The First Fog of the Season
And a little bit of Charlie in the Clouds update
We woke to the first fog of the fall season Sunday morning. After a week of beautiful blue skies and highs of 85, the fog was certainly a surprise, a welcomed surprise.
The hazy mist hung low over the grassy field, thick and quiet and even a bit cold. I regretted bringing my chilly smoothie with me to the park; I longed for something warm in my hands, like an apple cider, to pair with the haunting landscape around us. So naturally when we returned home after two lovely hours running around the empty field, I put a pumpkin loaf in the oven (the very one I’m currently eating as I’m writing to you - it’s delicious and pairs well with a foggy morning) and started seriously thinking about Charlie in the Clouds setting.
I recently read in a book1 that if you have nothing at all to talk about, well, there’s always the weather, in which the protagonist replied, how dull, how absurd. I realize that I, in fact, am writing a story (hello, Sonny) about the most small-talk, blandest thing I can imagine: the weather. How dull, how absurd. My dear friend, Lisa, drove into town for a whirlwind visit late last week (it was exactly what I wanted), and I mentioned just how much I wish Bryan and I could just simply talk about the weather, to which she rightly said, no, Jordan, you don’t want to talk about the weather. Life has been filled with wonderful trips to the park, lots of interrupted/distracted conversations while running after a clumsy (but very fast) dare devil toddler, lots of what’s for dinner, what’s that strange smell, lots of did you finish the laundry, have you seen my socks, and can you watch him while I shower questions. I feel like all I do is ask Bryan for something. And I miss talking to him. This isn’t good for me2. At all. This isn’t good for anyone really. I just wish that amidst the requests there’s deep meaningful conversation happening as well: the how are you chats, how can I pray for you, want to hear something funny the kiddo did yesterday.
And so sometimes, yes, I do just simply want to talk about the weather - but not the way I mentioned to Lisa and just talk about what I see, but instead how what I see makes me feel (beside the obvious cold and hot). And that has been Sonny weaving his way into my day. Thus, during our foggy trip to the park on Sunday, Bryan and I had a conversation about the fog. And that conversation inspired another and another. It was an answered prayer really, the fog.
As I sit down to write a bit more of Charlie in the Clouds first chapter, I’m thinking about the consequences of Sonny’s skies. I’m thinking of the delight Sonny has from his skies. But mostly, I’m trying to understand his sky as a character - and just how far to go with it. I’ve decided not to go as far as a talking sky, as intriguing that may be, but far enough that the sky will emote its love for Sonny and react within his story, though Sonny and others won’t quite realize just how alive and responsive the sky is. Does that make sense?
Charlie in the Clouds takes place in a small town nestled between two large mountains known as the Amayan Mountain Range. Before Sonny’s birth, weather was bright and sunny and blue skied, beautiful and lovely. However, the town was plagued with fear of summer wildfires. Blue skies certainly happen but not nearly as often as before; storms now huddle over the little town, trading a fear of wildfires for a fear of floods, mudslides, and soggy socks.
Sonny’s sky will be written as a distant side character, but readers shouldn’t doubt the love the sky has for Sonny (and likewise). I’m also trying to avoid those wonderful cliches. It is so difficult. But it’s making me look at a fog, a rain cloud, lightening, and wind all so differently, and making me creative. Sometimes though, those cliches just can’t be avoided, ya know.
I’ve begun drafting a few chapters already - starting with chapter five because that makes perfect sense lol. But I’m really hoping for novel November to really get going on drafting. Anyone participating in NaNoWriMo?
Thanks for reading and being here. Lisa of course was right. I don’t want to talk about the weather. I want the weather to tell me about itself.
All the lovely things,
JH
I’m hesitant to recommend this book to you. It’s a guilty pleasure kind of read, a regency romance that popped up on my libby recommendation. And well, I’ve only just started, soooo I’ll for sure let you know if it’s worthwhile, but if you don’t hear from me, well, you know it wasn’t worth sharing.
Enneagram 2 to a fault.