heat wave

Erie Girl is trying to stay cool in Bethesda in the 100+ degree heat of the past few days.  It's unbelievable as is the widespread damage caused by the "derecho" that swept through here a week ago last night.  Tree limbs 10" in diameter and more have been wrenched from tree trunks and thrown helter-skelter like match sticks.  Friends have had some of these sailing limbs land on their homes and even crash into their bedrooms.  Many are still without power.  Fortunately, no one I know has been injured, but some injuries and deaths have been reported in the paper.

I grew up in Erie where we had heat waves, maybe into the 90's, but nothing like this.  However, it was warm enough as no one had air conditioning in those times.  Except me, that is.  My parents finally took pity on me and installed a tiny window unit in my upstairs bedroom.  Between that and regular trips to the peninsula to swim in the cool waters of Lake Erie, I survived.

So, about the blog.  It's my latest attempt to get myself WRITING again.  I've taken yet another workshop at the Writer's Center in Bethesda, a fabulous place.  That helped.  What also helped was the group that emerged from the workshop.  We are seven women, of varying ages, from 40's to 70's, I would guess.  At 71, I'm probably the oldest.  Unfortunately, our youngest member, Sarah, whom we all thought was wonderful, has recently moved back to Wisconsin on her way to Beirut, but that's a whole other story.  Anyway, the group has been meeting every other week over the summer, even though that's a difficult time to write.  Some of our members have young children at home; others, like me, do a lot of traveling.  Nonetheless, we like the synergy of the group and are eager to keep it going.  In the fall, we'll be able to settle down to a more systematic schedule, at least I hope so.  At least I hope that I can.

My problem is that I don't really know what to write about.  I also don't know where to publish what I write.  The market is so scattered now, with on-line stuff in addition to hard copy publications.  It's hard to know where to start.  AND, it takes FOREVER to comb through all the possibilities.  So I guess I really have to ask myself why I want to write and for whom?  Maybe it's enough to write for me, for my family, and for my friends.