Wednesday, March 12, 2008

So much for rituals

Just when you think you're in a routine, your routine is blown to bits.

I exaggerate. But only a little.

My goldfish and the tank they live in have been looking sad. So this morning, I decide I'm going to do a quick clean, then write. (I've been putting it off for days.)

I clean the filter and put it all back together but now the filter doesn't work. I end up taking the filter apart and finally, many minutes and attempts to fix it later, get it to work. I go to refill the tank and water sprays everywhere. Now, an hour and a half have gone by, the tank is clean, refilled, and the fish are happy. And the water has been mopped up off the floor.

I think I'll go shower and try to salvage the morning. The day sits before me, splayed out, ready and waiting.

(But I should call Toyota, too, something else I keep putting off.....)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

A routine can become just that...a routine, a rut, a creative stealing entity. Our mind and body will reject it and the muse will avoid it. Have a backwards day, eat dessert first, eat dinner for breakfast, sit on the front porch with tea instead of the back porch with coffee, write in the back seat of the car instead of the front seat, etc. etc. etc. The muse will have to search for us, she'll panic, wonder where we are, then with great relief she'll find us and she won't leave for hours and hours.

BJK

Anonymous said...

Fellow writer, noodling around--just had to say that I, too, have procrastinated by cleaning out the fish tank. It's like emptying the dishwasher to the nth power.