Colds and Schizophrenia

I have a rotten cold.  I managed to walk the dog this morning, but found myself ambling along rather than marching as I usually do - the walk took literally twice the usual length of time.  It felt odd, wandering about like that - and my thought processes also felt numbed, much slower than usual.  Generally as I am walking I have a million ideas crowding my mind, and often nowadays I note them down on my phone, intending to do something with them later.  Then I forget, and chance upon them weeks later, 'Me, you in a crowded room/You keep staring at my shoes' and think, what on earth was that about...oh yes, I started to write a poem about claustrophobia.  Must get back to that one day...  But no interesting thoughts or snippets came to me today.  I decided not to fret about it, but to just enjoy the sunshine and the surroundings.

I have been teaching a writing class - well, more of a writing group, just some friends.  We meet in a lovely location, with an amazing view out over the river, and write for a couple of hours once a fortnight.  I set exercises and we all write them, and have a coffee and a natter half way through.  I suppose, really, I have realised a dream - I always wanted to be a teacher and now I am, in my own small way.  Anyway, although the groups are only fortnightly they seem to creep up on me very quickly, so this afternoon I asked Paul to look after the children while I shut myself in the kitchen to do my 'homework' while I cooked the dinner.  I feel it is only fair that I should do the homework I set for the others.  I also intended to write up a lesson plan for the next class. 

Two hours later I have just finished my homework and am very pleased - not because it is very good, but because I have written a whole poem for the first time in ages and that feels like an achievement.  Also because I did get my brain into gear after all - on the dog walk I felt as though I wasn't able to fully function, but all I needed to do was to sit down and force myself to concentrate.  I haven't done the lesson plan, but can do that this evening when the children are in bed.

I'll put the poem up here in a week or so once I've had another look at it.

That's all for now.  More soon, when my brain is functioning properly again.

Oh, my poetry book 'Mudeford Quay and other poems' is free today on Amazon Kindle.  Sorry, I should have mentioned it earlier in the day.  Here's the link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mudeford-Quay-other-poems-ebook/dp/B005BVL66U