It's windy here in NW Ohio. Very windy. And it's put a cramp in harvesting.
Combines are sort of like a digestive tract: everything goes in the front, the good stuff is 'absorbed,' and the rest is spewed out the rear. It's this waste--a mix of dry plant particles and fine dust that can be flammable--in combination with the wind that makes harvesting on days like today scary. When we were combining earlier, all of the stuff that was supposed to come out the back wasn't--the wind was blowing it back inside the combine, near the hot engine compartment. It's a potential fire hazard and if the combine were to catch fire, the field would catch fire as well. The high winds would spread it rapidly. We've already had one smoldering incident this harvest season and didn't want to risk another.
So we walked away.
Sometimes, when writing or editing, I feel the need to push myself. To keep going, no matter what kind of crap I'm putting on paper. No matter how tired and cranky I am. I frustrate myself and get to thinking my MS will never be worth anything more than kindling for a bonfire. I know at that point, it's best to just walk away.
What's the point of harvesting a few acres on one windy day if the end result is a fire that puts you out of commission for days or more?
What's the point of continuing to write if nothing is meshing and the end result is a bunch of sewage that leads you to believe your a horrible writer that will never get published?
Sometimes we need to back up. Take a break. Re-energize and re-group. Have some fun. Have a few drinks. Get lost in a book or watch a movie.
Today, I'm setting aside both writing and harvesting, and I'm heading to the big city for some retail therapy.
What have you done lately to re-energize?
Retail therapy sounds like a good cure... I will take a book to lunch, sit back, read and just drift away from whatever is driving at me.
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