Bits of This 'n That

I read online that it helps young writers if they will write in "bursts". That means several times a day take 10 minutes, chose a topic and just write about it. Throw all caution to the wind! Don't worry about spelling,  punctuation, pleasing an audience or anything else. Simply allow your thoughts to flow from your mind, down your arms, to your fingers and out onto the page. This is good writing practice and it helps aspiring writers to overcome fears and gain confidence. I enjoy doing it, and below is one of my favorite "bursts" (the edited version, of course).

Sept. 3, 2015

This afternoon I had an adventure. I was headed for the drugstore and decided to stop at a park in order to allow Bitsy, my canine companion, to stretch her legs. As usual, we followed the cement path as it wound its way through the grass. On the one side, flowering bushes and cement benches lined the path and on the other, a cement stage with a few faded bleachers. I decided to turn around and retrace our steps through the park to the car, but Bitsy had other plans. She led me down a footpath in the grass to her favorite fountain. This fountain is never on when we are there, but the pool is always full of water and for some reason Bitsy enjoys sniffing around it. I walked slowly past the pool, focusing on the traffic rushing past our grassy island and then turned my attention again to Bitsy, who was calmly sniffing this blade of grass and that spot of dirt. I glanced quickly across the pool and then looked again. There was a young pigeon floating near the fountain! My mind quickly told me, “Leave it there! It is probably sick!”, but my animal loving heart wouldn’t let me turn away. I quickly located a stick and tried to push the soggy bird over to the edge of the pool near me, but it didn’t work. The pigeon fluttered around helplessly and ended up even further from my reach. There was nothing else to do, but sit on the edge of the pool, right there in a busy section of town, and remove my socks and shoes. I then faced a dilemma. I could easily wade over to the pigeon, but Bitsy could not and leaving her loose on the park was not an option. Scooping Bitsy up in one arm, I stepped into the water. The dust on the bottom of the pool scurried away from my toes and the cool water rose to my knees. In just a few steps, I was at the fountain. The pigeon quivered slightly but did not resist as I picked it up in my free hand.  It only took a few moments to waded back to the edge of the pool and set the pigeon down on a warm spot of grass. I’ll never know what became of that pigeon (and thankfully I will never know what thoughts crossed that lady’s mind when she saw a barefoot girl holding a dog and a pigeon in the city fountain), but I am glad that I had such a memorable adventure!