Idea Journaling

I’m not a dedicated journaler. I go through periods where I’ll write things down, but, unlike some friends, I don’t keep a journal religiously. I know it’s a good idea and it can be quite helpful in getting down your thoughts and feelings and in being able to remember them.

In a way, though, this blog and my newsletter, which I’ve been doing for seven years, is sort of a journal. But I am beginning to believe that some things should be recorded. I should write them down so I can use them some day in a book or story. This is the type of journaling I would like to do more of. Maybe I’ll make that my 2007 resolution.

I bring this up because of something that happened this morning. I’m going to record it for future use.

But first, a little back story. While my husband and I were gone earlier this year on a trip to Lake Tahoe, I believe (see, I’ve already forgotten exactly where we went; gotta write this stuff down), something happened here at the house. Luckily, my daughter had dropped by to pick up some stuff and she saw the incident. Our house is pretty much hidden from the street and we have a windy driveway. A FedEx truck pulled in to make a delivery. Then he apparently couldn’t back out. What he did was drive over a rocked cactus garden, completely destroying a huge what-we-would-call century plant with a probably ten foot flower growing up from it, then break a large limb from a tree.

This morning a DHL delivery truck did virtually the same thing, while I stood at the window watching. He saw me there, but just proceeded to back up into the front yard, then drive over the same rocked cactus garden. The big century plant is gone, but he managed to run over a smaller one, knock loose rocks from the wall, then kick up dirt and rock as he gunned the motor to get out of the garden. He knew what he was doing since the van rocked from side to side as the driver’s side bumped up over the rocked wall.

With a little time and patience, either driver could have maneuvered his vehicle until he was turned and in position to just drive out. But neither did.

Now, when I write the book, I have to decide whether to make the FedEx/DHL guy a serial killer or the bumbling doofus side kick. Or maybe a numbskull serial cactus killer.