I broke my own rule. And I blame Trader Joe’s. On an unseasonably warm Friday afternoon I stood in line outside the aforementioned purveyor of all things delicious (as one does in 2020) awaiting my turn to meander the aisles. Behind the glass windows a customer loaded his cart with a decorated with brightly hued jack-o-lanterns. I need that.
That turned out to be either pumpkin ale or pumpkin hard cider. Neither of which, per my strict no pumpkin before October rule is appropriate in September. So naturally, I added a six pack to my cart along with three bottles of wine, coffee, and assorted gourmet cheeses. I only ever go to Trader Joe’s for the necessities, I swear.
I am however, not so much of a gourd glutton that I have cracked the top of a bottle of pumpkin ale yet, though I realize that by the time I post what I write today, the second to last day of September, it will by then actually be October. (Come back for a full review later this month.)*
“I paint, I draw, and I write in seasons.”
The point of my anecdote, if there is one, is that I love pumpkin. But I love it as a seasonal treat. I would hardly want watermelon in January as much as I would want pumpkin in September, or god forbid, August! Seasons, though (thanks to global warming) they don’t always align with the weather forecast give me structure both in terms of what’s in my cupboard and my closet.
The same is true of my creative process. I paint, I draw, and I write in seasons. Often no more predictable than Iowa weather (see 2020 Derecho**) it is how I come to terms with the fact that I may not devote every day, every week, every month of the year to my true passion, illustration. What I can always predict with complete accuracy however is that every dry spell is inevitably broken by the rains of a long awaited creative brainstorm.
*Too much nutmeg! Even for a PSL-devotee such as myself.
** At the time of actually posting this, it has snowed for two days. In October.