Winter equals snow. Especially this winter in Bend, Oregon. We went from a perfect and all-to-short-lived fall to cold temperatures and white stuff falling from the sky.
My three dogs love it. In the summer, they complain about the heat and race from shadow to shadow the moment the temperature hits 58. But in the winter, they’re in their element. They run like they’re chasing a hamburger, follow all the animal tracks they find, pursue (and thankfully never catch) the occasional bunny who inadvertently hops a little too close, and basically bring a whole new definition to the word joy.
One problem. Two of my three dogs wind up with debilitating ice balls in between their toes and the pads of their feet.
The puppy, Moke, plops down and tries to gnaw the ice balls out with limited success. Apparently, my approach has become his cue to dart off again so that he can, if not lead the way since his four-year-old brother does that, at least lead me. He clearly hasn’t learned how to ask for help, let alone accept it.
My 15-year-old girl, Sophie, has a completely different tactic. If I don’t clue into the slight limp the ice balls trigger, she simply sits down. Occasionally, she stretches out and starts chewing on the bottoms of her feet. More often these days, she simply waits for me to take off my gloves and, one by one, crush and pry off the offending foreign elements that feel more like pebbles than compacted snow. As soon as I’ve attended to all four paws, she bounces up and hits the trail again, sometimes just in front of me and sometimes just behind unless she feels good enough—and inspired enough—for a short foray off-piste.
As always, I wondered how these two approaches would translate to writing. It wasn’t a tough leap. Most seasoned authors realize they can’t handle the whole book-writing process alone. It’s just too easy to lose perspective along the way. While you don’t want to hand your work over to just anyone—just as you wouldn’t do that with a newborn—it helps to have someone in your corner to weigh in on the content and, eventually, when you’ve finished the second draft, the writing.
So, the next time you’re struggling with your book, don’t dismiss the idea that it might be time to ask for help.
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