November 1: Hiatus

Just a note to say that we're on the road and in Amsterdam, today being the first day we have access to Internet. So we are sitting in a very large and moern library, one Euro for 30 minutes, and next to us, two women are chattering away in some unknown Arabic language, studying. We have walked along the canals here, enjoyed the European flavor, polyglot languages, and are getting ready to fly to Africa tomorrow morning at 4 am. I did not bring my computer with me, but I have a journal and write everyday, pondering what to work on when I return home in three weeks.

Writing a poem a day for October was somewhat challenging. What I learned was I cannot focus so much on my own writing when working on poetry. For me, the paths are very different. But I enjoyed meeting a new online community of writers and will persevere with ROW80 (a round of words in 80 days).

Right now I am drawing my main characters and writing back story, something I haven't completely done.  Here in Amsterdam, the people ride everywhere on bicycles at a hectic pace, drive tiny little electric cars and park them in impossibly small spaces, and eat and drink with great gusto. Our bed and breakfast faces one of the canals. Every so often we are treated to a boat full of tourists pointing up at our old house, build, I think, in 1716.

I think the hardest part of traveling is being so far from family and friends, but last night the moon was full, Amsterdam at night is all lit up with little lights over the canals, and I feel at peace to be once more on the road. May your own writing projects go well!