Challenge : U is for Umbrella

 
U is for Umbrella.

Now I know some of you may be thinking, "Of course she's writing about Umbrellas. Didn't she recently say she's in the Pacific Northwest, which is famous for their amount of rainfall?"

But in that you'd be incorrect. At least for those of us who claim native or near-native status. For us, we don't usually have umbrellas. We're so accustomed to the rain that we don't bother. And with the winds and the gear we carry when we're out in the rain, really - what use is an umbrella? It's more of a hindrance than a help.

See, out here, we tend to have coats with hoods. Several of them to go with the varying seasons. And they're waterproof or at least water resistant. A hood gives you more mobility by keeping your hands free and by not fighting with the wind.

So I'm talking about Umbrellas not because I'm from here, but because of a recent trip to San Francisco in the late fall and the extensive use of Umbrellas that I saw. It was fascinating to watch people with their Umbrellas - their rituals, their struggles, their variety. And I was quite content with the hooded coat I'd brought along with me.

Umbrellas can be fun or serious or make a statement. I loved watching the colorful sea of umbrellas as people jostled for space. Some of them had personal sized Umbrellas which barely covered the circumference of their personal space. Some were giant golf Umbrellas (I think; I'm not a golfer so I may be wrong) which were intended to cover the golfer, the caddy and more (I think: did I say I'm not a golfer?) - but they weren't sharing on the streets of San Francisco. And everything inbetween: copies of art

photo from Virtual Tourist: Chinese New Year in the Rain

masterpieces; jokes; pieces of body parts which were silly when combined with the person holding the Umbrella; and the standard business compatible colors of blacks, grays, blues and reds.

The Umbrellas jostled for space over their owners heads, like bumper cars or overfilled helium balloons. Except that some people's heads were shoulder height to their neighbors.

When the rain stopped, people took out a few Umbrella bags, but those without had clear plastic bags, shaped like cake decorating cones, into which they put the now dripping Umbrella. And inside the doorways of stores and restaurants were racks of these same Umbrella bags, with cutesy names depending on where the shop owner purchased them.

There were discarded Umbrellas in the standing pools of water in gutters; their bent and broken spokes sticking out in different directions. On some the fabric had some loose from their spine; some were completely disheveled.

U is for Umbrellas. Now you see them; now you don't.
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The Razor's Edge : Unexpected

This week you have another series of pictures to use. Pick one if it inspires you, or use the series of three and tell the story it, or they, brings to mind.

1. Look at the photos
2. start the sound video (it's ~10 minutes long)
3. and using the word prompt :  That morning, she noticed that something was different...
4. write until the rain stops.

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Are You Being Too Polite?

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artist Paul Manning

What if you just let loose in your writing?

What if you didn't hold back on naming names? (Okay - some names need to be changed - yes.)

What if you didn't pretty up the language? I mean in terms of vocabulary and roughness and all - I don't mean in terms of keeping the story telling clear; more in terms of keeping the dialogue absolutely, honestly, real and as you remember or how you imagine those characters would really talk - not as they "should."

What if you just waded into all the messy stuff and let it be there?

What is this politeness costing in terms of getting out the story?

Is there energy being spent in holding back; in being nice or smart or funny or whatever way you are covering up or pushing away?

And I'm already wanting to rescind this post - but I'm not going to.

I'm posting it.

In its rawness.

Raw thoughts for moving forward.

Putting on my hip boots and rain slicker and heading into the murky areas where my story has avoided exploring.

It's not going to be pretty. But it will be real.

And there's always the editing later.

Right?

*splosh*
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dot's small stone: January 14

red neon "now seating" reflected in puddles
on the night darkened blacktop parking lot


small stone #14
by dot.
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dot's small stone: January 12

rain droplets iridescent purple
against the raven's obsidian black;
limp rust worm in its beak

small stone #12
by dot.
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Noticing

Noticing how I miss my novel when I don't have time in a day to work on it. How I think about how to round out a character. How I carried the folder around all day in hopes of having 30 minutes; or 15; or even 5.

Noticing how much better I feel after two days in a row of at least eight hours of sleep. Not so tired at the end of a long day.

Noticing how the wind and the current in the water change as the sun goes down over the west hills and the dark clouds start to roll in. How the rain starts slowly, picks up, slows, stops. Rain drops on our rain coats blending with splashes from paddles in the river.

Noticing.

In this moment.

I will remember.

Vessel

plaster excavation

by Serena Barton

Marathon Wish

On Sunday, November 29th, I will be participating in my first half marathon in Seattle. (Yes, I have been training for a half marathon and writing the draft of a 50,000+ word novel simultaneously, on top of my regular life.) I really really want it to NOT be raining. Please. So I am really happy to see the following weather prediction for Sunday for Seattle:

Seattle, WA

-Fri----- ---Sat---------Sun
---- - -----
48° | 42° -47° | 44°- --51° | 43°

All I am asking for is *no rain.* I can deal with the cold (layers that come off and go back on as needed) and a little wind. But, please, no rain. So: please pray or chant or sing or send out energy waves, or whatever you do that Sunday in Seattle there is no rain. I like the above prediction. That would be perfect. Just perfect.

Thank you. *grin*

(Back to the nanonovel; I am currently at 48,832. Almost at 50k. I will make it tonight (which is now the morning, but who's counting, right?))

NaNoWriMo: day 7

originally posted at

The NaNo Project

by Dot

Today has been stormy. I overslept. Which is to say that I slept. A full 8 hours - no, not 8 hours all together - 6 hours, woke up, back to sleep within 20 or 30 minutes for another 2 hours. I still had just enough time to go for my 10 miles walk and get back in time for the next thing. But I did not make it 10 miles - only 6 and with 4 legs of hills. I have run a little low on sleep until last night (only 12 hours total for the previous 3 days) - and my body said no way was it going 10 miles. Plus it started to rain a lot heavier than I was dressed for. I was dressed for rain - layers, a waterproof rain jacket - but not the downpour that started, so I headed home, 2 miles away from the house. By the time I got home it was torrential; truly. About 5 minutes later there was a lot of thunder and the rain kept pouring. Later there was a rainbow and I was wet and still cold to the bone; a phrase I don't often use because I have not experienced that feeling until now.

But you know what? Guess what started to come out in the next chapter of my novel. One of my characters decided to go for a training walk and it started to rain! Woo hoo. She is talking herself through it now -- or was when I had to stop to get to work.

I had a massage after a hot shower (I didn't plan to get soaked before the massage, but she has a table warmer so it was actually perfect!), went out for a quick dinner with my partner, then to a friend's art opening and sale.

Then, finally, to SE Grind for a couple hours of writing. And after a few minutes, the story started to unfold about one of my main characters heading out for a training walk, in the rain, and all she wanted to do was go home...

The Art of NaNoWriMo - imitating life.

Current word count is 16,597.
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weather linguistics

Different regions of the U.S. have their own particular weather patterns and their own culture around their weather. For example, Alaska has many different names for snow, from what I've been told. They have a lot of snow and there are different conditions for and types of snow. Here in the Willamette Valley in Oregon, we have only three (I was going to say that Oregon in general only has three types, but I'm not sure that's accurate for southern and central Oregon): snow, flurries, blizzard/whiteout.

Another example is right here in good ol' Oregon. The weather phenomena we have multiple names for is: rain. I have visited other cities where their "rain" list is like our "snow" list: short and simple; one even has simply: light rain, rain, heavy rain.

But we also have another weather condition which we divide into minute distinctions. When I saw droplets on my window that were a little bigger than a dense fog and recalled no rain in the forecast, I decided to take a look. I pulled up the prediction for today and clicked to see the details of their forecast. I looked at the "conditions" row and this is what I saw:

2 AM = Mostly Cloudy
5 AM = Overcast
8 AM = Overcast
11 AM = Partly Cloudy
2 PM = Mostly Cloudy
5 PM = Partly Cloudy
8 PM = Partly Cloudy
11 PM = Mostly Cloudy

When I looked at them, I thought about the difference between "mostly" or "partly" cloudy, and how "overcast," which means clouds in the sky blocking the sun, is different from mostly or partly cloudy. Is "overcast" a synonym for "we don't know how much but it will be cloudy?"
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