Monday, July 16, 2012

Life update and ramblings

 Due to reasons beyond our control, my family and I are relocating to a city in Western Wisconsin, almost five hours away from where we now live. Last week we were busy home hunting and getting to know the area where we intend to settle down.
 I was appalled to witness the consequences of a two-month drought in Western Wisconsin, where temperatures went up to the hundreds. (Mind you, this is not normal for the region). The grass is like straw, crunchy and yellow. Thousands of fish have died in the marshes. Needless to say, the corn harvest is going to be affected by this drought. As we got around the area, I came across a quote by Aldo Leopold, "We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect." Feel free to change the word land for "planet earth". After all, what we do to it has  consequences that go beyond borders.Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) was an American writer, scientist and environmentalist - I think he was also a visionary.
 Home hunting is a good experience to a writer. Aside from the practical aspects of it, I had the opportunity to imagine the lives of the people who lived in those houses. How can I not acknowledge the secrets harbored in those places? Family memories, broken dreams, conflicts. It's all good stuff to a writer. So my mind is imbibed with all these images and I am now eager to resume the short story I started writing last week. I have so much to catch up with in my writing world...
 What are your writing? What are you working on these days?

3 comments:

  1. Western Wisconsin is beautiful! Good luck with your house hunting :)

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  2. Thanks Karen. We found a house, but we will be moving in two months, so we still have time. Take care.

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  3. I wanted to wish you good luck with the house hunting... but I see you've already completed it! Hope all the packing and planning is going smoothly. : )

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