Anne Lamott, Bit by Bit, and Microwaved Water…

Our middle child sat for the SAT, at the outset of this week, but not before giving the completed term papers to the respective teachers who had assigned them.

Having read them several times when helping with the editing I learned much about the Gulf of Tonkin.

In editing the second paper I learned how our middle child views their faith in comparison to and contrast with our priest whose faith in God has provided him with the answers to all his questions–that of becoming comfortable with not knowing, the immense of uncertainties of life.

I couldn’t help noting that our priest and I seem to be in the same business–that of not knowing and our work demanding we develop a level of ease with being the dark much of the time.

As writers we must write conscious of the rules of writing, how best to shape and order our words for ease of reading,  and  yet detached from the outcome what we write.

The science project my 5th grader chose to conduct involves observing how a plant and a flower fare in various types of water, 4 types to be exact: tap water, bottled water, boiled water and water that has been microwaved.

Natural, purified, trial by fire and zapped.

That’s how I feel at the end of these past 7 days.

The results of the experiment should be interesting.

The flower and plants standing in the water that was microwaved are already showing signs of distress.

As I along with our 5th grader observe the changes taking place over the next week I’ll move onto reading the manuscript to The House one more time, a process I am not looking forward to.

How many times have I read this manuscript to my novel, The House?

I have completely lost count.

And then there’s my other novel, the one I’ve been trying to take through a 7th draft of revision and editing.

Bit by bit, or what is it that writer, Anne Lamott says, “Bird by bird.”