Lawn and order...

Sod in, front yard beautiful once again. Long day under the sun with trips to the tool rental, Rocky Top, Lowe's, and Starbucks. 

Ken, the young minister across the street helped lay the sod. What a nice gesture, and nicely timed, too, after a long day of shoveling topsoil. Love my neighborhood, love my neighbors.

No writing today, but may be no more than a few hours from a reader draft of the new story. Hope to finish tomorrow, as I'm back playing team leader for N, and the stories will begin floating in soon.

More tomorrow. Too tired to write more.

The dirt between us...

Big day. Top soil arrived. That mean's a new lawn tomorrow, providing the sod folks hold up their end of the deal. Can't wait to see green again.

Took care of a lot of odds and ends today. Raked the roto-tilled dirt, shoveled the debris into the truckbed, revised a few lines here and there, looked after little stuff, went to the gym and wrote a critique. So why does it feel like I didn't accomplish anything?

Eager to have done with the lawn and get back to the keyboard. The exercise is nice, but like most of those endeavors, it's time consuming gums up the schedule.

Enough bitching.

Gonna settle in for the night.

 

When the smoke clears...

Back to square one, Monday. Weekend went faster than usual what with work, guests, and the like. Managed to get some writing time, but not enough to finish the reader draft on the new story. It's close, but still a few days out.

Winds must have shifted, or maybe the rains have knocked down the smoke, but the air quality's improved each of the last two days. Happy for that. Imagine the aspens will start turning before long. Need to figure out an escape plan soon and decide where and when to see them. Think I'll bring my fly rod along this year.

Lawn's up and needs to be roto tilled this week. Topsoil after that, then sod. Looking forward to having grass again. Green grass.

Day's end...

Day started with blue skies, but they've gone gray and smoky again. You could smell the burning wood smell by late afternoon. Hope snow comes to the mountains soon to help put the fires out.

Had a good morning making revisions on the new story. Feels like I'm getting close to a reader draft. Hope so. Thought I might get the lawn roto-tilled today, but fell behind and couldn't catch up. Scoped out the options at Home Depot. Know the model I need. Just have to find a spare four hours to get it done.

Tired today. As in tired-like-you-didn't-realize-you-were-tired tired. No gym today. Will have to get back on top of things tomorrow.

Fireproof...

Busy day. Many goings on. Need to jump on the commercial stuff tomorrow and see if I can't make strides before the next surge comes through.

Temps not bad today, but air was awful. Lots of soot riding in on the jet stream. Couldn't see the mountains for the third day straight. Glad fall comes early in Wyoming. They need some snow up there to help tamp down the fire. Heard the Eagle Creek fire out in Oregon might have been started by a fifteen year old. What a tragedy.

Made good progress on the new story, but haven't finished it yet. Took a peek at an older untitled piece, too. It's got the legs to be a longer story, and maybe even a novel, but I'll have to get serious about outlining it before I take that leap.

Gloomy night owning to the haze. Gonna make a drink and settle in.

 

Miles to go, promises to keep...

Week keeps slipping by. Hit the keyboard early, working on the new story. Moves along fine until the last two pages. We'll see where it goes.

Spent the afternoon doing research, then cleaning up the rest of the front lawn. Sod's out now and ready for roto tilling. Beguiled away a good thirty minutes at the landfill emptying the bed. Rest of the afternoon at the gym.

Skies still smoky.  Could use some rain.

Blisters on both hands. Can't remember the last time that's happened.

Where there's smoke...

Full day. Already. Up early working on the TA script. Pushed hard and took a lot of good notes. At it until mid afternoon, then took a break and went to the gym. Pounded the hell out of my back and arms tearing up the lawn over the weekend. Sore in places you don't want to be sore. Laid back on the weights today. Skipped rope, hit the heavy bag, came home and wrangled the little ones for a while. Thought I might finish with the grass tonight, but maybe not. I'll get on it tomorrow when I can make a run to the recycling center. Skies gray the past couple of days from the fires. Saw there's a new one up around Sheridan. Air quality's awful.

Workingman's weekend...

Up later than usual, but up nonetheless. Got a little writing time early on, then went fishing/picnicking with young J. Got skunked but had a good time. Took him to a skateboard park before going home, and man was that fun. He wanted to get out there with them. Wrote for a while this afternoon, then took on the remnants of the lawn. Most of it's cleaned up now. Another hour digging and I'll be ready for Rocky Top, the roto tiller and sod.

Birthday doings tomorrow. Hope to get some reading in as well. Have a feeling it's gonna be a bear of a week.

  

Labors of Labor Day weekend...

Swore I'd never ball a sod-cutter again and meant it. But half an hour into tearing up the lawn with a shovel, knew i couldn't work fast enough to get it done without some heavy artillery. Many hours and two trips to Rocky Top later, most of the lawn has been turned to dirt. Have some edge work to do, some roto-tilling and soil mending, and I'll be ready to lay sod.

Young J said he "needed some trout." Gonna try and oblige him tomorrow. Can't drive far, so might give Fountain Creek a try. Some nice runs and pools there, though I've never tried it before. We'll see.

Spend the whole day on the lawn. Hope it's worth it. Gonna hang back now and relax.

Check this space...

New story coming along okay. Gets bumpy six pages in, but the form is there and themes are in place. Need to put it away for a few days and get on to something else. Some commercial work, maybe. No word from the TA Ranch folks, but that's okay. Plenty to keep me busy. Spent a few hours looking after small stuff, then made a break for the gym. The bank, later, for the HSA debit card I never received. Sprinkled a bit while I was downtown. Cooled things off. Supposed to be in the seventies tomorrow and maybe into the long weekend. Be nice to get some fishing in, but don't want to hazard the drive over the holiday weekend. I'd spend more time on the road than on the water. Looking to dig up that ugly bastard of a lawn instead. Dig it up, haul it away, and start over. 

A toothsome thought...

Day of ups and downs. Much wasted time. Out early to the dentist for repair of a broken crown. Bummer. Home for a coffee, a few revisions, etc. Long conference call this afternoon regarding TA Ranch project. As always, fingers crossed. Tomorrow, looking after little things. 

Is it poor planning on my part, or the world's? I don't know. Just can't seem to catch up.

Need a second wind...

Wild and wooly day. Up early to the keyboard to make a few revisions on the new story, then off to look after little things. Made the gym late afternoon, but bogged down afterward. Hoped to get a little more reading and writing in, but it wasn't in the cards. A weird sameness to everything right now. Can't explain it, but it's there. A kind of emotional flatline. Gotta get back to my buddies B & S tomorrow. Start throwing leather again.

Still punching...

Been losing track of time. Not sure why. Everything's in a state of suspended animation. Or close to it. 

Woke up to gray skies, expecting rain. Two hours later the sun had come out. Feels like fall, and for the first time in a long, long time I'm not looking forward to its coming. Not yet, anyway.

Had a good meeting with the media folks handling the TA Ranch gig. Script discussions, etc. Still not sure if the job'll go through, but we're making headway on the negotiations. Another conference coming up, Wednesday.

Progress on a new story. Figured it to be dead in the water, but a second look after a long hiatus, and it may have promise. Does have promise.

Quiet at the gym today. Got in a good workout.

 

Easy peasy...

Still working my way back into the groove.

Got some new writing done this morning. A few revisions, too. Also a little research. 

TA Ranch project may come through. Looks like a phone conference on Monday to discuss script, scheduling, etc.

Warm day today. Blue skies and a breeze. Looks much the same for tomorrow. Like to get in another day of fishing before the weekend.

Feeling old. Why's that?

 

 

Friday, yeah...

Getting back into the swing.

Wyoming was, as always, wonderful. Watched the solar eclipse from high on Deadman Butte. Haven't been up there since D and I climbed it some twenty, twenty-five years ago. Arrived an hour or so ahead of the event, and found a nice shady spot under a huge red rock. Was inspired to quote Tom Eliot. "Come in under the shadow of this red rock..." Day was warm, but by the time the lights went out the temp dropped significantly. Never seen so much traffic on Highway 20 on the way into Casper. Ever. Glad we didn't leave until Wednesday. Even the Casper airport was overrun. Corporate /private Lear Jets lined up down the tarmac. What a sight!

Gave young J the last of the rainbow trout I caught up on the Middle Fork of Powder River. Watched him snarf it down before my eyes. Caught some nice brown, too, and a big beautiful brook, which we ate on the mountain. Treated our wonderful neighbor to the other two rainbow. Cabin already seems like a million years ago. 

Oh, Wyoming...

Been racing along here, trying to punch things out the door. Lotta long format to contend with. Up at 4:00. Worked on Broadmoor script revisions, the reader draft of the Propaganda piece on "Heisenberg," and the critique of a new story submission for N.

Heading up to Wyoming tomorrow. Been thinking a lot about my dad lately. Had some good times with him up there. Glad to be going back. 

Gonna take it easy tomorrow. Get up early and pace myself. Don't want to forget anything. Got the glasses for the big eclipse, a meaty stack of reading material, so that's half the packing right there.

Expect to be off the grid for a while, but that's the way it goes. Will miss my boys, but feel good knowing they're in loving hands. 

A sleepy Saturday...

Just back from young M's first birthday party. Hard to believe he's a year old. Remember this night a year ago as if it were yesterday. Strange thinking so much time has passed. Strange, strange, strange.

Up later than usual this morning. First long night's sleep in ages. Took to the keyboard late as well, but managed to pump out some decent revisions on "Frank the Redeemer," the story I yanked from circulation a month ago. Might have the last of the changes in place by tomorrow with a little luck. Knocking wood as I say this. Been a while since I've been able to spend any time on the fiction. Felt good.

Worked till noon, then made a brief jaunt downtown to do some shopping. Nice day for walking. Warm, sunny, and a touch of breeze. Didn't rain until we came home for dinner.

Weather forecast for Casper the day of the total eclipse looks rosy. Hope it stays that way. Gonna be cold up in the Bighorns, and don't need to complicate things with rain. Some big fires up in Montana, but Wyoming looks clear.

Not sure what tomorrow's gonna bring. Hope it's good.