Dirty Distractions

 I  should be writing. I seem to repeat that phrase in my head quite often. Here, in the midst of chaos, I’ve been given time to write. Just do it. Write. I think it again today while I stare at my laptop screen and the blinking cursor on the blank page, but there are just too many distractions.
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A deer in the backyard roams around, lunching on tall sprigs of grass that should be mown by now. After a few minutes, the deer wanders on to the neighbor’s yard. My attention turns back to the blank page before me. I type one sentence before stopping. Now I’m thinking about my lunch. What should it be today? Salad? Leftovers? Chips and salsa? It’s almost noon, so maybe I should eat and watch the news?
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One short break later—long enough to watch one episode of “House Hunters” on HGTV and grab lunch—I’m again staring at my one sentence. One little ole sentence. I need to step it up and get some work done. I manage a paragraph before nature distracts me again. A brownish bunny with a fluffy, white tail hops through the backyard. It’s cute, so I watch it for a few minutes. Maybe I shouldn’t set up my laptop so close to a window?

It’s only a few minutes before I’m distracted again by other bunnies. The ones inside that I notice holding on for dear life to the light fixture above the dining room table where I’m writing today. Okay, where I’m supposed to be writing today. I really try to ignore those bunnies. They aren’t cute. Obviously, I have ignored them or there wouldn’t be a whole colony living in the light fixture. Sighing, I save my meager paragraph and go get the dust mop, now intent on wiping out the colony of ugly bunnies.

After all that work, I need a break. Maybe watching another episode of “House Hunters” will inspire me to build on that one paragraph (hey, it made sense at the time).