The snow is gone. We've had a bit too much rain, but the lilacs are lovely this year. The yard (I won't pretend and call it grass) is green and getting a bit too high. It's amazing how fast everything can change. When I put together the last issue of Vision, I didn't think I was ever going to get past the winter.

Perhaps that's a metaphor for writing -- that no matter how long some process seems, there will always be spring again. Is it the middle that drags out for you? Editing? If you just accept that there is going to be an end to it, and keep pressing through, you'll get to the spring again.

Sure, you could curl up and ignore it -- but you know, even as difficult as the last winter had been, there were some absolutely lovely days I would have missed if I'd closed all the curtains and pretended that it didn't exist. It would have gone away, but I wouldn't have gotten anything from it. I do have some lovely pictures.

Giving up because its winter is not an option. Not in real life and not in writing. The only difference is that you can draw winter out far too long in writing. It's far better to push through it and get it done rather than dragging it out. You'll feel better at the other side.

And be on the lookout for those pretty scenes you can capture forever. If you aren't there to do it, no one will ever see them.