MediocreMan

Trapped · 28 January 2012

Photo by Lisa C. Miyoshi

Some people felt they were trapped during the recent snow storm. Oh sure, not many people roamed the streets because we are relative snow wimps here in Western Washington. But trapped? While our family did stay home for the duration, we never felt like we were trapped. When we were not playing in the snow, we read, played lots of video games, and enjoyed each others’ company.

Everybody in our house always has a book to read all the time. Actually, we all have our own stacks of reading material. During the school year, I do not go through my stack very quickly. Many books even go back to the library unread. Still, we do have our books. During the storm, we happened to have a book called Everything Scrabble. It is a useful book in our house since we like to play the game. My wife, The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi, and Thing 2 kept that book warm and it seemed to lie still only when everybody was asleep. The book even had us pull out tiles and do some of the puzzles too. Everything Scrabble was probably the reason we played the game.

One of the chapters in the Scrabble™ book was about Bingos. A Bingo in Scrabble™ is when a player uses all seven tiles from her hand on a turn. The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi lamented that she had not gotten one. Then, we played a game during the snow storm. My wife has won many games of Scrabble™, but she whipped us during Snowpocolypse. Her first ever Bingo was the only one scored during the game and kept her ahead the whole way. She did not do her usual winner’s dance to mock her opponents, but was rather subdued in her big win. She must have been saving it up for her video game wins.

It must have been The Mindboggling Mrs. Miyoshi’s week for winning. Besides winning at Scrabble™, she won all the video games too. Or at least it seemed like it. She did her woot wooting and victory dance when she beat everybody at Thing 2’s new game, Fortune Street™. It is a game like Monopoly, but it takes longer. Still, it was a fun game that we played several times while we were hemmed in by the snow.

When we were not out in the snow, reading, or playing games, our family just enjoyed each other’s company. We ate lots of meals together including several Saturday-like breakfasts. Most Saturdays I make pancakes. During the snow days, we had French toast, eggs, and pancakes on different days. I guess it was fitting since everyday seemed like Saturday in many ways. Sitting down to several meals a day is always a great way to spend time together and so we ate and enjoyed each other. It was great, especially since we have not had much family time lately.

I must admit it was good to get back to work when Snowpocolypse was over. The routine and just getting out of the house was somehow refreshing. I suppose it was a break from too much reading, video games, and togetherness. Still, I loved the time our family got to spend together. And unlike other folks, I never felt like we were trapped.

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It Is Still Snowing · 21 January 2012

It is still snowing. (Or at least it was.) After almost a whole week, the snow kept falling. And while readers in colder climes like North Dakota or Montana or even Eastern Washington would shrug it all off and wonder what all the fuss is about, the fluffy white stuff has disrupted the normal flow of life here in Western Washington. For the kids and me, that means no school. Which means shoveling snow, sculpting snow, and making a structure of snow.

I am compelled to shovel any amount of snow that falls on the driveway and sidewalk. When we were kids, my brother and I would go out to shovel whenever it snowed. Our dad did not like to have the tire tracks iced onto the driveway so there were times when we had to chip away at the ice until we got to the concrete. When we were young, dad helped, but as we got older, we had to do it by ourselves. I hated to chip, chip, chip away at the ice so I decided I would do the best I could to keep the snow off the driveway and avoid forming icy tire tracks. Even if that meant I had to shovel snow before and after supper. Living in Spokane, Washington, I remember shoveling snow in the dark quite a bit. Now, living in Western Washington, I know that I could let the coming rain (it is always coming soon) melt the snow away, but I cannot do it. I must go out and shovel as soon as the flakes hit the ground.

When the snow is as packable as it was this past week, I have a secondary reason for shoveling – gathering snow for sculpting. I do not fancy myself an artist, but I do like to try my hand at sculpting snow. I have made snowmen and snow cars and even a few snow animals. This week, I probably wasted the good snow, but there was so much, all I could think to make was a castle tower and wall. The tower started out as the pile of shoveled snow from the driveway and sidewalk. I packed it and piled it and then started to form it. I made the battlements on top and then cut away the pile until it resembled a castle tower.

Since it kept snowing, I had lots of snow for sculpting and used some old recycle bins for brick molds and made a short wall to go with the tower. I made it doubly thick so it would not fall on anybody. Both the tower and wall were stoutly constructed. I know because I saw the neighbor boys sitting and climbing on them that evening. I thought about it later and decided that if all the adults in the cul-de-sac had been outside playing in the snow, we could have made several walls and towers and maybe some cannons. Then, we could have had a massive reenactment of some medieval battle. Or just had a simple snowball fight from behind sculpted castle walls.

The snow was not only perfect for snow sculpting, there was enough of it to make an igloo. So we did. Thing 2 and Thing 3 helped me construct a large igloo. We packed snow into the same recycling bins to make large bricks. Then we stacked the bricks up to form the walls. Each course of bricks was slanted more inward so as to make the dome shape. It was great fun and hard work. But when we were done, both boys could easily stand in the igloo. If we really needed to, we could even have used it to weather the storm. At least until it got too warm and started melting. We got an inkling of what the warmer weather would be like the day after we built it. It warmed up to about 33 degrees and it looked like one of the walls would buckle before the day ended, but in the end, it just shrank a little.

Even though we seem like snow wimps here in Western Washington, I am thankful that I got some time off to shovel snow, sculpt with snow, and make structures out of snow. It always makes my day when I can do those activities. So even if I complain a bit in June when we make up the days. And even if it means going to school until July. And even if I need to keep shoveling snow, I will not really complain too much that it is still snowing.

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Hornswoggled · 14 January 2012

I was hornswoggled. I went to the library to see if this writer, Bernadette Pajer, had anything useful to say about writing or publishing and to meet a few other writers. I was only going to stay a few minutes to see what was happening. And then, BAM! I was signed up to be in a writing group.

Before I went to the writing group, I never realized that other people think about writing. Or study about writing. Personally, I have read quite a bit about writing. I have even talked about writing a lot. Just usually not with other people. It was refreshing to know that other people think about writing as much or more than I do. That other people study to learn how to write better. That other people want to gather together to become better writers. I guess that is why I am ready to go back for more.

The other thing I realized from the writing group was that I need support for my writing. When I sat and listened to all these local writers talk about their projects and passions I found that I needed their thoughts and insights. There were unpublished and published writers in the group. There were newbs and accomplished writers. There were poets and song writers and screenwriters and novelists meeting together. All we talked about was writing and what a writing group was all about. I was excited that I had found this group and eager to learn from everybody. But I was still not sure about the whole thing.

As we sat and talked about our craft, I realized that writing can be a lonely endeavor. But it does not need to be. By meeting once a week or so and keeping in touch electronically, we can support and help each other. At least that is what our writing group taught me.

Even though I am ready to go back again, I am not sure what to expect from our little group. We talked about having discussion topics and critiques and timed writes. We talked about projects and passions. We talked about writing. Fortunately, we did not talk about attendance policies. And we were not required to sign any blood oaths. I am glad, because the others might have kicked me out had they known I would not be there much in the spring and fall. Still, I hope that I have something to offer my fellow writing practitioners.

I am glad that I checked out the Monroe Wednesday Writers for I am sure we will all gain from our time together. I am glad that I did more than poke my head in the door to see what was happening. And I am glad that I met Bernadette Pajer and the other writers there. I guess I gained much from going to my first writing group meeting. In the end, I was not hornswoggled.

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