Not long after leaving the farm I started keeping a journal. Not a diary. A diary is a recap of the day's events, conversations, appointments and the like. I did not have the patience or time for that.
My journal is more of a junk drawer. It is a place I toss a loose thought, a story idea, a good line I heard. Over time I used the journal to hold the first drafts of some stuff. I stapled articles inside or recipes, to say, Best Cream Biscuits. As a written word snob I did not stick photos inside. At best a sketch or cabin diagram.
As you might imagine, a delve into an old journal is equal parts sepia and mortification. It's not something I would do every day, but hey, ideas come from strange places. Sometimes a place you've already been. I'm not going to say you should keep a journal. Only that it works for me.
