Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Of writing, Boston, Petaluma, and Paris

It is sometimes hard to walk the blog line. Should you be personal, or should you not? Should your blog be purely a technical resource? I have often asked myself these questions. I enjoy reading blogs of both styles, from the Yarn Harlot, to See Eunny Knit.
Blogs are like books, they fall into certain genre categories, and all genres have merit.
I do not seem to follow one genre in particular, but rather pick from one and the other. At times I may be personal, at times purely focused on knitting. The beauty of the blog, is that you are free to write as you wish, not bound by a publisher's style, and that through your writing you may, everyday, throw yourself into the world.

I write in the early morning hours, and I often have no idea what I will be writing about, unless I have the daunting task of trasnscribing my gloomy working notes into a clear pattern. I get up, talk with Rolfe while he eats his breakfast, prepare his lunch, give him a kiss good-bye. I grab a cup of coffee, that I probably will partially spill, as I do every morning, and go back to our room, turn on the computer and start writing in front of the open window. And I usually have no idea at that point, what I am going to be writing about. What will it be today? My life is not full of fantastic adventures, it is a rather quiet life. My babies are not in diapers any more. My life is focused on homeschooling, the children, Rolfe, knitting and working around the house. So I just sit there, in front of the computer screen, my fingers ready, and I start typing. The first thought that comes to my mind becomes my first sentence.

This morning, I guess, I thought about why I write, and what I write.

Today is going to be another very hot day here in Boston. We went from wearing layers of clothing to wearing practically none! It was 90 degrees yesterday with stunningly blue skies. We slept with the windows open! And you know what was funny about this? I had forgotten, even though I knew it, that seasons could be so drastically different. Living in Petaluma, a small northern California town, I learned that one day is pretty much like another day, and who needs the weather channel over there. For about 9 months of the year, you know that it will be blue skies, and heat, and then for the reamining 3 months intermittent rains, that can at times get heavy.
Out here, in Boston, it is so much of a challenge, the change of seasons even catches you off guard. And within the seasons there is so much variety... Can you tell I like New England weather so far?
Maybe it is because it resembles the weather I grew up with in Paris...
Boston is very much like Paris, but the only difference is that in Paris I would not be spending my free hours today staining the deck and doing yard work. There are no wooden decks, and gardens there. In Paris, you get the true city experience! My friends, I tell you, I am definitely not a country girl! My mother once came back from visiting relatives who live on a tropical island. She was walking on Place de la Republique, and she caught herself breathing in deeply, happy, as she stood next to the only tree there, surrounded by the thousands of smoking cars stuck in traffic! The wildest animals I ever saw in Paris, were pigeons and French men, but that's a whole other topic!