There is something calming about watching the slow progress of grapes drying to form raisins, especially when I am all flushed in the evening from a four-kilometre walk in weather still too hot to give serious credence to the coming of autumn. Both such activities form a useful adjunct to my too busy mind, and yet do not always provide sufficient balm.
Perhaps that is why I have kept the progress of my lone pumpkin a visual secret. You see, there is only one this year, despite the abundant spread of leaves and flowers, and despite the planting at the correct time according to local conventional wisdom going back generations.
Perhaps this is a curious form of delayed gratification; something nullified entirely by the daily picking of red tomatoes which, given their abundance, is set to continue for weeks and weeks.
In the meantime, I can daydream about what the next step on the raisin front should be.
©2018 Allison Wright
Note: This was a “five plus five” – five minutes’ writing followed by five minutes of fissling about.
That elusive pair of jeans 
Please tell me about five by five.
LikeLike
The “five plus five” (or 10+10, or 15+15) is a timed exercise in writing. I use the timer on my phartsmone. The first five minutes (or 10 or 15) is when you write. When the timer goes off, you finish your sentence – quickly. The second five minutes (or 10 or 15) is for revision of what you have written. That’s when you fixed typos, can allow yourself to change word order, add the odd word, and delete a lot. The second half of the exercise is the *crafting* part. I often start these little exercises with a kernel of a thought in my mind – a word or a phrase. You can get other people to suggest a topic, if you are without inspiration, or you can simply view it much as an artist would an exercise in sketching an object – cup, cat, tree, flower – whatever.
The aim is simply to keep writing, and to let ideas surface, with the second half giving you ample opportunity to tidy things up, if you wish. Sometimes I don’t put that much effort into tidying up; other times, it really is necessary!
I like this format, and use if most often when I have a busy schedule, and cannot allow myself hours of contemplation.
Here is the first 15+15 I di: https://wrightonthebutton.com/2016/05/01/butterflies/ – and the photo is of João’s tattoo
I am sure you will love doing this!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you, this sounds like something I can do.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can tell you that after two years of doing this, I have greater facility in expressing myself, and no fear about deleting things. I do not “fall in love” with what I write, since my critical eye seems to have developed a bit. This is good for my professional work too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cutting out writing that serves no purpose except to feed the ego is difficult! “It was a dark and stormy night …”
Thanks for the tuition, I’m copying it out and will definitely be using the technique.
LikeLike
If you’re mentioning tuition, then I am obliged to mention janeishly here at WordPress who first put me on to the idea.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ok! Thanks. These things are meant to be shared!
LikeLike
I can understand that!
LikeLike