The attractive woman making a beeline toward me had only the nicest things to say about my column. So much too from one in a position to critically judge.
While appreciating the compliments (I am human), the remarks were ultimately unsettling for it has been my desire to keep my thoughts anonymous.
I am a Scorpio. I am told that says it all.
When the OBSERVER required a name, it accepted the one I was born with. Obviously hardly a secret, I still feel relatively unknown and definitely free (as I'd wished) to record my most intimate (well . . . .) thoughts on paper and whisk them off via the Internet.
I consider myself a very introverted, even shy (especially the latter), person who would never open up to a stranger ... and yet, paradoxically, I am absolutely delighted to have this outlet for all I observe and feel. And, while I am happy to be able to share my property through writing, I will fight to protect the privacy of that home and family since I am only one part of it all.
I have no desire whatever to be controversial or opinionated. Oh, believe me, I have very strong convictions but they are mine alone - as would yours be. I certainly would never discuss them in print.
Today marks the end of my second year of having these Musings published. I started them in 2002. I have searched diaries, scrapbooks and journals but have been unable to discover what led me on that June morning to pick up an empty notebook and sit down to begin to write about the early birdsongs I was hearing.
This, begun in the spring, is actually number 279! I wanted the security of having backups before making a commitment (I too still have those nightmares about unfinished term papers) only now find I'm writing many more than my weekly allotment. Since I do write (and submit) a month in advance, any particularly topical are noted and actually penciled in for 2013. So much to say!
When asked, I must honestly admit that it takes about twenty minutes to write a Musing (presuming I can work in silence without interruption, hardly a given in my life). A friend once said reading these is like getting a letter from me every week. Nice. I do "talk" the same in my correspondence, also continuing to favor pen and paper.
My scribblings are only the beginning. They are typed into the computer, corrected - and corrected - and then submitted to my website. Formatted differently there, it allows me to find even more errors. Corrected, checked - and repeated for the next week or two, the columns are then sent to the OBSERVER. And still I find mistakes!
Will I run out of topics? I doubt it for, in my small world, each morning opens to unlimited possibilities: Who knows what will happen? Or what I'll see next? I have hopes for magnificent things galloping just over the horizon. And, if not today, maybe tomorrow.
I wallow happily in the exuberance of ordinary wonder.
I set pen down to check on the laundry. I have accomplished what I wish for now.
Minutes later (the wash can wait) I am back with a new idea. Number 280!
Susan Crossett is a Cassadaga resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com
