I do not like driving in the dark, especially along the back roads leading to my house. I’m not afraid of the boogie man — I’m a post-menopausal woman; let the boogie man be scared — but I do worry about being mugged by a deer. Or a possum might run out in front of me and bite a hole in the tire. Or a sweet little bunny might go tharn and I’ll have to throw on the brakes and go headfirst into a tree or a ditch. It happens.
Yes, I’m taking my medication, thank you for asking.
It’s been great, having the hours of daylight increase, so I could leave on errands earlier and stay at meetings later and still not drive in the dark. Happy! Happy!
But now the Solstice is past, and the days are getting shorter. They get hotter, but The Winter King is in the ascendant.
I also love the Solstice, because it means the harvest is starting to come in: Yeah, the seasons work differently when you live in the country. Y’all city people think October and November are harvest time, but that’s more like end of the harvest and get what you can into storage to last over the winter time. That’s a nice, snuggly, abundant, tucky-in time, and I do love it, and I love all the fresh fruit and vegetables in the waning of the year.
Still.
The sun starts pulling her skirts in around her ankles and it’s dark out here. The shadows are full of cute little baby animals. ~cue the creepy music~
Okay, that’s enough of that.
I’m posting today at The Write Type about our warp-speed project, THE CORNER CAFE. Fellow Cafe author S.B. Lerner is talking to fellow Cafe author and editor Helen Ginger at Helen’s blog, Straight From Hel. Helen is at Alberta Ross’ blog, so many words.
A WRITING PROMPT FOR YOU: A character who hates the waning year and one who loves it interact. Is it pleasant? Healing? Destructive?
MA
Johanna Harness
June 21, 2012 at 10:12amCheers for the country life! I hear you.
Marian Allen
June 21, 2012 at 11:59amI’ll bet you brake for animals, too. 🙂
katfrench
June 21, 2012 at 10:23pmThe Man tore up his car in an unavoidable entanglement with a racoon recently. So I understand the reticence about the solstice. The dark is damn inconvenient in its ability to hide critters. But I do love the fall… Still…plenty of summer yet to be had. Not even July yet.
Marian Allen
June 22, 2012 at 9:16amTrue, Kat! But I was feeling depressed, and realized it was because the year had turned toward the wane. :/
Sarah Glenn
June 25, 2012 at 6:55pmPersonally, I love the long, long daytimes. I got a flip side view, though, when I started writing my vampire novel. How was my heroine supposed to get anything DONE during the summer? Especially with that detestable ‘Daylight Savings Time’ screwing her schedule up further.
Maybe she will develop similar reasons for getting depressed at Winter Solstice… besides visiting family, of course.
Marian Allen
June 25, 2012 at 9:17pmI love the long days, too, which is why it depresses me when the longest day is past. Yes, poor vampires! If I were a vampire, I would have a house in Alaska and a house in New Zealand and spend half my time in each.