Locked In

Locked in, in a dress I can’t unzip.

It took so long to zip it up. Physical issues usually preclude wearing this dress when travelling solo, but I do like this dress, so I persisted. 

It is so hot my skin prickles from the inside out. The ankles are swelling, the skin on my calves is stretched to breaking point and I’m remembering an elegant and skinny lower leg area I didn't inherit from mum. I don’t feel like looking at that manuscript, and don’t tell me not to worry. I know all about this stupid process. I’ve read Stephen King’s On Writing four times (written, interestingly, when he was locked inside; to be precise, after he was squashed by a lorry while out walking); I’ve started Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, and her early pages confirm that I’m totally, awesomely on track when it comes to dithering.

Let Them Eat Cake

Yes, I know...what about the bloody book? Yes, well, this time the distraction is brutal: It's about 21st birthdays...

Hair War

More procrastination here, and this time, when it's the eleventh chapter that should be uppermost in mind, it's unwanted hair that consumes my thoughts.

When the Penny Drops

I had a penny-dropping moment once and it was blinding. A moment when you felt compelled to look around and check that no one else saw the obvious creep up and slap you. I was in a cafe, staring up at one of those ridiculously high counters. Why did I have to stand on tippy toes to pay for my coffee? Up there, three plastic containers were stacked on top of each other. Small, medium, large; plastic, environmentally catastrophic. They were filled with rice, with the prices handwritten on the lids in thick black texta.

Happy Everything!

Do 21st birthdays really matter? The one at our house last weekend did. Family bonding at its best. In the grog shop the weekend before, where debates raged over the best brand of cider, and in the café on the corner where we decided on the menu with a wise caterer who recommended lots of carbs. On the night, in the kitchen with the extended family, well away from a tent that contained most of the mischief and afterwards with just a few left, to scoff mud cake over a cuppa and a chat.