I am nesting. Nesting is a phenomenon common to pregnant women, shortly before they give birth. It’s as if they need their nests to be clean and safe, ready to receive the new little life into their own. Nature seems to tell them that they aren’t going to have the energy to clean and set thing straight after all that labor, so the need to put things in order sets in with a vengeance.

Anybody who knows me well knows that I am not a naturally neat person. I thrive in a bit (or a lot?) of clutter, and when I’m working–writing, doing school work, particularly, I simply am oblivious to my surrounding mess. I am focused on what I’m doing.

This past week, I’ve been a flurry of cleaning and straightening. I can’t figure out what inspired it. School starting? I won’t have time then? (Now be aware, there’s still plenty of mess around me. I’m still digging through the tubs of stuff I moved from my basement into Tom’s and my garage. But I made significant progress lately). Most signifcant: I cleaned my office at SCC. It’s not as clean as some of the type A neat freaks who are my office neighbors, but for me, it’s CLEAN.

I can only liken this overwhelming urge to the nesting instinct.

It finally occurred to me that the new life I’m expecting is Slider’s Son. This book I’ve been working on for ten years, that’s been simmering in my brain for sixteen years, is finally emerging into the world in THREE WEEKS. I think  I know it’s going to consume my time, and I want the transition to be a little less cluttered. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. I’m excited to welcome Grant O’Grady and his buddies and family into the world of stories.

That said, I better get dressed and get to school for my first day of class! Welcome back to the school year, everybody.