A Writer’s Antenna

Somehow June got away from me and I’m not sure if July will be better. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t been thinking of the blog and the quirky nature of what captures our attention as writers.

My antenna can go up with a turn of a phrase or a descriptive word that I haven’t heard in awhile. I wrote before that an unusual news item got my mind buzzing about a solution to a snag in my plot line. One never knows when that sweet moment will happen. You need to be open to grabbing it and hoarding it in our honey comb of writers memories.(You might have noticed I have been having fun with pun filled analogies here)

Yesterday was one of those absolutely beautiful days in the Pacific Northwest. They generally are somewhat iffy until after the fourth of July. This one came early.. on July third.  (:  I decided to work and absorb my vitamin D at the same time so I took some stuff I had to do and set up an area outside near a flower bed.

I have some favorite flowers blooming right now, that are blue star shaped bells radiating from a single stem in a starburst formation. They are similar to the look of the multi points of light that fireworks give out. Each blossom opens in its own time with the ones near the center tightly closed and young while some on the perimeter are mature, beautifully blue cones with the petal tips flared back invitingly. As I worked I saw any number of bees taking the flowers up on their invitation. They would buzz on up and into the cones they would go, then out again and on to the next open blossom.

As I watched a rather chubby bumble bee came along. He went into the open blossoms, one by one then before going onto the next flower he hovered at a bud that hadn’t opened yet. It was blue but oval in shape because the bloom was still closed, the tips of the petals sealed together. This intrepid bee wasn’t going to wait. He landed on the top of the blossom and started to push his head against the closed edges of the petals. Watching him I shook my head. “ There are more open over there. That one isn’t open for visits yet!” Well, that bee wasn’t of the same opinion. As I watched he stuffed himself inside the bud. It rocked a bit as he moved about, being such a tight fit. You could almost see his striped body bulging out the petals. Just as I wondered if he was stuck he wiggled out and flew on to the next flower.

The delightful tableau left me chuckling and storing away the memory. It will find it’s way into a story. It’s too sweet not to. But it also struck me as a message of perseverance. While we are looking for and visiting the open doors there may be a few that aren’t quite closed and we can fit through. Here is wishing each and every one of us a moment covered in the dust of our dreams!


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