Mammals and Musings

I have seen a flurry of wildlife this week. I saw a coyote slinking under a fence as I was driving down a dark road. Evan and I saw a possum two nights ago, its white body shuffling through the black forest. Then last night we saw the waddling shape of "a possum, a cat? No.....a raccoon!!!" Such excitement exists in the wilds of Texas, let me tell you. We spotted deer both nights. They stood motionless as Evan tried to teach them morse code with his head light.

My workshop on Saturday was good...a bit intimidating, but good. I'm not like the others. I'm younger. I don't know when, let alone if, I want to get published. I'm timid, really. I have this thing I can do--write. But I don't know quite what direction to take. But the leader, a Hispanic author named Ben Saenz, and the other people were really supportive. Mr. Saenz is an ex-priest who became a writer. He teaches at the University of Texas in El Paso. He's an amazing writer. He really drives himself. I could tell. He's never held a 9-5 job, except in high school. I wish I could say the same.

It was nice to force myself to spend a day concentrating on my own writing--not my students' writing or the writing of authors we are studying. To look at myself and say, "I have this gift, but will I ever use it the way I should? Will I write passionately as a observe and live productively?" I hope so.

Now I must finish less than three weeks of school, come home, and finally get some good sleep.