Thursday, or Thereabouts - March 9, 2023

"I arise today

In the name of Silence
Womb of the Word,

In the name of Stillness
Home of Belonging,

In the name of Solitude
Of the soul and the Earth."

John O’Donohue, Irish poet and philosopher
“Matins” (Morning Prayer)
From To Bless the Space Between Us
https://johnodonohue.com/

Wrapped in warmth and sunshine I sat in the sunroom yesterday, my body comfortable in my writing space, my home. The many months since I last wrote a blog post or even a journal entry have been event-FULL while still wrapped in the pandemic. I could re-visit all the happenings, ups, downs, and sideways, but why bother with stuff in the rear view mirror? Today is a new day so I'll begin there and see where my "write" hand takes me.

In my journal writing I have noticed that in a frantic attempt to keep up with my thoughts, my pen moves onto the next word without finishing the last one. The page becomes messy with angry cross outs only to be replaced with a similar error and another cross out. My joy in writing comes in large part from physical act of writing longhand with a fountain pen. Errors in that process are truly annoying! Perhaps I need to make an effort to write more slowly. The thoughts can't disappear that fast can they? Maybe they can...I mean sometimes when speaking I start a sentence and then forget where I was going with it. Normal perhaps for one pushing 70 but not welcome. 

Just this morning I spent an hour looking for one of my favourite fountain pens. I was sure that I had tucked it away in a safe location before we went on vacation. This pen is my most expensive and I didn't want to come home to find it missing. Yet that is exactly what happened, no break in or theft required. I searched all the likely hidey holes umpteen times then went on to the highly unlikely but you never know places, before coming back to the more usual drawers and cupboards. 

The man then joined in the search, no doubt drawn by the sound of drawers slamming and expletives. Standing in the kitchen I looked across the harvest table to engage my husband in a discussion of search strategy.  I was about to open my mouth when my brain registered what my eye had seen amongst the clutter of stuff on the table - a tan leather case standing upright in its usual place, the case I had bought at the Toronto Pen Show in October. My inner critic screamed in my head, "You IDIOT! It's in the pen case the one YOU bought to hold all the precious fountain pens!"

Oh crap, Really? Well, yes there it was right where it belonged, tucked safely upright, hidden in plain sight. Humbled but not defeated, I headed to the warmth and light of my writing space, opened a brand new journal and began to write again. 

It's another sunny day here today and sunroom beckons. See y'all later.

 

A to Z Challenge - P is for Pen and Paper

image courtesy of Laywine's

Almost all of my writing begins with pen on paper, as opposed to fingers on keyboard. There is a highly favoured writing instrument for this activity - a fountain pen. Not just one, but three lovelies await my write hand.  The oldest is Montblanc No. 22 that my husband bought for me some 50 years ago. It's quite light in the hand and was one a line of 'economy' pens that Montblanc made in the 1960's. It has stood up well, but as it is no longer my 'go to' pen, it rests quietly on my desk, an emblem of fine writing.

Montblanc No. 22

Fifteen years ago, a Parker Sonnet, made in France, was added. The perfect weight of this pen in my hand, the fine balance; the perfect tapered thickness of barrel between my fingers, the lush coolness; the satin smooth flow of specially blended ink accompanied by ever so soft scratching sounds as letters become words at the tip of a golden nib; all work together to make writing the most natural, most soothing, most pleasurable thing in the world.

Parker Sonnet

Two years ago, I set off in search of a third pen to join the lineup. I discovered Laywine's  - Purveyors of fine pens, papers, and writing accessories in Toronto.


OMG if you love writing by hand, if you long for the feel and flow of a good pen, then this is the store for you, (but perhaps not for your credit card). Not only is there a magnificent array of fine writing instruments, there are also journals and stationery, many specifically crafted for the fountain pen of your dreams. Add to this, an eye-popping selection of inks from around the world and you know that you have arrived in handwriting heaven.






After having been asked a host of questions about my writing habits, the salesperson presented me with several pens to test drive. Weight, balance, ink flow, nib size were all tried before I settled on Lamy 2000, a piece of impeccable engineering.

Lamy 2000

Enough already with the drooling over a pen!  What about paper? The fountain pen comes with a history and character that only some papers can bear. The paper must be smooth enough to allow the pen to move unimpeded across the page, thick enough to resist bleed-through and plentiful enough to encourage whole truths. The store had just right paper too, of course, and even a number of paper-perfect journal books.

And now to write -

Balanced perfectly in my write hand, my fingers cradling the smooth slim body, I gently press the tip to the page. Words are delivered to paper with just the right amount of ink and the page receives them with grace, spelling mistakes and all!

©2018 April Hoeller