The Switch from Summer to Autumn

Summer's heat is lingering here in Finland, but autumn is coming up fast. Cooler mornings, the birch turning gold overnight, geese starting to move on in long, noisy threads. My favourite season, but it's always tinged here with the knowledge that winter won't be far behind and will last too long. I should probably get out and do something in the nice weather while it lasts, but there are never enough hours in the weekend.

Being back at work has meant I've fallen out of the habit of writing regularly. I don't have the time to write every day, so I end up spending a lot of the weekend catching up. I've sat down this weekend with no ideas and haven't produced anything, unsurprisingly. Ideas come to me easier when I spend a little time writing, if not daily, regularly. I've edited, submitted and generally sorted some things, but I miss having something new percolating in my head. I'm unfocused and tired from doing too many other things, including 4 parent-teacher conferences in one evening. Hopefully, I'll be back in the swing of writing next weekend.

This week, I've also dealt with the recording the Helsinki Writers Group is doing for Helsinki Open Waves, liaising with the technician and the 3 other poets. I can't wait to hear the final product, it sounded so cool even without embellishments, but the technician was going to try and add a soundscape behind our poems. 

We had a rough theme, Below the Surface, but we each went our own way with it. When we brought them together there were overlaps and echoes of each other's work that we hadn't planned or expected. It can be a repeated phrase or image or sound though all the poems' subjects are very different. We shared our work briefly in the writing and editing stage and I find those chats often bring a poem to fruition. What you can't quite reach alone is nurtured through sharing it with others. The group has a few poets now, after a long time of me being the only one and these collaborations are so much fun. 

I've also been recording a poem this weekend on my own for The Storms Journal. I have a poem in the first issue which is currently being launched. It's not easy to record at home when you have 3 kids around and cats who are either yowling, chasing things about or have decided mid-poem is an excellent time to purr on your lap. The free online launch is on 10 September. Join us. 

I'm getting used to recording myself, not as bothered by the sound of my own voice. Still not keen on it, but I don't cringe now unless I make a clanger of a mistake live. I haven't done a live reading or open mic in ages. Need to find one, maybe with my writing group.