Inspired by what I see, who I meet

Happy Thursday! We kick off a new series today entitled, “When Mike has nothing in the tank, so he rambles for 700 words on inspiration alone.”

Mama said there’d be days like this. I write hammer-down for three straight days and then, whoosh, my brain simply says, “Enough!” 

Wednesday is the hardest blog day of the week to write. Especially weeks with what I call heavy government writing. After a few days, I’m ready for a course shift.

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Just Wright Citrus is, of course, a spontaneous blog. That’s the whole idea behind this online opinion column. It’s fluid and timely. We don’t spend a lot of time talking today about what happened last week.

Still, I like to go into the week with an idea of how it will shake out. I need to have this outline in my head by Thursday evening so that I can enjoy my (alleged) days off Friday and Saturday, then be ready to write again Sunday afternoon.

As is often the case, what I have in mind doesn’t pan out that way.

And that’s how I end up on Wednesday with no blog idea for Thursday.

When that happens I seek inspiration where I can. Fortunately, it’s all around me. Two tricks of my trade:

— Take a drive. I have two types of drives: In-county and out-of-county. One is meant to help keep me connected with Citrus County. The other allows me to breathe some.

When I’m stuck for ideas, I take the first option. And I’m thrilled to say Bunny enjoys car rides, so she often comes with me. We can drive just about anywhere in Citrus County and be back in two hours.

My favorite drives are to our communities looking for photos. Plenty from which to choose, such as the scenic Mason Creek in Old Homosassa. I’m in Old Homosassa a LOT.

(Another great drive: Turner Camp Road to the Withlacoochee River. Turner Camp, recently resurfaced, was the location of Wednesday's blog photo. Mystery solved.)

I purposely take the lousy drives too; the ones choked with traffic challenges like backups at intersections. 

I’m reminded of years ago when I started covering the School Board at the Chronicle. Man, that was a tough gig. It was extraordinarily complex, and frustrating that I couldn't grasp the concepts.

Then, our features writer left and I started writing classroom-based stories. That’s when I saw how School Board decisions play out in real life. Valuable lesson there. Politics is theory and conjecture without seeing its actual impact.

— Cattle Dog chats. I know I’m a homer for Cattle Dog, but really any sit down conversation is hugely significant to me.

Decades in the newspaper business, the coffee shop chat was not my thing. I never found the time, and didn’t see the point. (Of course, it was OK to meet with sources in a bar late at night, but I digress.)

In the days after my Chronicle retirement and prior to firing up Just Wright Citrus, I met with people at Cattle Dog’s looking for advice. As the blog kicked in, it became convenient to continue doing that.

Today, four years later, nearly all my blog conversations occur in Cattle Dog or places like that. They’re usually off the record. I rarely take notes. And those talks can go all over the board. Very often, I come in with an idea, and the other person gives me different views to ponder. Or the other way around.

I met at Cattle Dog the other day with a newsmaker whom I’ve known for years. Because of our particular roles, the relationship is strained at times. Not only did we get through the hour, we found probably more common ground than either of us thought was there. And I have a much better perspective on how this person thinks.

Just Wright Citrus is a single entity. I’m housed at World Headquarters III with Bunny, and most of my neighbors are of the four-legged variety. I need to interact with fellow Citrus Countians, look them in the eye, make sure we’re OK.

I get blog ideas from all over the place. Inspiration, though, comes from one source:

Us.

Have a great Thursday, friends.

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