Off

Today I took a day off. This may sound preposterous to those of you that know I do not have a job as such, but all writers will tell you that they never quite feel like they are taking time off. This is because a writer doesn't just work with a pen or a computer but first and foremost away from both, in a perpetual state of trance where ideas, and their development, unfold. Yesterday's work was minute or indeed felt that way. Reading never is considered work, even if it is necessary in order to be able to write. When I checked the weather forecast at the end of the day, I had great hopes that I would wake up to a frosted garden and I was not disappointed. And so I took the day off in order to wander around Knutsford, which I had not done in a few weeks, to think about something other than writing and to spend some time with horsey.



Late autumn, and indeed winter, should always be as today was, cold and dry, with an unapologetically blue sky that somewhat reminded me of Chicago in the middle of January, minus the skyscrapers, the wind, the lake and the excitement of being in America of course! Still, it was great to be able to walk aimlessly and to browse the windows decked in Christmas paraphernalia, something that I love looking at. In fact, I myself should get down to it and start decorating the house.

Try as I may, writing is never too far off. I always carry something with me so that, when the time is right, I can snatch some time, even from idleness, and read something that one day may come in handy. Such was the case with some essays about Dracula and some stories off Christmas Stories. The library pit-stop saw Terry Brooks's Sometimes The Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life coming home with me and I am sure that you will get a lecture about it in due course.

As the sun was very low on the horizon, I went to see horsey who is currently growing his mane and feathers and spending his retirement in the company of his latest girlfriend. I took him for a walk around the fields and although it was a bit of a snort-fest at first, no doubt annoyed as he was that I turned up sans carottes this time, he still obliged and allowed me to point-and-shoot in order to freeze his latest look in time. Et voilà!



He was also glad to have a nose-to-nose with his best (male) friend Conor, who also checked my pockets in case I was hiding treats. He left in disgust as he noted nothing more than a mobile phone. Not that it stopped him having a nibble in the past mind you...