Hi, fellow coffee drinkers. Well, to begin with this week, I need to confess that I am not drinking coffee as we have this little chat. I’m actually drinking a glass of beer. Does that count??? Now, I’m not a big drinker, and I never drink alcohol of any kind if I’m driving. But I do enjoy the occasional glass of wine or beer. And today — with my sandwich at lunch — beer just seemed like the winner.
I’m also enjoying the first day of sunshine that we’ve had in a week. Of course, I’m not going out in it, since the temps are frigid, and the ice on the roads is still really bad. I imagine the major highways are clear, but getting to them from our local and side roads is the challenge. But I don’t have to go out for anything today. I stocked up a few extra supplies so that I could hunker down if necessary.
Now tomorrow is a different story. I’m supposed to do the sermon at church in the morning — actually it’s the second part of the sermon I began last Sunday — and my church is about 30 miles away. Sooooo — I’m going to have to do some more praying and planning about travel tomorrow.
To make matters more difficult, I’ve been having trouble with my car heater as well. It’s been working only about half the time. That wasn’t a serious problem last week when it was in the 40’s and 50’s. But this week with single digits at night and in the wind chill during the day, it’s a sort of — uh — well, maybe a big — problem. There are a couple church members who would come to get me, but I don’t really want them to have to do that, so I’ll have to make some decisions within the next several hours.
The sun on the ice and snow is pretty, and it has lifted my spirits enormously. I’ve even manged to write two poems today and about half a chapter of a book I started several months ago and have had a hard time continuing.
After I lost my best friend back in August in a very tragic accident, I had a very difficult time getting back into my creative mode. Not only was he my best friend, but he was also my best editor and often a source of great inspiration and terrific creative ideas. We were a really good team, and I have several novels on the market to prove it. But, as I’m sure you can imagine — and perhaps some of you know by experience — when half of a team is deleted, the spirit of the remaining half of the team is sorely damaged. During this time, I’ve been able to express myself only in poetry, and I even began a brand new website devoted to poetry in order to set that creativity free. But I have not been able to write on any of my novel projects during these four and a half months. But at last, this week, I have experienced a breakthrough of sorts, and two novels are beginning to feel the positive effects of that breakthrough.
Well, that’s probably enough sharing for this week. I can see by the clock that in another hour, I’ll probably be ready for that cup of coffee and maybe some cookies — or fruitcake. And, by the way, why is it that fruitcake seems to get a lot of bad publicity? I love fruitcake. And mine’s almost gone. I hope I don’t have to wait until next Christmas to find some more.
Oh, one more thing. I discovered something interesting about birds this morning. With all the ice, I wanted to help the birdies find food, and since I don’t keep a regular bird feeder, I went to my bread and cracker supplies. I have quite a few birds that visit my yard, and often two families of birds that live in my Blue Spruce tree in my front yard. This year I’ve had mockingbirds, cardinals, blue jays, blackbirds, and another kind that I don’t recognize.
I put out some bread and some graham crackers, but then I discovered an old box of garlic and chive crackers. I decided I’d give them a try as well. The smaller birds didn’t bother with those garlic crackers. They ate the other things, but a large contingent of blackbirds came swooping down and really dug into those garlic and chive crackers. They were gone in no time. So now I know — and I can put it on record — that blackbirds like garlic and chive crackers. A friend of mine who’s very knowledgeable about birds said the big birds will eat just about anything. So I just might go in there and see what else I need to clean out of my cabinets. 🙂
photo courtesy of seagul @ pixabay.com
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The Happy Wordcrafter 
My husband and his entire family are fruitcake lovers. It’s never been my thing but, hey, to each his own, right? I alway put a mini fruitcake in his Christmas stocking as a holiday treat. Hope you have a productive happy week and safe travels.
Thank you. I hope your hubby enjoyed his fruitcake. Mine’s almost gone, but it’s been really good.
My dad loved fruit cake too. (And an occasional glass of beer)
Beer? I have your outlook on that beverage also. There’s nothing better than a COLD bottle of brew after mowing the lawn on a hot summer day… and that’s about the only time I enjoy one. I’ve also been known to have an O’Doul’s with a burger eating out… because of the TASTE, not the effect!
When I was younger, I heard someone say that nothing quenches real thirst like the first swallow of a cold beer. I later learned for myself that it’s true. Actually about half a glass of wine or beer is as much as I generally have because more that that always makes me sleepy. So it’s probably almost impossible for me to get drunk. I’d be asleep under the table first. 🙂
Stay warm and safe my dear.
I’ve never understood the bad rap fruitcake has either. I think it sounds delish! I’m sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. 😦 Praying a positive breakthrough comes after this tragedy. Thanks for the tip on the garlic crackers – I think I have some! We’ll see what it brings..