Rain check...

Home this morning, looking after small things. To the office, early afternoon. Lots of distractions today, but managed a few good edits on a new story. Not new, actually, but something I drafted quickly while in Wyoming last summer.

Two thirds of the way through The Virginian, which began to feel like a soap opera some time ago, and continues along in that vein. Still, I can’t put it down. Could the old TV western series have been as corny? I suppose so. Need to give it a look on YouTube. Can’t imagine James Drury being anything like the cowpuncher in the book.

Raining tonight. Thunder, and all the rest. Just hope the hail stays in check. Vern the mason is supposed to show tomorrow and start work on the patio fireplace. We’ll see if the weather holds him back.

Mind games...

Whole day a blur. Up late than usual, behind ever after. Pushing hard, but it’s one of those weeks when life seems to be pushing back even harder. Not sure what to think about that, or whether I want to think about it at all.

A year ago today the kitchen was under construction, the yard was a tragedy, and the next door neighbors were under assault from the hazmat squad over the fly-by-night removal of their asbestos roof. Not sure what to think about that either.

Need to get my fishing license and head up into the mountains. Soon.

Suddenly, it's summer...

Hot and tired. Up early to the office, then to the gym. Long walk this afternoon.

Bills and letters out the door.

Not to whine, but up to here with editors pissing and moaning about their work load. Rejection rationales, etc. Reject away. It’s your job. But don’t put on the hair shirt for the people submitting. We’re the reason you sell subscriptions, remember? We do the work, you judge it. Isn’t that enough?

Okay. No diatribes this evening. Going to shut the windows, enjoy the air conditioning and hope tomorrow is more productive.

Living the dream...

Up early to the gym, the office. Put what I hope to be final revisions to “Desperado.” Come the weekend, it’s going out the door.

Sunny today, and a little less humid. High thin clouds all afternoon. Went for a three hour walk through Monument Valley Park. Later, had a baby fall asleep on my chest.

Busy days, tomorrow and Friday. Scripts and voice work.

Look forward to spending a little time with The Virginian this evening.

Instant summer...

A break in the rain. Spring ended and mid-summer struck early this morning with temps in the mid-eighties. Hardly a breeze, which brought out the lurking humidity. Tomorrow, more of the same.

Worked at home all day with a brief, late-afternoon excursion to the grocery store. Taking it easy after the marathon writing session this weekend to finish “Working to Beat Hell.” Tired, but probably from the weather.

Can’t believe it’s June, suddenly. Need to get in gear and buy my fishing license. Begin making plans for Wyoming.

New built-in bookshelves in the living room look perfect. “Like they grew there,” as Eric, the carpenter, says. The wood’s still raw, but even unpainted they make a terrific statement. Houses the entire 1922 edition of my grandfather’s Harvard Classics.

Dragging...

Day went by in a flash. To the gym early, then on to the office. Nearly finished revisions on “Working to Beat Hell.”

Sun turned to rain turned to sun again.

Tired. What’s happened to all my ambition?

Postscript to a long day...

Sunshine. A few sprinkles here and there, drops mostly, but otherwise a warm spring like day.

Spent the morning at the office, took a mid-day break to see the orthodontist, then home to chase after loose ends.

New trellis tandem up on the eastern side of the porch. Looks terrific. Need to get it primed now and permanently set.

Met the new neighbor across the street. The Reverend Ken. Seems like a good egg. Look forward to getting better acquainted. 

 

 

A watershed moment...

Mark it down. Sunshine! Took a helluva long time to show its face, but the sun came out for a couple of hours this afternoon. Couldn’t believe it.

Worked all morning, went to a movie late afternoon (Far from the Madding Crowd) then came home and got a pot of chicken soup going. Dinner guests!

Rain tomorrow, they say. Enough!

 

A Fleeting glimpse of blue...

Whadda ya know. It stopped raining. Then it started again. Everybody seemed stunned to see the sunshine, but no surprise there. We’ve all been suffering vitamin D depletion.

Into the office early, where I managed a script, some script revision, and a two-page ask letter along with some light housekeeping. Felt good to get a couple of projects out the door. Really good.

Chicken dinner tonight. Reading later on, and who knows what else. Looking forward to a little yardwork tomorrow.

Rain, etc...

Another rainy day. Blanket of clouds holding down the sky. Put in some early writing time, then took up housekeeping in the garage. Sorted the bookshelves, culled through contributor copies, salvaged a few things that needed to be brought into the house….

Hit the gym mid afternoon.

Going to try and make the office early tomorrow and knock push a couple of projects out the door. Don’t even want to think about working over the weekend. Not in Old Colorado City, anyway, with Territory Days going on. 

Of men and mountains...

Woke to a gray, miserable looking sky. It stayed that way all day. Put in time on a couple of stories, then dove across town, into Manitou, for lunch at Adam’s Mountain Café, where I had a Santa Fe omelet and coffee. Quiet doings all around. Holiday weekend coming up and the parking lot at the office has already been cordoned off and stacked with a soldierly gray line of porta-potties.

Cracked The Virginian as my new long read of the moment. Haven’t read it before, but know I’ll enjoy it. The Wyoming setting, anyway. The opening pages with their references to the southeastern part of the state, already have me thinking about the Bighorns. Been avoiding the western slope of Colorado the past few years—bark beetle damage to the forests was too down-heartening to look at—but may give it a shot this summer just to see Medicine Bow again.

Hopes and expectations...

Rainy day. Again. Up later than usual after a restless night’s sleep. Revisions on “Shark Week,” then on to other business. Some of it bloody. Weather people are saying rain all week, so outside projects may take longer than expected. Even so, planning to get the garage in order, once and for all. Less than two weeks before the month’s end and deadlines fall for Tin House and Conjunctions. Hope to submit to both, providing things work in my favor. Way, way, way behind in my letter writing. Need to pick up the pace there, too.

R.I.P. BB King...

B.B. King passed today. Hard to believe. He seemed like one of those guys that always was, and always would be. Saw him the first time in the early 70s at the Kennedy Center. Black women in heels and fur stoles danced in the aisles. Two years later, saw him at the U. of Maryland fieldhouse. A huge venue. The majority of the audience was Black. I ran into a schoolmate, a girl named Rosie, who asked me what I was doing there. I shrugged and said, “B.B. King.” Got locked in a room backstage (accidentally) after the concert and shook King’s hand. It was as big as baseball glove. Got his autograph, too, on a white matchbook. Framed the thing, then had it go missing sometime in the 90s. Hope it shows up again. Last time I saw him was in the 90s in Colorado Springs. John Lee Hooker opened for him, and later they did a duet. Man, what a concert. Hard to put into words what his music meant to me, so I won’t even try. Lot of history there. Lot of good times. 

Thursday, 6:29 pm...

Lollygagged in bed till just after seven this morning. Tired. Forewent the gym and headed straight for the office. Shuffled some work out the door, then headed home to look after projects around the house.

Two good walks today. Between them, finished Lord Jim and got a head start on the New Yorker. Still scratching my head over the way Conrad’s structured his dialogue breaks. Anyway, a beautiful read. Need to poke around Netflix and see if they have the old Peter O’Toole film available. Would love to see it.

Overcast evening. Maybe more rain tonight, don’t know. The new ash trees in the front yard may be dead, and I’m having visions of another summer with neither trees nor lawn. God, don’t let it be so!

Not so stormy Monday...

A break from the rain and hail today. Not much of one, but a break nonetheless.

Up early to the gym, then off to the office. Final revisions nearly in place on “Desperado.” So close to it now, can’t even hazard a guess as to whether it was worth the time. Will need to let it sit a while before passing judgment on it.

In other news…

Got an email from The (REDACTED) Review this afternoon regarding a note I’d sent in January. I'd been enquiring after a story I’d mailed to them in October of 2013, which I assumed to be lost since I hadn’t received a notice from them either for or against acceptance. The staff’s response was that they were currently accepting submissions for the next volume, but wouldn’t begin the review process until August.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s me. But if the skill level of their readers is so wanting they aren't able to comprehend, and answer, a simply stated question about a lost submission, it might be best not to trust them with an entire manuscript. 

Springtime in the Rockies...

Good night’s sleep. Woke to almost sunny skies but temps still somewhere near freezing. Hail from yesterday was still covering the streets and walks. Wrote until a little afternoon (revisions on “Desperado”), then headed out to the gym.

Passed along Mother’s Day wishes to all deserving parties, wished my buddy Scott Jessop a happy birthday, then made a foray to the supermarket to pick up fixings for a pot of clam chowder. (New England style.)

Clouds have moved in again. Mountains are covered with snow, and if the forecast is right, we will be as well come morning. Springtime in the Rockies. It ain’t what people think.

All hail...

Crazy rain. Woke at 4:00 to the sound of a driving hailstorm. Not long after, the alarm on one of the neighbors’ cars went off. The alarm continued, intermittently for the next for or five hours.

Wrote most of the morning despite the racket. Revisions for “Working to Beat Hell.” The piece is just about where I want it. One more pass may be enough, but I’ll take my time. Tin House is running a theme issue on “faith,” and I think the story might have a shot if I can get the ending right.

Came out of a movie theater this afternoon, greeted to a blanket of hail. Streets looked as if they’d been covered in snow. Skies are still glum and rainy, and the forecast for tonight says freezing temps.