Edie here: Linda Gilden has written for this blog for years, and this week she moved on to a different address and is now walking the streets of Heaven. For those of us left behind, we face a big hole in our publishing industry. Linda was the director of the Carolina Christian Writers Conference, leader and founder of an active writing group, and mentor to more people than I can count. She will be missed for her wisdom, her humor, and her gentle insight. Today I'm republishing one of her most popular blog posts. Please pray for her family and friends as they adjust to the new normal.
Remembering Linda Gilden and Her Warning that All of Us Have a Writing Goose
by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden
I was sitting on my porch enjoying the inspiration of nature when the chickens started making a lot of noise. I looked toward the coop and just outside the fence was a goose. I had never seen him before and don’t know where he came from. Not only were myeyes on him to see what he was going to do, there were thirty-eight chicken eyes watching every move he made.
The chickens followed that goose as he moved around the yard. The roosters immediately positioned themselves in the doors of the coops. The hens who weren’t in the coop went under them, only occasionally peeking out.
One lone goose moved in without a sound and paralyzed 19 chickens by just being there. That same goose distracted me from my writing and caused me to spend many minutes just watching him and the reaction to his presence instead of writing.
