pic from photobucket by weezweez

Well, there goes March, calmly and coolly, at least in these parts. Of course, I know it still feels like winter to some. I’ve been following a friend’s updates from Alaska where a volcano blew its load a couple weeks ago and other friends who somehow live through the winters in exotic places like Minnesota and Wisconsin. They all grew up here in southeast Virginia on the coast with me, but have migrated west since high school. I, for one, could not survive a winter north of the Mason-Dixon line. I like snow, and enjoyed the results of the one snowfall we had this year, at the beginning of this month. Driving through the start of it from Pennsylvania with three kids and a broken windshield wiper, however, sucked, to put it bluntly. So, yes, I am ready for April and spring, and though I may be complaining about our nasty, stifling humidity in another month, I am enjoying the sunshine now. It does make it slightly harder to sit at the desk and not stare out the window, but I am also soaking in some inspiration.

In recent years, I have definitely been hibernating more and feel like I am losing some connection with the outdoors, although I know I get more fresh air and sunshine than many folks out there. Yet I recently was diagnosed Vitamin D deficient by my doc, who told me most Americans who live north of Atlanta are considered deficient in the sunshine vitamin. This discovery has filled in a lot of blanks for me since D is linked to energy, moods and even digestion, all of which I have had issues with more since moving back here from Florida in 2002. Like many adults who either work in offices in front of the computer or at home in front of the computer, I need to get out more. So now I am on prescription Vitamin D [NOT covered by insurance btw!] and I am setting a personal goal for myself, to spend time outside every day (~20 mins is recommended). Easier to do these days, aside from the downpour periods we have been having.

I am hoping this will all lead to a recharge on the writing flow, too. I have been trying to focus on work [primarily, as in "finding some"] but I miss the creativity buzz I get when I am on an upswing. It would be nice if the two were combined in my life, which is the ultimate goal. But, as I was reminded the other day by Uppington, this path I am on right now will lead to another eventually. I have been down rockier ways, that is for sure, and really, though it is in many ways less scenic and exciting, I think I am on the right track. Like most things in this wild world it is all connected: improved nutrition leads to better health, leads to better writing leads to work, yada, yada… at least that is the theory I am working with this week.

The Poem-A-Day Challenge starts tomorrow which will be a great creativity exercise. I think it fits with Spring, too [how appropriate that April is National Poetry Month, no matter how "cruel" she may be]. I plan on blogging them, so I hope you like amateur poetry