Crown Supercoach
from Wikipedia

The treasured summer vacation is winding down, as is the time-allotment for getting done all those tasks to be completed by Labor Day. Create e-book versions of Books 1 and 2; do a final proofreading of book 3; repair loose bricks and a crumbling cap on the chimney: replace rotting pickets and paint the fence; re-edit the manuscript for Book 4; have the woodshed stuffed with dry wood before the rains return in September–though it rained cats and dogs last night, nearly snuffing out the charcoal fire while cooking up our first treasured Puget Sound sockeye salmon of the season. (Drenching rain in the middle of August I take as a personal affront). And already there are the shortening evenings, just as the “back to school” ads proliferate.

Approaching 70 years of age, there’s something out-of-place yet heartwarming about again  experiencing summer, and the dreaded looming of approaching September, as any fifth-grader might. Being a school bus driver does that to you. It’s a job I took as a “retirement job,” its attractions being the part-time hours allowing more time for pursuing writing; and being less physically demanding than my job involving railroad track maintenance (though managing a woodlot helps to make up for that lack).

Not that school bus driving doesn’t have its demands–whether you drive one or two shifts a day, or work three, four, or six hour days. Navigating a 40-foot conveyance on both city streets and country roads while keeping a lid on the exuberance of 70 grade-schoolers and making sure they all get off, safely, at their right location–and keeping to a schedule. It’s not a job for everyone, retiree or otherwise. Those who do it, or have done it, know what I’m talking about.

So I’m thinking it might be fun to connect with writers–aspiring, self-or-traditionally published, of any age–who “drive school bus” as a day job and balance its demands with those of authorship. Do you crank out words between the am and pm shift? Are you counting the days to when you can hang up your keys and clock out for the last time and live off the proceeds of your creative mind? Does the bus driving sap you of energy that you would would prefer to pour out onto yellow pad or computer screen? What about treasured moments? Such as when the bus is emptied and you drive back to the barn alone in your thoughts or mental planning; or just enjoying the scenery.

A confession–I’m a novice at “blogging,” and don’t even like the term. I’ve been at it now for going on eight months and often feel it to be as big a distraction and chunk out of one’s time as a paying job–and no pay, of course. And the blog that’s based on a question is yet newer to me. But, all that aside, if anyone out there stumbles on this and feels they can relate to what I’m blathering about–yes, I’d love to hear from you!