Linda Zajac

a graceful sinuous body

I vanished for a week to see Julia graduate from Air Force Basic Training in Texas.  I dropped out of social media and disconnected from everything except email.  Surprisingly, I didn't miss any of it.

This great blue heron let me get very close.

Now I wonder if the loss of a writing network kept me up at night tossing and turning, pondering over this writing journey that is a lot like Cheryl Strayed's quest to hike the Pacific Crest Trail with a Volkswagen beetle on her back.  I was restless and weary and tired of struggling.  I thought about taking a course at a college, something, anything, to move in a different direction.

Citgo oil refinery in Corpus Christi Texas

One morning during breakfast three feral cats stared at me through the glass as I scanned USA Today.  I read an article that ignited my dwindling desire for social media.  It was about how the Koch brothers were contemplating buying newspapers like the Hartford Courant--the same Koch brothers that had everyone convinced that tobacco posed no health risks and that climate change was from natural causes.  There was absolutely no way I was going to keep my subscription if it was produced by a group of conservative oil tycoons that made a habit of misinforming the general public.  The article fueled my interest in getting the facts out.

great blue heron on Corpus Christi beach

When I returned to spring in New England, I eased back into reading blog history, scrolling through Facebook posts, and prioritizing my writing goals.  In my own bed, I slept soundly. 

feet that looked like a music stand

I've made some minor changes to this blog under school visits and writing.  I stopped listing all articles that were accepted, paid for, but not yet published.  No one cares unless it's a published clip.  I have little hope that an article about bioacoustics being used to study golden lion tamarins will ever be published.  After being given 3 publication dates for an article on bioluminescence, I will believe it's published when the clip is in my hand.  Before leaving for Texas and after much debate, I signed up for the 21st Century Nonfiction Conference.