random thoughts – Day 1,486 – (Thursday) – buds and polish

I swear I need a personal assistant to remind me of my thoughts. When I’m driving and 100% unable to note a thought for future reference and refinement, great ideas to write about magically appear in my head. It doesn’t matter if it’s the quick trip to work or a longer drive, by the time I park and exit the car, poof, the ideas are gone. Totally evaporated. Like they never happened.

Tree buds. Longer
lasting than idea buds.

This morning, in traffic on the Bridge Street Bridge, there was another one of the daily ideas! For the next two traffic lights and a couple blocks to the garage, it danced in my head and flirted with words. I tried to nurture it and cement it there with sheer will and wishful thinking, but by the time the car was in park and shut off, the budding idea had disappeared, just like every other day. My tote bag and I headed for the stairwell, emptyheaded.

At the end of the drive, the buds of writing ideas that just needed some sunshine and encouragement to blossom are often replaced by a focus on city survival. Important safety elements move to the forefront and take over—like not tripping over uneven bricks or concrete and avoiding the stone slabs that are slippery when wet. There is the dedicated effort to not being run over by the reckless downtown drivers and afternoon hoodlums on bicycles and dirt bikes. That kind of stuff.

Later in the evening, after most of the life and brain function have been depleted, I’m stuck babbling about the weather and what was for lunch or supper. Again. So frustrating. And boring. Where do all the idea buds go?

If I had managed to somehow log those forgotten ideas, I’d have enough material for a dozen books. Ok, maybe not a dozen, maybe one. Even one would be satisfactory. Until I can figure out how to capture the fleeting buds that want to blossom, those nuggets that could be polished into gems, unfortunately, it’s lightly polished turds.  My apologies.