our cats; more about my family; a little something about each of the many friends I have had to share parts of my life with and without whom my life would have been far less rich and rewarding; our backyard; my memories of places I have lived and visited; stories from school; stories from work; and as much poetry as I can possibly manage. That should cover quite a few entries and a lot of writing and, if I do not find any of those to be sufficiently interesting at any given moment, more ramblings and rantings as they happen to occur to me.

Perhaps I will tell a few of the tales behind some of my poems or, possibly, record a few tales not yet recalled in order to write new poems about those stories. As opening my eyes each day brings with it a whole new crop of potential stories, poems, and experiences there will be plenty to write about, many new facts and fancies to record, and many new ideas to launch into the realm of the written word.

Now, if there could just be a few days of brilliant sunshine while I finished my first homework assignments for school everything would be as close to perfect as possible.

Stranger Than Dreams In the Night

Thoughts stranger than the dreams
I leave behind in the night
Have been creeping and crawling around in my brain.
All the long day they constantly fight,
I must shake the clouds out before my mind rains
Tales of such strangeness, woe, and despair
That everyone reading them feels as if they are drowning in air.
Normally sane, I revel in the thought
Of all of the troubles such thoughts have wrought,
And the trials and tremblings, betwixt and between,
You can tell from my state it's almost Halloween.

(So it isn't very good - suffer!) (Revised March 17, 2007 by the author.)