Rainy, Rambly Mondays

"Rainy days and Mondays always get me down."

Sound familiar? Maybe not, if you're under the age of ... maybe 40? LOL! It's a line from an old Carpenters song that was very popular years ago. A song I always wind up singing along with -- on those rare occasions that I hear it played -- because I remember most of the words. Nostalgia times a hundred, in this case. :)

I remember songs from way back -- from catchy jingles, to Christmas carols, classic top 40, and classic rock. True confession: I even remember most of the School House Rock songs. I can recite the Preamble to the Constitution only if you let me sing it. ;)

Anyway, I've been wondering if that might be the reason one of my short stories seems to be catching on at Barnes and Noble? Do readers see the title and immediately think of Counting Crows? (It's titled for the group's popular song, Accidentally in Love.)

The song inspired the story, actually. I had two characters in mind, and the setting, since it was part of the Blue Plate Special - Pops' Girls series. I listened to that song played over and over and over, ad nauseum, while I wrote. I hummed it as I did laundry. Sang it in the shower... so much so that dd2 begged me to stop. LOL! And it was from her CD. ;)

Songs frequently inspire my writing. All my characters have at least one 'theme song'. All my stories have a sound track.

Which might be the problem with my recent writer's block -- besides being lazy, that is. ;) I haven't really set a sound track up for this story. I have one song set in stone, but I haven't listened to it lately. I think I know what my next step should be.

Meanwhile, I have a dark, rainy Monday outside my window. Instead of letting it get me down, I think I'll let it inspire me, instead.

~~Meg

Rainy days

There's an older song that goes something like this: "Rainy days and Mondays always get me down". Apparently the singer/songwriter suffers from SAD. ;)

Monday is not my favorite day, either. But rain I can usually handle. I love the rain...a good thunderstorm or gully washer most of all. I love the fresh scent of the air; the patter of raindrops on the roof. I even like to watch the dark clouds swirling overhead, sometimes resembling an odd set of brushstrokes on canvas.

What I don't like, however, are endless days of rain. No sun. No light. Just gray, dim skies and landscape for miles and hours on end.

This time of year the rainy gloom is more tolerable. Thanks to the lovely array and shades of red, orange, and gold dotting the landscape, everything seems more colorful, less dreary. Even the deep gray of the sky and the ever-deepening mud don't bother me.

I suppose that's one reason Fall is my favorite season. I've always loved the way the air becomes cooler. I relish in the occasional whiff of woodsmoke on the breeze. The colors; the holidays; the full silver moon so low on the horizon. Have you ever stopped to watch a sunset over the a patchwork of brightly colored trees? It's beautiful. Enchanting. It's a picture worth capturing -- an image worth savoring.

My dh said he once dreaded this season. It reminded him of how life was passing by -- of all the things he hadn't accomplished, yet. Luckily his outlook has changed, because I've never seen it that way. To me, Autumn is about resting...renewing our spirits...it's about coming home.

But then there's that rain ... we need a little of that, too, don't we? Otherwise we'd get much too complacent in our lives. We become lazy or take what's important for granted.

So I'd change those song lyrics, if I could. Mondays still get me down. But rain? Bring it on.

Oh, wait. That's another song! ;)