There is a brief time in North Texas when the world is crisp and green. If you ignore all the allergens, you can kid yourself you live in paradise. But as quickly as spring arrives, it gives way to Texas heat.
The seasons affect my writing schedule. While most people I know are excited for longer days and warmer weather, it means my favorite writing time of the year is waning. Soon, it will be bright and in the mid-90s until after 9:00 p.m., when I’m often asleep!
So much for going to bed early and waking up early. Evening walks are pushed back a couple hours after our preferred time to avoid the worst of the heat. Because of that, I stay up later. My schedule reverses: I end up writing at night and sleeping in. I get grumpy and succumb to cabin fever in the summer.
(Yes, I am complaining.)
Awareness
When you’re aware of an issue, you can adapt. My usual means of adapting during hot weather is to change my schedule. This year, as much as I prefer walking outside, the solution may be hitting the gym instead — doing all I can to keep my preferred schedule. Or…I’ll give in to the Lone Star State.
Texas is hottest in August, and it’s usually my worst writing month of the year. But last August kicked off my most productive time of the year, in part, because I was aware it is usually hot — and I fought against that.
(It is rare one cannot fight for writing time if that is what they want.)
Spring Equinox
Today is the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere. The eyes of Texas have already been watering for months with allergies, and will only get worse in the coming weeks. There will be days with summer-like temperatures well before summer begins. Storms that can remind humans just how mortal they are.
But there will also be that green time when the world seems new, before everything turns dry, brown, and brittle from the summer’s heat.
While fall and winter are my favorite writing seasons (and favorite Texas seasons in general), writing can grow year-round as long as you’re willing to adapt.
So…Here’s to greener things…
