A Daily Blog for November (it's a National Challenge). Being asked for Directions.

I have taken up the challenge of blogging every day in November. 

So, apologies to anyone who will get easily bored by my 'spamming' their timelines on facebook or twitter, but I feel I should join in with the National insanity that has descended. A challenge is set every November, apparently, where budding writers try and produce a whole book.  A novel. A novella.  Something with 50,000 words. In a month!  I would say this is a virtual impossibility, but every year, books are published after this mammoth effort from all the writers in the nation.  A lot of people know they can't do 50,000 words.  What they can do though, is get in to the habit of writing.  By writing every day it creates a sense of expectation, new ideas spring up whilst you are doing other things and when you sit to write, they all come pouring back.  Ha ha!  Sounds like a reasonable theory.

So, I will give it a go.  I will force myself to find something to write about every day for a month.  

Firstly, let me say that my son who is at University can provide me with so much material, I could easily write 50,000 words, on him alone.  Unfortunately, I am banned from writing about him.  There will be no blogging about my son.  I have been told.  So I have to try and keep that down, unless it affects me personally.  So, I guess his accommodation stories, his room mate, his neighbours, none of that includes me.  

I hope that my son is getting on okay, I get to hear occasionally that things are going well, or not so well, and I still continue to pay attention to the signs I notice as I go about my daily life.  When I see a squirrel on my path, I think of my son, and I am reminded that he is not on his own and he is quite capable.  Whenever I see a squirrel, I take a picture, just because it is such a lovely break from routine, and a reminder that he is industrious, hard working and always busy. He will be fine.

Anyway, strolling along, mainly minding my own business, I notice three magpies fly over my head.  Three?  Hmm, I wonder.  Is it possible that my son will be moved into his own room soon and it will have the number 3 on the door? 1.11.11 my son was in Room 111, which adds up to three.   A little further along I see a crow.  It is distinctly posing, like a statue, I cannot fail to notice it, and take a picture.  Hmm.  Will I have something to crow about that has something to do with the number three?  Possibly.  As I am walking along having a little ponder as to what is about to happen, an old lady stops me. 

I say she stops me, she gestures for me to take my headphones out with her gloved hand.  I notice her freckles and guess she must have spent quite a lot of time in the sun.  Her designer shades have probably seen a few foreign beaches and she says
'can you tell me the way to Chalkwell Park, so I can get to the seafront?'
I explain that she needs to go round the corner and the Park is diagonally opposite to where she will be standing.
She is relieved, as if she thought she could be a million miles away from where she wants to be.

I am reminded that although I may be redundant in my son's life and that he doesn't need me at the moment. I am still the person who looks like she knows the way.

Lots of love and light to everyone who needs it.

Tamasin x