Only dogs and Englishmen - summertime in DC


Every year, as I look out over the forest that makes up my backyard and watch the clouds snag on the trees this far up the mountain, I fool myself into thinking it will stay a temperate 73* all year long. Then, without fail, the next week will bring the steamiest, god-forsaken weather on this side of the planet. We're not talking Texas hot or Arizona death-hot, I mean the humid, nasty, you can taste the inside of your nose - hot. Ew.

The heat is non-conducive to anything but laying on the couch and moaning softly about how far the remote is, "Be a dear, Mama can't push the little buttons from this angle." The evil ones aren't buying any of it. They run outside to bounce on the trampoline and look under the couch for old juice boxes. So how does a writer with a to-write list an arm-length long get anything done? She suckers her teenager to do it. Okay, no. That's what I want to happen but what really goes on is I flop around a bit, stalk Workman Publishing on Twitter for a while and think up dirty Haiku for the Zombie Dating Guide's Undead Fred. That dude is twisted.

Wait, don't run away / I have delicious treats here / Eyeballs are yummy (G-rated for my childrens' delicate eyeballs. Mmmm, eyeballs)

How do you get motivated to write/work when the heat's so hot even Nicole Kidman breaks a sweat?

Image credit: vintagetease.com

5 comments:

  1. Gallons of water. Not to drink - to soak oneself with.

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  2. Angie, is that you talking? Or Jaded Fred?

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  3. I don't. Summer is when there is actually sun in Oregon so I am outside lying in it like a lizard until I have enough vitamin D to last the following 9 months of clouds. (I'm a poor weather writer)

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  4. I agree. Writing in the summertime is hard. Winter is probably a bad season as well. It's cold. Fall not so good either with school starting and all those damn leaves. Spring! Don't get me started on spring! All those flowers blooming right in front of your eyes. Let's face it, writing is hard any day of the year. It is freaking hard. If it were easy everyone would do it. Okay maybe it's not hard for Stephen King. But to be honest it all comes down to excuses. Yesterday I chased a turkey through the woods with my camera instead of working on my novel. Then I blogged about it. It seemed important at the time. So how do I get motivated to write when it so freaking hot outside? Hmmm. Let me get back to you. There's a three legged buck in the front yard just begging to have his picture taken.

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  5. Hmm, it doesn't bother me. AC, water...wine, iced tea...

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