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Wednesday, April 4, 2018

IWSG, Hurricane Update, Being Thankful

Posting the First Wednesday of every month, the Insecure Writer's Support Group, is the brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh. YOU can sign up HERE to participate.

Every month a question will be posed that may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Remember, the question is optional. You can write about anything that relates to your writing journey.

Let's give a warm welcome to our co-hosts: Olga Godim, Chemist Ken, Renee Scattergood, and Tamara Narayan!


This month's question is:  When your writing life is a bit cloudy or filled with rain, what do you do to dig down and keep on writing?

I'm in such a slump right now I don't know how to answer that question. I'm struggling to even get this post out! And by the way, I'm working today, so I won't be coming around to visit. And I'm working tomorrow (Thursday) too. I'm often so tired at the end of the day it's about all I can do to stay awake for a TV show! IF I do get around to visit your blogs, it'll be Friday or over the week-end. Notice that big IF.


Hurricane Update - Seven months out
Things are about the same in the islands. There's good, there's bad, and there's ugly. Like the rat infestation at my sister's house, which occurred after Hurricane Marilyn in 1989. It's something most everyone has to deal with. My sister, who has been bitten by just about everything, including a baby octopus and a ground spider (aka tarantula) can now add a rat to the list. It was "stuck in a glue trap. I'm whacking at it with a broom stick, and it's front legs are free so it manages to crawl, angrily, over my foot and bite my right 'ring' toe. No big deal. At least we have healthy rodents." She treated the bite with iodine and aloe and it's healing without a problem. That's life on a tropical island.

Thought I'd also share this drone video taken less than 2 weeks ago of the National Park Campground at Cinnamon Bay, St. John. The campground remains closed and I don't know when work will begin with clean-up and rebuilding or when it will reopen. The walls that remain of the building on the beach are all that's left of one of the oldest buildings on the island, over 300 years old. The huge rain tree in the opening shots is struggling to come back.

I won't lie, this make my heart ache. I have to keep reminding myself that nothing stays the same, that up and coming generations will have no memory of what it was like "before", and that nature has a miraculous way of returning, even if it's different from what sang in my heart as a child. What is gone, is gone. The beach and the ocean, however, remain beautiful as ever. And... there is still so much more work to be done.




Being Thankful
Today I'm thankful for beautiful spring weather and flowers in our back yard. We even had some much needed rain. (Do you see the bee?

And feeding bees sugar water!
Since I kept bees for a while, I like giving them a little kick-start in the spring.
Plus, the hummingbirds are back in force!

What are you thankful for? How do you pull yourself out of a writing slump? Do you feed bees?

16 comments:

  1. How awful, rats! There's always something, isn't there?

    I know what you mean about the struggle to get something written. It will happen, I know it will. Soon, for both of us!

    I'm thankful for such a beautiful day today! Spring has arrived!

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  2. Bitten by a rat - ugh!
    Sad they haven't begun fixing up the park. From the drone shots, it looks like a stunning place to visit.

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  3. Hi Bish - sorry to hear that things aren't progressing quite as easily as might be in the big clean up ... all the best ... I couldn't get the drone shots to work ... but can sort of visualise what's happening. My thoughts - and am glad you're finding solace in being outside - take care ... cheers Hilary

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  4. This has been a daunting year so far. I'm really hoping things will turn around for you soon. I know you have the stamina, but I also know how draining constant worry can be. Sending hugs and hope for a better rest of the year for you and your beautiful island.

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  5. Sorry you're in such a slump, Bish. Thanks for always keeping us up to date on what's happening in the USVI and your neck of the woods.

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  6. How sad about the campground. And your sister being bitten by a rat? I had a pet rat that bit me once and wow does that hurt.

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  7. Whew! That storm was crazy. We only got a smidgen of its fury, and the camp our church youth usually go to is still out of sorts. We're having to rent another site for their youth camps this summer. Crazy!

    Hey, don't stress out about the slump. Deal with life first, eh?

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  8. Don't feel bad. I wasn't sure how to answer the question today either. My first thought was, "Take a nap."

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  9. Sorry the clean up is going so slow. It's terrible that no one is helping more. Good luck with work.

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  10. A rat bite? Yikes! Thanks for the video. So much work still to do. Do I feed bees? They love to sting me, and when they do, the location swells to many times it's natural size for days. So no, I don't.

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  11. It's sad that it can take such a long time for nature to recover from things, but sometimes it's amazing to see how fast certain aspects can do so!

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  12. Well I can pull myself out of a slump right now by being thankful that I am not battling rats, baby octopus, or tarantulas. Good grief, all of my little first-world problems shrivel in comparison. Thanks for the reality check.

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  13. The horror of the hurricanes gets forgotten by much of the world, except those whose lives were turned upside down. You are such a warrior.

    there are hummingbirds flitting around desert flowers That is such a happy feeling.

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  14. This was a brave post. Hope things get better soon, and yep, I give the universe my grateful thanks everyday.

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  15. Oh, but they HAVE! Millions of man hours have gone into road clearing and debris removal. All beaches have been accessible since November. The Cinnamon Bay Campground was privately operated under lease and apparently there is a holdup by that contracted entity. Not one thing has been done by them to repair the property! In 7 months! St John is suffering from a total lack of environmentally friendly lodging. Hundreds of rental homes are available weekly and the town is purring along with shops and restaurants. The two big hotels are still closed. But winter season has seen many happy visitors enjoying St John. My hope is that something or someone brings back Cinnamon Bay campground!

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  16. Hi Bish,

    Hope you are feeling bit more alive after the weekend. Sorry to hear things are going so slowly, but it was devastating and it takes time. As you say the water and beaches are still gorgeous and they will never change.

    How delightful that there are so many hummingbirds.... Lovely, lovely creatures!

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Your Random Thoughts are most welcome!