5 REASONS WHY I HAVEN'T BLOGGED MUCH LATELY

1. I've been writing in my journal at least every other day (reading this has inspired me). It's reminded me of how much I love scribbling down my thoughts with a pen, regardless of having to edit or revise. I did this for years before I began blogging, and I feel that, by devoting time to it again, I'm recapturing something that I lost. Unfortunately, it leaves me with less creative energy to post here.

2. For the first time in five years, I dressed up for Halloween and went to two parties. I was a recycling bin, dressed in blue with recyclable items stuck all over me with glue or packing tape. The tape didn't work so well, and that day's brief, wet snowstorm didn't help either. But most people knew what I was. A few guessed "trash" (not the first time I've been called that); one person thought I was supposed to be "the gutter", which I liked.

3. Sunny, relatively warm weather has returned at last! So, despite daylight savings ending and all, I've been spending as much time outdoors as possible, before the snow returns. Biked to my beloved Fresh Pond last Sunday, and yesterday, T. and I drove up to a fog-shrouded Gloucester, walking out onto a remote lighthouse pier to what very well could have been an edge of the world.

4. I've fallen so far behind in writing about the movies I've seen and the music I've listened lately to that I'm afraid I can no longer get up.

5. I broke down, bought a mop, and cleaned my kitchen floor. Which is a better excuse than having to wash my hair.