Early spring blooms...

Good day. Up early to the gym, out early to the office. Made a few last revisions to “The Catch,” and mailed out mss to a few different pubs. Wish I’d been able to put the story into play much sooner, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Anyway, it’s out. Which means I can put my eyes on other pieces.

Had a nice walk this afternoon. The neighborhood is starting to bud. I was told the forecast holds rain and snow toward the end of the week, so maybe I’ll fertilize and seed the lawn in advance of the moisture. Most of what was destroyed last spring has come back, although how long it lasts is dependent on the new trees, which were banged up in last spring’s big hailstorm. Fingers crossed, as always.

 

Critical mass...

Up a little later than usual. Greeted by a clear cool spring morning. Got some good writing in, then put on the glad rags and ventured off to the back yard to trim the vines and put the patio in order. Still a lot of cleanup to do, but it’s only March.

This evening, dropped in on the Theatreworks salon to listen to critics Ben Brantley, Matt Wolf, and Lisa Kennedy speak. Nice gathering. Enjoyed fish and chips and a good pale ale. Walked home, then fetched the keys and drove the truck to the shop for some minor repairs.

A Day of Firsts and Lasts...

Quiet Saturday. Wrote early, dressed, and gave the lawn its first mowing of the season. After, brought the mower in for an oil change and blade sharpening. Met with Vern the bricklayer about having a fireplace built on the back patio, then went off to Walgreens to get a shingles shot. Quiet afternoon, putting the last edits to “The Catch.” Cleaned up the office, came home and read a little from Lord Jim. Salad tonight. And wine. Feel like sitting on the porch swing and watching the sun go down. Beautiful day. Tomorrow’s supposed to be just as good.

Stocking the shelves...

Up early, long morning of notes and revisions. Drove across town to the Bookman store later in the afternoon and picked up ten books (Lord Jim. The Golden Bowl. Stories of John Cheever. The Virginian. A collection of short stories by Joyce Carol Oats, and a couple of Philip Roth novels. Been trying to replace the paperback titles in the library with cloth bound copies. That and preserve the clothbound editions that have been flatsigned.

Beautiful day, 60s. Sky a piercing blue. The peak looks magnificent as it always does this time of year. Fierce, snowcapped, jagged. Glad to get out for a short walk. Hoping to spend some time in the yard tomorrow, maybe cleaning the garage. Have wanted to clean the garage since the construction began on the kitchen last spring.

Finished the O’Nan book last night. Don’t know exactly why, but it really got to me. It wasn’t the writing, which was fine and serviceable, as much as it was imagining the demise of a man who still had so much to give. As soon as I finished it, I was determined to pick his short stories off the shelf downstairs and leap into them, headlong. Too many books, as they say, and too little time.

Hamburgers for dinner tonight, hot off the grill. Beer and chips with family. Splendid Saturday, just splendid.

A lovely shade of green.

St. Patrick's Day. Read "Leda and the Swan" today while eating a corned beef sandwich. Going downstairs now to drink my last Guinness. If luck holds, John Huston's movie version of The Dead will be on television tonight. Here's to my people, alive and otherwise. Erin go bragh!

Typical Monday...

Summer came on in a big way today. High seventies. But the sky was blue—that deep, beautiful Colorado blue, and that made everything all right. Rain tomorrow. And the day after. Temps are supposed to get no higher than the twenties, but that’s hard to imagine after today.

Didn’t get much work done at the office. Too many interruptions. Got in a nice walk this afternoon, though, and was able to do a little reading later.

Tired. Hope to manage a good night’s sleep and wake early. Get some revisions in place and a new manuscript in the mail. Till then.

Sundry Sunday doings...

Dinner tonight with family. An early St. Patrick’s day soiree. Corned beef, boiled potatoes, cabbage, and soda bread. Harp and Guinness to wash it down. Splendid company, splendid time.

Beautiful, sunny day today. Cloudless blue sky, temps in the 60s. More of the same tomorrow. Got a bit of fiction writing done this morning, then turned the pen to my Amazon review of James Hanna’s new story collection, Call Me Pomeroy.

Read a few more pages of West of Sunset this afternoon before lying down with the boys and taking a short nap. Will delve in further this evening when it’s time for bed.

Spoke to the folks for about an hour last night. Good to hear their voices. Looking forward to catching up with them in person next week.

Thursday, 10:33 pm...

Long day, short entry.

Commercial work at the office, a bit of reading and research at home. Weather cooled,  predictions of rain tonight and tomorrow. 

Looking forward to getting a some writing time this weekend. Need to step things up.

A quarter of the way into S. O'Nan's West of Sunset. Not what I expected, but enjoyable nonetheless.

 

The shoe-leather express...

Did some research early morning, went to the clinic for an orientation class late morning. Spent the afternoon at home, working on small things. Took a long walk later in the afternoon and paid a visit to the Pioneer’s Museum.

New display there featuring artifacts from the Waldo Canyon fire. Caught a bit of it, but didn’t stay long. The feelings are still too fresh.

Started Stuart O’Nan’s West of Sunset tonight. Think I’m going to enjoy it. 

A day in the sun...

Felt like spring today. Temps near 60. Worked at home all day, got in a long walk downtown this afternoon. Still a little snow hanging around, but nothing to speak of. Looking forward to kicking back and doing nothing tonight.

Time change, weather change...

Up late last night entertaining clients from out of town. Dinner at the Broadmoor’s new Italian restaurant. Ravioli, outstanding. Saltimbocca—eh. Went to bed a little after midnight, got up early to go to the office. Finished a reader’s draft of “The Catch,” then went to work making notes on the new novel I want to start. A lot of work ahead.

Got in a walk late this afternoon. Felt good to be outside. Temps had warmed, and despite deep patches of snow here and there the going was easy. Not sure what the forecast is—or if I’d believe it even if I did know—but have my fingers crossed for a spell of nice spring weather.

Thawing out...

Lazy day, lazy entry. Up late, two cups of coffee and a shower later, off to the bank to open a new business account. Forty-five minutes later, away to the office to do a little story research. No writing, no revising.

Came home around 1:00 and went downtown for a cup of coffee and a scone. Did a little grocery shopping for tonight’s dinner (chicken Valeria), read pages from the Pomeroy book (more about this later), and took a long nap with the kitties.

Day was warm and sunny, like yesterday. Hopes of snowshoeing went by the wayside, as all the early week’s precipitation has melted or turned to ice.

Saw a new exhibit of retablo’s and santos at the Fine Arts Center yesterday. Impressive. Grabbed a promotional flyer to mail to the old folks. They won’t get up to see it, but mom will enjoy reading about it.

Ups and downs...

Can’t recall a spring when we’d had this many snowfalls so close together. Looks as if we’ll get upward of a couple of inches tonight. Not thrilled about shoveling the walks and drives again tomorrow, but happy the mountains are getting the moisture.

Finished “The Laughing Monsters” last night and immediately wanted to read it again. Johnson is my kind of writer—a realist with a sharp sense of humor, and the power to set off lyrical pyrotechnics when you least expect them. I love his work. I hope he lives a long time, and never stops writing.

A new HVAC unit was being installed on the office rooftop this morning. Lots of banging and clanging but managed to pull together a halfway decent revision of “Desperado” anyway. Can’t decide if I should try and shorten the piece (it’s coming in at close to 9,000 words), but feel I need the back story to make the direct action credible. We’ll see. One way or another, it needs to be wrapped up.

Need to get the new pieces in the mail. Year started out slow and has all but ground to a halt. No word on stories that are out. Nothing moving forward. Nothing at all. 

Captive Among Cats...

Snowing. Again. Payback, no doubt, for the long, beautiful Indian summer we had. But no worries. The forecast looks cool enough to hold all the white together, and that means at least one day in the mountains this weekend.

Spent the morning taking another pass at “The Catch,” cleaning up the last few graphs. Still feels good. Stayed in this afternoon, fighting off a cold.

Prepped cordon bleu for dinner, but Mr. Fat Cat is sitting in my lap blocking my way to the kitchen, and his accomplice in crime, Tuckleberry, is guarding the bedroom door. Who knows if there’ll be any dinner at all.

All according to plan...

Quick entry. Typical Monday, slow out of the chute. Got to the office later than planned, but made the most of the morning. Put in some good revision time on “The Catch,” and expect to have a good reader’s draft in hand before the end of the week.

Weather glum. Not sure if there’s more snow in the immediate forecast, but wouldn’t be surprised. Hope to make it up to Mueller this weekend to do a little snowshoeing, so if we’re going to get dumped on again, please make it Thursday.

Almost finished with The Laughing Monsters. Enjoying it. Need to get back to the Pomeroy book, too, so I can get my review written. But one thing at a time, right?