Changes...

Long day. Up late.

Day started hot and sunny, ended up hot and overcast. Even so, there's a bit of fall in the air and I look forward to its coming.

Went out to fetch the paper this morning, and found my new, replacement fly rod waiting for me on the front porch! Happy days. The rig is remarkably close in look and feel to the original I bought thirty-some years ago, and I'm looking forward to trying it out. Maybe this weekend if things go well.

Got in some good work on a manuscript this afternoon, then over to the gym. Have a feeling this will be an early-to-bed evening. 

Far and away...

Five days in Wyoming. Hard to believe after another five back at home. Good trip, though a few bumps were encountered. Weather wasn’t bad on the way up, save for hazed-over skies from the fires in the pacific northwest, but was driven down the mountain a day early owing to cold, weather.

Got in some excellent reading time during the day, and a few nice walks in the late afternoons. Saw a number of pronghorn, and a surprising number of sage hens—more than I’ve run into up there since I was a kid.

Broke the tip joint on my flyrod the day before going to the middle fork, but managed to catch a handful of good trout in spite of it. Caught and released most, and kept one good rainbow for dinner on Monday night. Contacted the folks at G. Loomis after returning to the Springs, and was pleased to know they’ll replace my entire rig before month’s end. Be sorry to say goodbye to the old rod—caught a lot of nice fish with it—but have no choice except to move on. Good news is, I won’t have to fork out $800 for a new outfit.

Read The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt while on the mountain, and liked it so much I had to turn to non-fiction rather than spoil the mood it left me in. Quite an entertaining read. Nicely imagined, skillfully executed. Have since embarked on the Harvard Classic’s version of Jean Froissart’s Chronicle’s of the Hundred Years War, also quite entertaining.

Working on a draft I’d stashed away in a drawer last spring, and feel pretty good about the progress I’ve been making. Hope to have the piece in readable shape within the next ten days, but it keeps trying to grow, so the effort may take longer than expected. Can’t pull in the reins when the mind wants to roam. Just have to run with it. If it sucks, cutting back is never a problem and almost always a joy.

On the home front, still waiting for the bricklayers to finish the last jog of wall. Other projects have stalled because of the lack of progress, but there isn’t much to do about it. Other, more lucrative jobs, keep getting in the crew’s way. Just hope we can wrap things up before the cold weather sets in.

Making due...

Came down with something yesterday. Chills, fever. Bit of a headache. Hope I can shake it before I head up to Wyoming.

Rainy today. Big lashing hailstorm around 2:00 pm. Thought we might lose another tree, but fared pretty well when it was all over and done with. Damage to the flowers, but the rest of yard came through unscathed. Or mostly unscathed, anyway.

Ready to send “Missing” and “Eternity, Revisited” out the door. Close with “The Least of Your Brothers,” too. Had a small window to make some revisions this morning, so got a start on a draft I wrote sometime last spring.

Haven’t gotten in much reading time with all the yard work, but looking forward to some downtime tonight when I can dig back in to The Assassins. Can’t help but think I’d have a completely different opinion of the book, and its characters, if I’d read it in the 70s.

Under construction...

Woke late to a warm Saturday morning. Drank some coffee, punched the keyboard a while, then went outside, picked up a shovel and finished trenching the property line out back.

Spent the better part of the day pouring concrete footers for the new brick wall at the northeast corner of the house. All went well, and with any luck Vern the bricklayer will make an appearance early in the week and handle the tricky stuff.

Bought a stack of teak flooring later in the afternoon. Hope to make a pair of gates for the backyard. The wood is beautiful but it’s going to take some cajoling to come together. Looking forward to seeing this last big job finished.

A breath of fresh air...

Up early this morning, off to the gym. Back home just before eight where I got in some revision time on “Eternity, Revisited.” Wrote until 11:30, then loaded up the fly rod and made for Elevenmile Canyon. Beautiful day in the mountains. Wildflowers still in bloom. Caught two nice trout (one brown, one rainbow) on the lower section of the river. Water was still high, but more manageable than last week. 

The writing seems to be coming a little easier than it has in a while. Who knows why. Hope the good feeling sticks around so I can push a couple of manuscripts out the door. 

 

 

A brief recap...

Thing’s I’ve done the past two weeks without writing them down…

 

Enjoyed visitors

Had lunch in Golden

Admired the giant trout sculptures in Clear Creek

Eaten (a fabulous) dinner at Frasca, in Boulder

Fished the South Platte

Seen a movie

Killed back-to-back nights before a fire on the back patio

Painted two new trellises

Planted new barberry bushes

Revised three stories

Gone to the park

Cooked ribs

 

Things I haven’t done…

 

Taken a nap

Forgotten how good I have it

Worth the wait...

Crazy few days. Behind on my entries. After many a summer and many a dead swan, the Bi-lingual Review I’ve been waiting for finally arrived. My story “Mano a Mano was picked up by the pub in 2003-2004?—I can’t recall anymore—and it’s good to finally see it in print.

A lot of memories tied up with that piece. Remember reading it to my folks up in Wyoming after I’d finished it. We haven’t been together on the mountain since, and old age will preclude its ever happening again.

Spent the day at various nurseries. Was looking for shrubs and vines to dress up the holes left after the massive clearance we undertook. Picked up a couple of nice clematis to plant under the big trellises on the east side of the porch. Still more to do, but it’s all fun now, the dirty work (most of it, anyway) behind us.

 

Punchy...

Dreary day. Woke later than usual. Drank a couple of cups while thumbing the paper, then off to work.

New maple tree arrived today just before noon. Fingers crossed it fares better than the regal prince oak it replaced. Might hang the doors on the new brick wall tonight if isn’t raining.

Having a hard time finding any energy. Maybe it’s the humidity. Can’t recall being this sticky since my visit to Dallas last year. That was last year, right? Right?

Messed with three different drafts today, but wasn’t able to finish any of them. Reminds me of the old days in Taekwondo when I’d hit a plateau. Dead zones could go on for months—worsen sometimes, the harder you worked—and you’d think that’s it, this is as good as it’s ever going to get. Then you’d have a breakthrough, and everything you’d practiced would suddenly and mysteriously work. You didn’t know how it happened, or why, but you came to realize it was part of the process. Something to be endured, and later appreciated.

Looking forward to turning the corner.

A case of the slows...

Woke early, ignored the little voice in my head that said go back to sleep, go back to sleep, and hit the gym. Had a good workout. Came home to a fresh pot of coffee and some time at the keyboard. Nice mix of office work and manuscript editing.

Came across a flash piece I’d been dabbling with—a thousand word short called “The Bitter Angels of Our Nature”—and discovered it was in better shape than I’d last imagined. Polished it a little, then went back to work revising a longer piece, “The Least of Our Brothers.”

Spent the afternoon at the office. Finished a radio spot, then prepped a couple of manuscripts for the mail. Only managed to get two pieces to the P.O. (ran out of manila envelopes), but picked up a new batch of supplies on the way home so I’m good for the next time.

Been a slow year for acceptances. Slow in terms of production, too. Not sure what the reason is, but been at this long enough to know there’s no point over thinking it. Been trying to push deeper into my narratives, but wonder if maybe I’m just complicating them. I see more words. Are they adding anything?

Raining tonight. Need to heat the oven soon and get dinner cooking. Pork tenderloin baked in a mustard-sage sauce, asparagus on the side. Think maybe I’ll settle in for a read later. Relax and let tomorrow come in its own sweet time.

Back for more...

July 5. Long holiday weekend coming to a close. Worked in yard all day Friday, clearing dead vine and the like from the east side of the house. Made five trips in all to Rocky Top recycling. Cut the lawn(s) later that evening.

Saturday, painted the back of the garage. Saturday night, dinner with the kids. Cheeseburgers and chips. Been dreaming of a good cheeseburger for months, and savored every bite.

Built a fire in the new fireplace last night, and drank red wine and talked until midnight. Neighbors paid a surprise visit. Out wandering.

Wrote a little this morning, revising an old piece I’d like to push out the door. It’s near finished, but still needs polishing. Been putting the words on the back burner while there’s work to do outside, but the yard’s in shape now so maybe I’ll see an uptick in keyboard time.

Bricklayers finished the wall on the east side of the house. Mortar needs to cure a few days, but expect to hang the gates we bought in Santa Fe before Friday.

Policing the yard...

Back to digging stumps this morning. Then cutting down an ancient vine with enough dead tendrils to keep a basket factory in business a year. Pickup’s filled, but there must be three more bed loads in waiting. What a mess. Rain came late afternoon, so we took a break, went for coffee, then came home and put the tools away for the night. Dump tomorrow. Rocky Top later in the week. Be nice if Vern, the bricklayer, showed up and got started on the new entry gate to the side yard. All the work will have seemed worth it if that happens.

 

Pulling up roots...

Busy morning. Up early to write, then out to mow the lawn(s). Helped the neighbors cut down an old evergreen, then came home to uproot the stump of a dead oak. Took a trip to the tree farm later and bought a new maple for the side yard. Delivery set for July 7th. Off to a spirits tasting this evening. Looks like more yard work tomorrow, but it won't be long before there's nothing left except maintenance. I hope.  

Friday...

Strange days. Motorcycle driver went over the edge on Pikes Peak yesterday and bought the farm. D. Tsarnaev moved to supermax outside Westcliff. I don't know. It's all too much to think about.

 

Verses...

Squirrely weather. Upper eighties with undecided skies. Hazy half the day, clear the other half. There’s a big fire somewhere in California, and the smoke may be drifting in over the mountains. Hard to tell because there’s no scent of a burn in the air.

Worked on commercial stuff most of the day. Put in a little time on a new story, but not enough to have made much of a dent in the narrative. The opening is scattered and needs to be sorted through, but I think it can be a good piece if I can get it right.

Can’t believe we’re staring at the end of June. Jesus. “Swift as a weaver’s shuttle fleet our years.” Who the hell said that? Milton? Browning? I refuse to look it up. Maybe it came from The Bishop Orders His Tomb at St. Praxed’s? There was a time I could recite that whole poem without a hitch. Same with Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, and Ulysses. A near miss with Andrea del Sarto.

Might get a chance to go fishing Friday. Not gonna jinx it, but hell. Wouldn’t that be nice? New line, new flies. I’m ready. Don’t care if the water’s high and brown from the runoff, I just want to spend a few hours in the mountains.

Thoughts on a quiet Tuesday night...

Where has the time gone? Another weekend working in the yard…another lost Monday…Tuesday.... Gotta get my act together.

Been reading about the Literary Club, Johnson and Boswell, in an old text I must have found in a used bookstore somewhere. Fun stuff. Also ran through a couple of Paris Review interviews. One of them R Crumb. The other, Norman Mailer.

Haven’t gotten started on anything new. Can’t seem to make the right connection. Time to simplify, maybe? 

Already looking at Friday...

Busy day. Wrote early, hit the gym at noon, came home and worked on cleaning the garage. Father's Day cards and package (cookies) out the door.

Finished The Virginian today, and found it to be quite charming in the end. The story will stick with me forever.

Early morning meeting tomorrow. Need to hit the rack early.

Brick by brick...

Success! Bricklayers showed up Monday, fireplace finished on Tuesday, even with a slight rain impeding their progress. Beautiful piece of work. Looks like it grew straight out of the wall.

A mix of sun and rain the past few days. Lawn looks like Augusta. The new ash trees still haven’t come around—and probably won’t—but at least the grass and flowers look strong.

Working on a new story. Untitled as of yet. Have good feelings about it. Drafted it last summer while on the mountain in Wyoming, but am just now getting back to it. How has it taken me so long?

Went over to Angler’s Covey yesterday and had the backing and fly line on my reel replaced. New technology abounds! Line and leader now manufactured with tiny loops, replacing the need for nail knots. Tippets still the same, but my blood knot tying skills (unlike my eyes) haven’t waned, so I should be good to go. Picked up some new flies as well. Buckskin, pheasant tail, San Juan worms.

Now it’s only a matter of waiting for the runoff to end.

Thunder and lightning tonight. Three inches of rain night before last. Broke a record set in 1914. Ancient vine against the east wall of the property line appears to be breathing its last, and may have to be replaced. Wanted to give it time to revive, but after all the precipitation we’ve had—with no results—it looks as if the end is near.

Upgrades all around...

Slept well, rose early. A couple of cups of coffee at home, then away to the office to put in revision time on the new draft. Rainy morning. Everything socked in, so no chance for the bricklayers to get started on the fireplace. Maybe Monday. We’ll see.

Feeling optimistic for the first time in while, and while I’m not sure why I’m ready to run with the vibe. Whatever moves things forward.

Sun came out this afternoon. Something of a surprise, given the way the day began. Blue skies this evening with clouds here and there, but nothing more.

Got a haircut and hit the gym. Ready to settle in for the evening. Hoped to go fishing tomorrow, but maybe I’ll hold off. My reel needs new backing and line. Should probably stop into Angler’s Covey instead and upgrade.