When I Write

It occurred to me that there are somethings I do very consciously when I am writing, especially a critical conference paper on something I really love. PS; sorry for dropped h's; the keyboard is failing me. For instance, I have gotten in the habit of writing the bibliography of my paper first. Somehow, this creates a frame of reference for my thesis, and it is much easier to create the paper, and to stay on track. I can skim my sources as I go, especially with The Internet. I find doing this skimming helps me to construct my argument, and also to fill in the holes. I know when to stop,and when to keep looking. It is the eve of the 4th; I have memories of great ones, where we threw sparklers in the air, and the night was cold, even. In CA, where we bought fireworks at stands, and had Smokin Sams [I sill have the cardboard little man] and RWB cones. The whole block turned out, and my uncle George took me to the stands and bought me what I wanted. We had homemade ice cream, and lemonade, and life was good. I spent others in Disneyland, and marvelled at the electric light parade and at Tinkerbell sliding down the wire; she was 72 my first year there. Even quiet home 4ths were great; we watched fireworks from our front porch, or drove to the high school, and one year I sang in an opera, where my future husband build the sets, Cavaleria Rusticana. That was 1976, and we went to a flea market, and i put togeter a great album with vintage paper dolls in it, and Mom and I read John Jakes series on the 200th anniversary of the US. LIfe was good. This is why memories, and the things that trigger them, are so important. The artifacts of our lives are more than stuff, they are te road markers of where we've been, and they jumpstart our memories, and ward off fear and dementia.