mental drafting

You can't imagine how happy I was this afternoon seeing sheep gazing by the side of the road when I drove home from work. During the summer, when I passed the empty meadow, I worried that maybe the farmer had given the sheep away. (I didn't want to think of any darker alternatives.) Today they were back, still and content, not a worry in the world. The sun casting a golden glow over the meadow, the grass still summer green, and maples and birches forming a yellow wall on the background, the scenery with sheep would have made a wonderful painting. Or a photo. I snapped a mental photo.
This is what I have been doing lately. Instead of taking photos with a camera I find scenes and situations to take mental photos of. I store them in the lovely writing place I have in my brain. The same place where I draft my slices of life. It's so safe to draft in the head. The words and photos sound and look perfect. Perfect is not what I wish. (A bit of self lie there. Of course I wish I would take a photo and write a slice I could consider perfect.) One can't rely on the mental drafts only when wishing to grow and build habits. One can't rely on mental drafts for collecting and sharing.
On Saturday I took my camera and went for a walk before dinner.
Now I am writing the slice before going to sleep.