Twice a year, my kitchen window and I stage a contest of wills. The sash for this sucker has warped slightly off true and it's just enough to keep the bottom latch from catching. Which means that I can never snap my window fully closed… or if I manage to, it's a bear to get the latch free again.
So far, I’ve won the skirmishes, but I'm afraid every victory brings me closer to a final defeat. This past fall, the stinkin’ thing was particularly recalcitrant, frustrating me enough that I ended up slamming it home with a degree of reverberating force that warned the window to, “Go Ahead - Make My Day.”
This worked.
The latch snapped close and stayed snug all winter long.
But now…, it’s spring.
Spring - with its bright sunny days and climbing temperatures.
Spring - time for the window’s revenge.
It probably wasn’t really a million degrees in my kitchen the other day…, but I was sick with a fever and wracked by coughing - a state that doesn’t require much for hyperbole to set in. Flushed and sweating, baking in the glare of the afternoon sun, I fought valiantly with my window, desperate to gain the upper hand. To no avail.
Round one went to the window.
Two days later, in somewhat improved health, I tried again.
I pushed, I pulled, I tugged.
I smacked, I shook.
I hung from the check rail, I menaced with a hammer.
Nothing - Round two to the window…
Desperate, I called Tiny Woman and asked if she could lend a set of hands.
She came over, bringing her husband along for backup. Which was a very good thing because it ended up taking all three of us to manage the necessary mechanics. Two of us huddled in one corner, pushing down on that side with all our might, while Tiny Woman stuck head and fingers between our bodies and manipulated the latch free. YAY! Flushed with victory, we stood around congratulating each other as we shook the blood back into our hands.
And all I could think was, “Good thing no one needs us to change a lightbulb…”
It's Reflections time for the April A to Z Challenge again…
The organizers ask us to do this as a way of getting some input, but I figure it’s also a way to encourage others to think about participating next year. So in that light…
In case you don’t know how it works, the challenge is to put up a post a day, every day except Sundays, in April - with a daily topic that works its way through the alphabet. You can have a theme for your posts, or you can go random. You join the challenge by putting your name on a master list once at the beginning of the challenge, or by posting a link for every single post on the daily letter link sheets, or by doing both. It’s pretty free form. From there, it’s basic blog-hop etiquette - visit others and comment, following all crumb trails and rabbit holes as you encounter them.
Is it fun?
Yes.
Is it a lot of work?
Yes.
In fact, one of the reasons I make my visits from the daily link lists rather the master sheet is that a large number of people who sign up never manage to post. Or they do one or two, then peter out. I’m not wagging fingers - I get it… I just don’t choose to spend my time visiting the non-participants, so I stick with the sure thing, even if there is a little juggling to figure out who is new and who has already been visited. A lot of people find one long static list easier to manage, however, don't worry! There are options for both the patient and impatient among us.
Will I get gajillions of new readers?
For the month of April… maybe... possibly.
After that?
Prolly not.
I love doing the challenge but I think it is best considered as a tool to spark your own creativity, rather than a growth hormone for your blog. Very few of the people who visit during the challenge will come back again, even during April, much less later on. There are, of course, notable exceptions. (Hi Arti!… and Emily!… and Hilary!… and Mimi!) But that’s a function of your writing and the readers interests, not a flaw in the Challenge. The Challenge is simply meant to provide an opportunity for people to expand beyond their usual boundaries. After that, it’s all up to you and your words.
There will, of course, be those less-than-sterling moments. A few bloggers who never published my comments, the ones who replied to everyone except me, the comment I myself left where I misjudged my flippancy and crash-landed well over the border into “appallingly snotty”… (still trying to figure out a graceful way to retrieve that one!)
No, the Challenge is not a perfect idyll.
But it’s a lot of fun, organized by a group of people who put a lot of hard work into pulling it all together, who can all, I think, be very proud of the results.
So maybe next year, you’ll join us?
And, just because I gave myself an earworm while contemplating titles, please blast back to 1972 with me. (We can even order hushpuppies!)
