I feel like I’ve been a bit all over the place this week. Like with hitting foul balls, not striking out, but not really getting anywhere either. Probably because I keep changing things up. I don’t know why I have so much trouble settling into one project or even one routine, but I do know fighting against that just means I don’t get anything done. So, I guess I’ll just go with it for now.
Writing
As I said, I’ve been a bit all over the place. I started out the week a bit more focused, but by Wednesday, I was itching to work on all the things. I ended up making a list of all the projects and what the next scene or step I needed to finish for each one. And I’ve been working through those. It’s a lot of projects, so I’m not going to list out all of them. I think, going forward, I’ll have a more general update here, and I’ll share those snippets in Notes. I’ve added 6546 words this week.
Reading
I read Sing Anyway by Anita Kelly. This was a novella, so a pretty quick read, and I loved it. Especially the fact that it featured a nonbinary character who didn’t figure that out until they were older. The narrative tends to be that everyone figures that out when they’re younger. That they “always knew”. Except I didn’t. I never even heard the term “nonbinary” or anything similar until I was in my thirties. And finally it was like something fit me. As much as I love books I wish had been around when I was a teenager(hell, or even early 20s), I want more like this as well.
Crafting
I started a bigger project over the weekend and have nearly finished it. It’s a few lyrics from the song “Blueneck” by Chris Housman. This was the song that started my queer country playlist on Spotify, that is now over 100 songs long. I surrounded it by hearts in different pride colors. I only have 1 more of those to finish, so I’ll likely share it next week.
Story
This week I have another installment of the Castlemore Residences series. This is the second one I wrote, and it doesn’t have any connections to the first. Some of these may build on the others, while others will stand on their own.
“I wanted to speak with you.”
Edna looked up from the grouping of flowers she was tending. Bree hadn’t hired her to take care of the gardens, but it was something that brought her joy, so she did it anyway. Usually, only the children from the complex came over to her when she was here, though. The other residents seemed content to leave her to the work. Not that she wouldn’t carry on a conversation with anyone who spoke to her. She got along with everyone here. Better than she had anywhere else she’d ever lived.
Of course, it wasn’t any of the children towering over her now. They’d been out here earlier, and she’d entertained the two youngest residents with tales of the fairies who kept the garden safe overnight. Four- and five-year-olds were so… open. She loved it.
She wasn’t so sure Marta would be so engaged by her tales, though. Edna wiped her hands on her pants and stood to face her neighbor. “What can I help you with? Did you forget about something you were supposed to do and need flowers to apologize again?”
“That happened once,” Marta said, scowling. “And Aodhan had no idea why I was giving him flowers. It got awkward. Not doing that again.”
Edna couldn’t quite hold in her snicker at that. She knew everyone assumed Marta and their roommate were more than that, but she’d seen no evidence of that. Most of them assumed the same about her and Briana, just because they were two trans women living together. Like that meant a damn thing.
Marta scowled harder, then their face softened. “And no, I don’t need to apologize to anyone this time.”
“So, it’s not my knowledge of flowers for which you’ve sought me out.”
“I did not say that. I just do not need them for myself.”
Edna sighed. Lars, the teen who lived in the apartment on the other side of Edna and Briana, always said how great a teacher Marta was. Patient with the students who needed it. Edna had never seen that side of them, though. “What can I help you with, then?”
“I’m starting a lesson on plant biology after this week. I have my usual slides and the text, but… well, there are some students that don’t learn well that way. I don’t want them to get left behind. I thought maybe I’d be able to bring them to the greenhouse, and they could actually see it in action.”
Edna tilted her head to one side as she considered Marta and their request. After a moment, she gave a brief nod. “We have plants at different levels of growth, if that’s what you want to show them. Also, I could demonstrate how we splice certain variations together to create something new.”
Marta beamed, actually beamed at her. It was something Edna had never seen before. “Really? That is something you can do? That would be absolutely wonderful. There are so many students who would gain more from that than reading about the process. When can we set this up for?”
***
Marta leaned back against the door once they were back in the apartment. Aodhan looked up from his computer. Marta didn’t know what he was doing, probably designing another game. They didn’t understand why he did that in his spare time, but they didn’t need to. It was Aodhan’s thing.
“Everything okay?” he asked. “You didn’t find Edna?”
“Oh, I did,” Marta said. “I swear that woman’s energy exhausts me.”
Aodhan let out a soft laugh. “Being in the vicinity of other people exhausts you, Mar. Was she able to help you, at least?”
“Yeah. I’ll take my class to the greenhouse in two weeks. I really hope this does the trick.”
He smiled before turning back to his computer. “With the two of you working together, I don’t see how it couldn’t.”