Writing Prompts – Valerie's Voice

It’s National Library Week.

Even though I went to the library twice this week, and saw a sign hanging in the window telling me it was National Library Week, I dismissed the dates as to sometime in the future. Whoops. I didn’t pay close attention. When my blogger friend posted a piece this week on National Library Week, it finally registered.

I want to celebrate libraries. I love libraries, for all the same reasons my friend cites in her blog: In celebration of public libraries. She’s a great writer. Read it if you can by clicking on the title. I also posted a blog about libraries in 2023. Here’s a link to my previous post – Libraries.

In addition to all the reasons for loving a library, I want to add that I like to go to the library to write. Sometimes I find it inspirational to sit down in the second-floor atrium and work on my writing assignments, which is what I did a couple weeks ago.

I sat down in a comfortable chair and started paying attention to all that was going on around me. So, before starting my assignment, I decided to write down what I was observing and hearing. It was fun for me, but after an hour and a half (!) I decided it was time to settle down and focus on my assignment. One writing prompt was to tell about a time you were abandoned. Throughout our travels we have been stranded a few times, but instead of those examples I decided to polish this piece I had been writing and end it with a twist by saying…of all places I’d like to be abandoned, one would be a library.

I’m grateful for our library. I wouldn’t mind be stranded in a library.

At home, I use lists and set timers to help me at remember to do things around the house…like check the dryer, make a phone call, etc. Otherwise, I tend to forget…

In my car, I use a different method. Years ago, I was given a cute, hamster beanie baby -officially named Pellet by its maker, the TY Corp – and it has always lived in our cars. I have come to rely on this sweet, little stuffed animal to help me remember things. When I’m driving and think of something I need to remember upon arrival at my destination, I pull Pellet up from the driver’s side door pocket and put him in my lap, or by my purse, or on the passenger seat. Then, when I stop the car to get out, I see him and think, “O, yes…” and he reminds me of what I needed to remember!

Content to ride in the driver’s side door.

He has worked well. Pellet has been in our car for many years…I want to say over 20 years…maybe longer. We transfer him when we get a different vehicle. He is my friend! Maybe not as beloved as The Velveteen Rabbit, but he does look a bit worn from being a treasured and a reliable asset to me. I’d miss him if he ran away…