Three days

Feeling creative. Listening to "The Trumpet Child." Blew $75 in gift certificates at Dick Blick on paint and canvas. Stocked up on chicken, carne asada and vegetables at TJ's.

Holiday weekend? Three whole days ahead of me with nothing planned but:

• making homemade meals
• painting whatever the muse suggests
• plenty of sleep
• finally putting to paper the words that have been rattling around my head.

I haven't felt creative in years. I haven't written any good poetry since 2003, nor felt like painting since 2004.

The muse has been flirting with me out of the corner of my eye. Then again, Linford Detweiler's words and Karin Bergquist's voice always play midwife to my creative pursuits.