Tobias Conrad Lotter:
Astronomische theorieën en uitleg
[Astronomical theories and explanation] (1749)

Adequately Chilling
The first week of Winter brought Spring-like weather with Chinook winds and more rain than we've seen since last Spring. We've had three bomb cyclone systems bump into our coast since Halloween, each bringing fierce wind and much-needed rain. The Winter Wheat, already sprouted in the fields, has gotten a great head start. Our wheatfields sport Spring Green cover while we continue waiting for our first killing frost. I still have last summer's petunias, geraniums, and roses, which are still blooming. I sank the fuchsias into a composter bin; they seem secure enough for now. Winter has not come yet. Moreover, our usual weeks of numbing fog mostly missed us as those wet and windy systems repeatedly scoured our valley. I began a new series this week that has yet to reveal its purpose. After the terrifying results of last Fall's elections, I needed something more positive than politics to focus my attention on. I anticipate a period of great upheaval, even tragedy. I needed to clean out my backlog before taking on another initiative. Winter might not come this season, but the events unfolding on the world's stage threaten to be adequately chilling. I worry about our NextWorld.

——

Weekly Writing Summary
This NextWorld Story, NextWorld, starts a new series. With the coming of Winter comes the annoying uncertainty that I no longer seem capable of anticipating whatever's before me. I stand as if peering into a future I can clearly no longer perceive. My earlier certainties and my extensive experience have seemingly abandoned me. An unanticipatable NextWorld might be emerging. I'll be watching.

Franz Marc: The Bewitched Mill (1913)
"I guess I'll keep watch and see if I can catch a NextWorld emerging."
—
This NextWorld Story, WritingPoems, finds me writing poems to give as Christmas gifts instead of shopping for presents. This story describes my pursuit of perfections.

Yashima Gakutei: Woman About to Write a Poem (c. 1824)
" … not the definition of insanity but of quality.
—
This NextWorld Story, ThinkingIll, finds me seething my way into the upcoming holiday. When were holidays celebrated in any different context?

Lovis Corinth: Cain (1916)
"No whining!"
—
This NextWorld Story, Faith-Based, finds me practicing my Faith, though I might be the least religious person you could possibly meet.

Jehan Georges Vibert: Trial of Pierrot (Not Dated - late 19th century)
"I will have levitated by the means of tugging up on my own shoelaces."
—
This NextWorld Story, Distinctioning, considers what amounts to an adequate distinction to conclude that a meaningful change has happened.

Jan Luyken: Vrouw Wereld toont kinderen de brede en smalle weg [Woman World shows children the wide and narrow road] (1699)
" … largely unexplored."
—
This NextWorld Story finds me UnProcrastinating and hoping to kick off a cascading series of improvements in my life.

Stuart Davis: Advancing and Retiring Colors Diagram (1942)
" … I can accomplish virtually anything."
—
A new series provides a trial period for the aspiring author during its first week of writing. He's not fully committed yet. He does not yet understand what he's chosen for a theme and every story seems to struggle into existence. He had not yet stumbled upon the central organizing principle of his work, and this absence shows. He began with good enough intentions, hoping they might provide motive force until understanding settles in. He initiates these excursions to learn something, so he starts relatively ignorant, hopeful, but not guaranteed discovery.

I might proclaim that this start seemed prestigious, but I won't. It's in the nature of every series I've created so far, this being the thirty-first, that the first week didn't entirely reveal whether the result would be worth the effort. In the absence of results, that calculus could not possibly be determinable yet. I proposed a NextWorld I have not yet seen. I watched myself Writing Poems, a transfer medium between then and next. I caught myself ThinkingIll, a possible poisonous pill I caught myself dispensing to myself. I admitted that I exclusively engage in Faith-Based initiatives like this one. I wondered what change might prove significant enough to count as change. I ended my first writing week of this series, winding up, insisting that I'm actually UnProcrastinating this time. Honest. Thank you for following along!

©2024 by David A. Schmaltz - all rights reserved

Tags: #NextWorld, #PureSchmaltz