I have always imagined my eventual retirement would be something akin to a restaurant’s soft opening: a gentle tryout of things that evolves into a solid plan.

Just when I began thinking of possible first steps in that soft opening, I developed a stress fracture in my left foot and found myself booted and restricted in what I could or should do to heal: an unwelcome bump in my soft retirement plans.

It would seem reasonable, given that most people, including my doctors, think writing is one of those professions that is best done sitting still, that it would be easy to follow the doctor’s orders and enjoy this sequestered time.

However, sitting still is not how I write.

For me, writing requires a considerable amount of thinking time. Coming up with ideas, next sentences, or even how I might like to kill off a character or two is not like following directions for baking a cake. It’s a lot of noodling through a series of mental what-ifs and what’s next, which I do best by ambling about to get my ideas firmly in my mind and my wiggles out. Once that’s accomplished, I can sit down at my desk........

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