The other day, I had a conversation with my sister that made me think about time, mortality, and my perception of these. She watched a video in which a former supermodel now in her sixties, said that if she were to live until her eighties, she will have about 20 more summers to enjoy. Being about her age, the realization that 20 summers is not too many hit me. Imagine writing these numbers down and crossing each one as time goes by and realizing that 20 is such a finite number and thus, the fragility and brevity of one’s existence. Overwhelming on paper for sure.
Time is aloof. It is long, it is short, it is real, but also measured by our kind, by our humanity. It is freely given; it is used and misused. It is ignored when we think we have much of it but wanted when it seems scarce or limited. It is a blessing but a curse for many. Perception defines it, for every person differently; we give it meaning. It is constant but forgettable. It is natural but also, supernatural and mystifying.
Summers come and go. I never thought about them as a finite number. When I think of what I did last summer, much of it eludes me. Did I enjoy it? Did it just go by as any other season? For some reason, when you start numbering your summers, your life seems to have gone faster, time seems to speed up, and the realization of how fragile one’s existence is, and how special it is as well, certainly puts many things into perspective. Memories are markings of the passing of time. I guess that my point to all of this rambling is that time is a gift, a blessing we are given, and our days are not guaranteed. No one knows for sure what this day will bring, or if it will be the last, so in that sense, would a number even matter?
For us time is linear, but also, it is more than that. Just think of everything that happens at once in your life, with all your interactions, and the people in your circle and beyond, all around you, all interconnected in some supernatural and natural way. Live well the blessing of a new day and be grateful for the time that has been given to you; it is all a gift from above. I am certainly looking forward to this summer.
Ten years ago, we moved to rural Virginia and fixed up a dilapidated farmhouse. I ended up naming it Black Crow Cottage, for the many crows who live and play here, one of my favorite birds. I love crows, and I love their song, so when I saw that we had so many around, it was natural to name the farmhouse just that. Over the years, we have done a lot of work on the place. We made it livable; we gave it its soul back. This old farmhouse (circa 1910) has given much to us as well. For those stopping by and visiting this blog for the first time, here’s a picture of the way it looked when we bought it. For more on the whole process you can visit my older posts under Fixing an Old Farmhouse or Restoring an Old Farmhouse.
The old farmhouse as it was, dilapidated, covered in weeds, almost destroyed.
After all this time, we got to know the old farmhouse better. We were respectful of its past but also lived in it knowing that it could be our home in our golden years. Knowing this, we experienced the house and all it had to offer but realized that there are many things that we need to change for making it a permanent residence. This is what this post is all about, the changes that we know we have to make, now that we have lived in it for a decade. Also, we have decided to give it a refresh and paint the entire place, while we rethink the layout. In addition, we love the tight small community in which we live. After the monstrosity data center ordeal that we all lived through, it has been more apparent how special this community is.
Our initial layout served us at the beginning but now we realized that we need a bedroom downstairs. The stairs to the second floor are very narrow and steep (I cannot fit my entire foot on the step). After hurting my knee during the summer, I realized how important it was for us to have a bedroom downstairs. The original layout had a bedroom downstairs, where we set up the living room in order to make the old living room a dining room. The kitchen was an eat-in kitchen. For long term living, the old set up was much more suitable, so we are reverting to the old set up. Recently, we repainted both rooms and switched the living room to where the dining room was, eliminated the dining room, and now, we are in the process of converting the old living room into a bedroom. We are reverting to the way things used to be and functioned in this old farmhouse.
Below, is a progression of the stairwell during all this time, from the beginning until now. We changed the color and added a much-needed longer railing.
The living room is now where the dining room was. Our family is spread out so we really did not need a large dining room. This is a progression of the old living room, which will become a bedroom, and the new set up for the living room as it is now, located where the dining room was.
The kitchen is in the middle of a refresh right now, we need to paint, and half of it is done. Due to the recent cold temperatures, we stopped painting. The temperatures here have been in the 30s during the day, and in the teens or single digits during the night, sometimes, even a below zero negative wind chill. It has been unusually cold. Here is a progression of the kitchen from its awful early stages when we bought the farmhouse, until now. We still have some work to do, which will continue during this year.
The back room will remain the mudroom/cat room, and it will be repainted. The upstairs will remain a bedroom, and an office, but will be repainted. However, this area has experienced an increase in energy bills, as well as many other counties have, and we are planning to do some energy efficient changes in the future, which will include encapsulating the crawlspace, new roof and insulated siding, as well as closing the second floor by adding a door/wall at the end of the stairway, which can be closed during winter to keep the heat mainly downstairs. This type of farmhouse construction used to bypass insulation and in order to insulate it, a frame has to be built around the entire house (costly) to allow for insulation. It cannot be insulated in the usual way because there is no space between the outside wall and interior wall, thus preventing the airflow and creating mold problems in the future. Since the majority of the heat escapes through the roof and crawlspace, addressing those areas should take care of the issue, as well as using a new pre insulated siding. Those are costly projects that will be planned in the future. For now, adding a wall/door to the upstairs should improve energy consumption considerably, followed by crawlspace encapsulation. We also use a pellet stove for heating, which is very energy efficient.
These are mainly the issues that we will be dealing with to make this farmhouse a place where we can live for many years to come with God’s blessing. I will be sharing the progression in future blog posts. I hope this helps those of you who are going through a renovation of an older home, of how important it is to consider issues that will be relevant in the future, especially if planning to live in it for many years or if it may be a forever home.
Will writers even bother to write if competing with a large number of AI generated stories? That is a question that only time will answer. There have been incidents where many AI generated books have made it to best seller lists. Scammers also may use AI to generate reworded versions of actual books. They can think of anything to make a quick buck out of the sweat of real authors by using AI to alter their work. Although Amazon has made a few efforts to alleviate the problem, it continues, and as of now AI generated content must be disclosed when submitted, something that helps but does not solve much.
Artificial Intelligence is becoming better and soon it will be just a matter of time when we could hardly be able to tell the difference between written works by real authors and a piece of junk from Robotina. People who care more about making a quick buck than about the craft are able to generate a story, from cover to content, and illustrations in a matter of minutes, especially children’s books. AI saturated market is the worst nightmare for true writers who love their craft and who bleed through the pages of a novel until it is finished.
How will readers find your work when they have to navigate a system which is so saturated by fakes? Will they even care or will they voraciously consume AI generated content as long as it is good enough to fill an entertaining need or any other specific need? If we have people dating AI generated people, what prevents readers to make a switch to AI generated books? Only time will tell, but one thing is certain, authors are now competing with a new form of “art,” one that has eliminated the middleman aka real author and goes straight to making a product for profit in no time at all. Will authors become discouraged? Will real writing even matter anymore? Will AI mimic our blood and sweat in the pages? Will writers write? Only time will tell.
Faster and faster, we are being replaced by our own creation, maybe to the point of becoming obsolete by our own hand. The creator ceases to exist, absorbed by its own creation. Maybe time is all we have left, or do we? Will AI alter our perception of time, eventually? Will we be able to tell?
It is October and spooky is everywhere, so I decided to share an excerpt from Sunrise Souls, last book in The Dinorah Chronicles trilogy. It is found on page 66.
… but this time I saw the evil energy that embodied her soul gazing through her eyes. A blaze of fire danced in her eyes with the fury of an unholy cadence. I jumped and delivered a lethal kick to her chest as she came charging with the force of a raging bull. We met in mid-air as she fell back foaming in hate, her mouth spouting a poisonous river of filth.
You can find SUNRISE SOULS on Amazon or order it where books are sold.
Ever met someone who has gone through many vicissitudes in life? Somehow, knowing some of the details allows one to understand better the character of that person. I have met people who have been through many sad experiences in life and somehow, they seem to have a good and grounded personality. I am dumbfounded by the ones who have had a pretty good life since childhood and still manage to complain about how unfair life is and how it should be better. The first group of people is usually more grateful, and the later seems to be somewhat unhappy and in perpetual discontentment. It puzzles me. Does the sum of one’s life determine character? I think it determines the level of growth and maturity.
As a writer, I treasure the moments when I get to know someone a bit better in the details of a conversation, even if it is a brief conversation with a stranger. I know that I will never experience many situations in life that other people might have but knowing and interacting with people will make for better character building in writing. I always thought that psychologists could be good developers of characters if not writers because they have access to a range of human emotions and behavior.
Knowing the details or a bit more of the sum of someone’s life allows me to be less judgmental of others and more sympathetic. Think about the sum of your life up until now, how has it influenced the development of your character/personality? If you are “here-now” and are able to go back in time to answer this question honestly, consider yourself blessed.
The topic of survival is one that I have included in my novels. It is interesting to see how survival can bring out the best or worst in people. It separates heroes from the not so good characters. So is in real life, although I believe that there is redemption for everyone. When a person is in survival mode, it forces the individual to act one way or the other; it brings about the truth of that person. In other words, you cannot fake it when you are in survival mode. It forces you to be what you already are. It shows a person’s true colors.
I will venture to say that in today’s USA, many people are in survival mode, probably more people than we realize. Younger generations are having a tough time keeping up with a very high and unrealistic cost of living and many people are working two plus jobs and hardly making it. Young couples simply cannot afford giving birth because hospital care is simply unaffordable. Food prices, daycare costs, and rent or home prices are truly out of reach for most of the younger generation. It is simple very different from what it was for other generations. In simple words, this generation is being hit from all angles. Most politicians fail to see the struggle, or they are simply not in touch with reality out there. People are struggling to keep a roof over their head and put food on the table, even the most frugal people. Most of Americans are in survival mode. Many people are truly doing all they can, working all they can, and cutting costs as much as they can, and they are still not making it. The disparage and disproportion between wages, education, and labor is ridiculous. The middle class is slowly disappearing in this country. It is easy to put a blindfold and label a generation of being lazy without considering all factors and influences at play.
I have always been an observer by nature. How many times have I witnessed someone at the supermarket leave just a few groceries because the card did not take? How many times have I heard a mother tell her child, “Sorry honey, we don’t have enough for “this” today;” “this” being a food item, not a toy? How many times have I witnessed someone staring blank at the insane prices in the meat isle at the supermarket, a hopeless stare followed by bypassing the product section, or even putting groceries back? I can tell you more examples, from couples quietly arguing about food, to older people with less than five items in the food cart, oh, so much more. Food is a basic need, and people can’t even eat in what we call the richest country in the world. Many people are in denial, but that is just a coping mechanism when you are or are about to be in survival mode.
If you have ever been in survival mode and have come through, you know well that there is a lesson to be learned from all of it, and most likely, you recognize that lesson. Most likely, you come out with a sense of gratefulness, stronger, and wiser. Most likely, you have learned about yourself, your true self, and the things that are not to be taken for granted anymore. Most likely, there is a sense of renewal and hope, of clarity and inner peace, and a healthy dose of pride after surviving the event. Having experienced survival mode at one time in my life, I can say that faith is an important component to make it through, that is, faith in yourself, and faith in a higher power. Don’t forget to count your blessings because they are many, in any circumstance.
Must every criminal or drug lord last name be Diaz on TV shows? I am truly tired of it. Writers please, if you are creating a Hispanic/Latino character, there are more last names other than that one, I assure you. Show a little more creativity, please? Examples of these shows are Law and Order, The Closer, Major Crimes …
Why is this so bad? We learn in many ways, but one of these is by repetition and association. When we hear something over and over, we make a mental association, negative or positive, whether we realize it or not. Stereotypes have existed for as long as we have, I guess. Society has accepted many of these and therefore, help perpetuate these stereotypes. As writers, we owe to ourselves to put out our best work and not perpetuate many of these stereotypes. Sometimes, that will mean going against the grain or mainstream, but most of the time, it is taking the care and time to educate ourselves as much as we can on a topic, subject, culture … We can only do our best, and laziness falls short of it.
Yes, my last name is Diaz, and I assure you that I am not a criminal, I don’t use or deal drugs, and I won’t harm you in any way. So fellow writers, let our creativity shine, and let us break the chains that held our pen captive for so long.
Inkspeare 