Tuesday, September 20, 2005

MAKING THE MOST OUT OF TIME

"The hours I spent with thee, dear heart,
Are as a string of pearls to me.
I count them over, every one apart,
My rosary, my rosary."
Robert Cameron Rogers 1862-1912 "The Rosary" 1894


"Time is of the essence" so the saying goes. And these days I'm trying to make the best of it. Without my computer I am 'lost', what to do after my housework is finished by 10 a.m.? What to do in the evenings when there isn't anything worthwhile to watch on TV? It's times like this that I realize how much time I actually spend at the computer. And right now, without it, I feel frustrated and a bit at loose ends. For one thing, just as it crashed (sick with a virus) I was ready to launch into some serious editing on the last chapter of my novel. There's also other writing projects to keep up-to-date, and of course, the email correspondence which I miss. I've had to resort to the local web cafe or library and perhaps by next week I'll actually have to try doing my writing here at the cafe if things aren't fixed by then. Today a techie friend is coming by to check and give a diagnosis. But it might mean lugging the precious machine to the computer hospital. Another unexpected expense!

A lot of my time these days is spent at the hospital with my friend. Yesterday I stayed six hours, cancelled going to my writer's critique group because he needed/wanted company. It was a pleasure though. These times we spend visiting, talking, and helping him out by warming meals, making tea, are precious moments. It's emotionally exhausting, but worthwhile. He's an intellectual and loves to discuss books and tell stories about his country (Chile) and his life. These days there's a lot of soul searching and meditations. And I know my company, especially on a day like yesterday where few other visitors came, was much appreciated.

Today I made a pleasant diversion by figuring out what to write here and doing some research for my future trip to Malaysia, so I have added a new chapter to my travel blog at http://travelthroughhistory.blogspot.com

I'm getting antsy, anxious to be working on my novel, but somehow I'll have that figured out soon. Meanwhile, another blessing came my way this morning just when things had been a bit bleak. The daycare sent me the two days pay they owed me and the government informed me my rental subsidy will be increased at the end of the month. Prayers do get answered!

"A little time for laughter
A little time to sing.
A little time to kiss and cling
And no more kissing after."

Philip Bourke Marston 1850 - 1887 "After" st.1

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The silence of the blogger.
Yep, I've been pretty quiet this last week in terms of posting because tomorrow marks a new phase in my blogging life and I've been writing more code and spending more time in Photoshop than I've ever spent ...
Hey I really like your blog I came across it randomly one day and luckily I bookmarked it so I've come back many times since. If you have time please stop by my site. (gotta get a plug in right? lol) You can find dsl availability at www.DSL-Experts.com. See? That was painless eh? lol

Wynn Bexton said...

COMPUTER'S FIXED! YAY!

Sam said...

Didn't Harry Potter's author write her novels at a café?
I'm sorry about your computer. Mine is on its last legs and I'm nursing it along. It fizzles and groans, and often takes little breaks in the middle of something I'm doing. Just sort of stops and rests, lol.
My car is also in the shop - I don't know if it can be saved either. I may be out a computer and a car this month. I hope my pay check is decent.
There are a lot of anonymous spammers on the blogs lately. I've been scraping them off my comments board to the rate of one or two a day. I wonder what they want - I never ever click on their links if they post anonymously. (Here that, anonymous posters! You are losing time and energy posting on my blog!)
I hope your computer gets fixed soon Wynn!

Wynn Bexton said...

Thanks Sam. I'm back in business and hope to get some writing time in soon. Night school classes start tonight. Computer seems to be working okay so far...Autumn is here. All is well (except, of course, for my suffering friend.)

Daisy Dexter Dobbs said...

I always feel as if I’ve had a relaxing massage after reading your lovely posts, Wynn.

Your friend in the hospital is fortunate to have you. I’m sure he values your visits, more than you know. It’s emotionally taxing to spend so much time with someone who is so ill, but so incredibly rewarding at the same time.

I’m glad that you’ve received good financial news. Methinks your kindness is reaping what it has sown. :-)