Feb 4 Write 20 Minutes

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It is amazing what utter nonsense one can write when on a timer. I went to a neighborhood writer's club today and we wrote eight minutes on a timer with a prompt: A place you walk by every day. 

That was the longest eight minutes of my life as I was writing among strangers in my honest, blunt way and sweating great drops of blood, dreading we might be required to read aloud what we had written. I should have checked first. 

Of course the first thing that came to mind was the hoarder's house I pass every time I go over to Shaunti's and I really didn't want to write about that because a good part of the group was from my local little neighborhood of Diamond Lake, and what if it were one of their homes?

Anyway, they were gracious and let me off the hook. They did come back to me and asked if I wanted to change my mind. And so I did. And I guess it wasn't anyone of their homes because they all knew the place and gave encouraging feedback to my meandering mind. 

I guess it was one of the most interesting two hours I've had in awhile. I'm thinking about going back. 

Before I went to said writers club, I spent over an hour scrubbing out our small Catalina sailboat. Someone is coming to buy it and pick it up on Friday. We've had it a good number of years and many happy memories were made sailing it on Diamond Lake.

I remember one summer's morning Bruce and I took a thermos of coffee out and had an early morning sail. I tried to drink coffee but of course to sail, one needs wind, which is what we had and so coffee drinking wasn't the wisest choice. 

Usually, on that sailboat, I ended up clinging to the side rail at the highest point, trying to pretend I wasn't scared. I never truly enjoyed sailing unless it was a good champagne sail, as rare as sunshine on a windy day. But it was a good memory. Goodbye sweet sailboat, and there goes my timer.

Comments

  1. Arla GraberFebruary 4, 2026 at 6:44 PM

    Sounds like fun to me. Writing and sailing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LuciFebruary 5, 2026 at 4:09 AM

    Oh the writers club sounds so fun! I want to read about the hoarder's house. Send it to me privately?

    You guys' sailing life sounds so romantic, spilled coffee and all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shilah WritesFebruary 5, 2026 at 9:20 AM

      💛 the house is one I walk or drive by almost daily. It sits between two rather nice places. A lot of the places around Diamond Lake are wealthy and healthy looking. So it is odd and out of place to see this one with literal trash piled high and in summer, a stench lingers in the air. It looks and smells like decay. And it makes me so sad.

      Delete

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