"S-t-r-e-t-c-h---I-t---O-u-t"

We're thinking of taking down the Christmas tree, my family and I. Only thinking of it, mind you. It's a 15-footer we got for a song, and it's so bright and beautiful in our great room. Besides which, our kitty (who's only two Christmasses old) finds it endlessly amusing -- which, naturally, makes it endlessly amusing for the rest of us, too. I figure, this tree gave its one-and-only life to bring us joy, and it's still sucking up water and hanging onto its needles to do just that, so what's the hurry? Some friends were over yesterday and commented on it, but not disparagingly, as they had taken theirs down only as recently as Valentine's Day. "One of our neighbors showed up in January and offered to HELP us take it down," they said, "like, 'hint! hint!'"

OK, listen. There's not one of us using our homes as a Wal-Mart (God, I hope I'm right about that!), so why should we think we gotta shove the Christmas beauty out the door to make room for all those red hearts of Valentine's Day, only to have THEM gone by Feb. 15 to make room for the green shamrocks of St. Pat's? Oh! Did I miss the Washingtonian silhouettes of President's Day? Yes, and the masks and beads of Mardi Gras? Easter eggs, anyone?

You know, the wheel of the year is gonna turn right on schedule, whether we decorate appropriately or not. So again I say, What's the rush? If it's beautiful, let it be!

ALLLL THIS TO SAY... I'm at work on a chapter called "S-t-r-e-t-c-h---I-t---O-u-t" and would love your input. My birthday was a couple weeks ago, but it has long been my practice to begin my celebration with (can't resist) "the dawning of the age of Aquarius" around Jan. 20 and to keep it going AT LEAST until "short February's done." Since my book is about ringing in a whole new decade, I'm thinking, now HERE'S a celebration worth stretching out longer than usual.

Why not take the whole year? Given our particular place in the cosmos, that good ol' wheel takes 52 weeks to complete one turn. Think of it! You could celebrate the Big 5-Oh in 50 different weekly ways -- and still have a two-week vacation left over, for doing absolutely nothing!

Any thoughts? Do tell!

Love, Sheila

P.S. This chapter is also about stretching out in the muscles-and-joints sense of the phrase. If you'll soon 'leave your 40s' (or have done already), I don't need to tell you about the increasing importance of stretching out your BOD. Indeed, maybe YOU could tell ME (i.e. again, I'm looking for stories to illustrate the point)!

Which "Way" to Go Next?

Hey there. Been a while. I could re-use the header from this blog's very first entry: "Well, it's about darn time!" Been writing, of course, just not here. Turned in a couple chapters last week -- Way #4: "Run for Your Life!" (about walking, actually) and Way #6: Pause (about taking a moment to center yourself -- or a year on sabbatical -- and any and all in-between sorts of "Time Out!")

But why talk about last week?

I'm regrouping (speaking of Pause). Also retooling my writing plan. 'Til now, I've worked on a chapter or two at a time, sticking with 'em until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Oh, me and my metaphors! Now I want to dash out back into the garden...

It's planting time. I’ve been throwing scraps and trimmings onto this book’s compost pile for years. Been watering it, turning it. Now the stuff is rich and ready to spread. I’ve got ginormous “heaps” of writing in several docs, including a growing one named (in my editor's honor) “Words On Paper, Baby!” My next move is to pull these many passages apart and slot them into the chapters that best fit ‘em. Another big piece is the recently rediscovered tape of the very first interview I did for this book, almost exactly 3 years ago, with a wonderfully talented, world-wise travel writer based in Santa Fe. Oh my God! Just listened to it during my customary long, hot, post-healing-session bath, and IT IS RICH! I almost cried, I was so happy with the conversation’s breadth and depth.

Anyway, these accumulated nuggets will “seed” my many Ways. Then, you watch, chapters will be flowering in no time! My goal is to sprout all 50 “beds” by April 26, the day my daughter and I board a bus to Mexico (dual-language exchange program). Expect the whole book to be “knee high by the 4th of July,” with fruit on the vine throughout by time the summer storms blow in across the Rio Grande. (They’ll dance around us, as ever, these storms. “Gush on us!” we’ll pray.) Harvest time will find me rushing, as usual, to keep up with the pickings and to “put everything up” before my (almost) winter deadline. Inevitably, each crop’s unique “processing” will command my concentrated effort. Only then will finished chapters crowd into my outbox, like jars in the pantry.

I'll get a 'Blog Me Back' question up here soon. Meanwhile, I invite you to peruse the "titles and teasers" of the 50 Ways at the 'official website'! See if any of my chapter ideas evoke stories from your own middle-of-life. Then come back here and tell, tell -- or should I say, blog blog!

OK, back to work!
Thanks for checking in.
Sheila