Annie Dillard writes, in her essay To Fashion a Text, "It's a privilege to muck around in sentences all morning." Each morning before (paid) work, I open the laptop for 2 hours to wade through the muck. Sometimes the words flow and constructing sentences is a pleasure. It can be difficult to click 'shut down' and prepare for the 15-minute drive down the backcountry road, past the sheep fields and old farms, to the school where toddlers hold up their arms to be held. Most days I have to remind myself that it is, indeed, a privilege to write. But that knowledge doesn't make the task any easier.
