Catching up with myself...

Sloughed off yesterday's post without realizing it. Back in the saddle today. 

Young J spent the night, had his first marshmallow roast. Temps were close to ninety, but we sweated it out in front of the back patio fireplace and browned up half a dozen each before calling it quits.

Up early this morning, and off to Ihop for pancakes. By the time I saw the keyboard most of the good energy was gone, but lost in a nice way. Got some decent revisions in place and a few new mailings sent off just the same.

Hit the gym early afternoon. Didn't have a lot in the tank, but put in a good hour's work on the bike. Home after that and, for the first time in a long time, a nap. Man, that was nice. 

Getting some rain tonight. Not a lot, but a good slow, steady drizzle. Temps are supposed to drop tomorrow. Have to wait and see. Wonder what's doing up on the mountain? Heavy smoke from a couple of fires converged today and sat over the town and it still looks gray out there. Need a good breeze to come along. 

Lost horizons...

So it didn't start out like a Friday, and by the time I finished paying the handsome Italian locksmith for wrenching open the door to the Jeep while stranded a the grocery store gas station it could well have been Monday.

Meanwhile, the hot sticky weather continued.

Glad I got up early and managed to work through the revisions I'd set out. Made pretty good progress before getting stumped and deciding to shut it down. Not sure what'll happen at this point, but gotta believe it'll work out.

Quit and went off to the gym around 1:00. Mailed off my contract off to Louisiana Literature. Been so steeped in mss, haven't found time to do much else. Need to correct that. Maybe the balance will come back while I'm in Wyoming.

Putting Thursday in the Rearview...

Another early rise. Another hot day with temps close to a hundred.

Did some good work at the keyboard then wagoned young M down the park for a couple of hours. A nice morning despite the heat.

K paid a visit before noon and stayed for coffee and cookies. Bought me a little more time with the long ms. Much appreciated.

Got an acceptance slip from Louisiana Literature for "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." Made my day. Liked that story and was hoping it would find a good home.

Hit the gym mid-afternoon, then drove out to Lowe's to pick up some roasting forks (marshmallows) and up to the school to spring J from his pre-school class.

Days keep flashing past. 

Present and Future...

Early rise.

Looked over yesterday's revisions and was cheered to see they weren't as rough as I'd first thought. Wrote till mid-morning then drove downtown for a latte. Haven't been to Starbuck's for a while. Felt good to get out and sniff the pavement. Sent out mss when I got back. Hit the gym after that, then came home and mowed the lawn.

Still hot. Not getting as much rain as predicted either. Guess this is what summer's gonna be from here on in. Gotta keep reminding myself to keep eyes forward, but not too far ahead.

Same old story...

A little after six and flagging from a long day. 

Up at the crack of dawn and straight to the keyboard. Worked hard but felt like I wasn't quite getting what I was after. Forged ahead anyway. We'll see how it reads in the next pass through.

Looked after small stuff most of the morning, then made a quick jaunt out to the metal fabricator to leave a schematic for the back gate hardware. Hope to get a quote from them before the week's end. Like to get everything in place and the door hung before Mom's next visit. Maybe get Vern working on the front wall at the same time.

Muggy today. Not as hot as it might have been, but hot enough. Decided to hold off mowing the lawn for another day or so.

Looking forward to getting up in the mountains. Do some fishing. Hard to believe we're this deep into the summer and I have so few trout to show for it. Shame on me.

Easing in...

Back to Monday. 

Had a good morning laying out revisions. Made a lot of progress. Took a break a little after noon and hit the gym, then came back and wrote some more.

Looks as if we might get rain again tonight. Be nice if we did. The grass is making a minor comeback after being fried most of last week.

Talked to Mom yesterday. Think I'll try and talk her into a longer stay the next time she comes. Looks like a 28th departure for the Wyoming trip, so it'll be August before I see her. Good travel weather.

Lots to do this week. Lots to think about. Need to breathe deep and try and take it as it comes.

Enough for one day...

Crazy.

Just came back from an accident scene. Before that, an aborted attempt at fixing bad electronics. Before that, the keyboard. Before that, coffee.

Not sure how the night's gonna shake down, but the day already feels surreal.

Calling it a week...

Busy day. Many comings and goings. Wrote a while, cleaned house, met with Vern the mason, and made a brief jaunt to the gym. Doesn't sound like much, but it was.

Digging a footer for the new wall tomorrow. Fun. For a second I thought I might be doing a little fishing. Guess it'll have to wait.

Dead Zone...

Up early to cool weather this morning after last night's soaking. Grass made an overnight comeback.

Managed a couple of good hours at the keyboard before the real work kicked in, then spent the rest of the day looking after small stuff. Took the wagon around the block, but it was so hot and muggy it wasn't much fun. Stayed inside after that. Even missed getting to the gym.

Read one of the my new N pieces, but wasn't terribly enamored. Started a second, but got waylaid before finishing it. Critiques will be tomorrow projects. Feel as though I'm falling behind in my reading and probably am. 

Rained mid-afternoon. The saving grace of the day. Gotta raise my expectations.

Sun and rain...

Seems like a long time since morning.

Got together with J&K and friends for dinner and concert last night. Lamb off the grill, home-made ice cream, prosecco. Didn't get home until close to midnight. Still, up around 5:30 this morning to work.

Tile guy came amidst client sessions and did his thing. Mural up, grouted...the whole nine yards. Between had a meeting at CityWalk. 

Started losing steam around noon, but managed to make it to the gym before 2:00. Thought I might get more writing time in when I got back but the doings of the night before caught up with me. Took a short nap instead.

Neighborhood's been quiet. Scary quiet. Everybody's off vacationing, or maybe just given up on being neighborly.

Hot today. Peaked somewhere close to ninety. Woke up and it was raining. Raining! Forecast calls for more, but I'll take this as it is.

A little of everything...

So. Back at it this morning. Good writing time, then away to the gym, then home to mow the lawns. 

K paid a visit tonight for dinner. Brought a fresh blueberry pie. Nice.

Read an interest essay by Tom Jenks in the recent issue of Narrative. Whether or not to pursue a post grad writing career. Good stuff about workshops and the like.

Kung Fu Jesus...

Well, the cool spell didn't last long. 90 something today. Same for tomorrow. Good news is, the Spring fire's now 45 percent contained. 

Had a good run at the keyboard this morning, but ran out of gas by noon and turned to yard work instead. Finished shingling the shed, which was something of an accomplishment given it was started over a year ago, but hey, you've gotta take your victories where you can.  On to green woods and pastures new!

Gonna hang back and take it easy tonight. Can hardly think straight after spending the afternoon in the sun. Maybe a movie. Maybe not.

Heard about a new Bruce Lee biography today. Sounded kinda cool. Might have to check it out. Big reading list in front of me. Gonna take going to Wyoming to ease my way into it.

Rain!

Staring at rain as I sit down to write this. Best thing I've seen all day. 

Another morning of good revisions, then some time with young M., and a trip to the gym. Got a nice note from my buddy G this morning, too.

Looking forward to the weekend. Like to go fishing Saturday or Sunday. Take a break from the keyboard.

Keeping this short. Shorter than usual. Wanna go out and watch the rain.

Enjoying the quiet...

Spring Fire just under 100,000 acres. Fourth biggest fire in Colorado history. Feel sick for all the folks who've lost their homes, all the others who are about to. No real rain in the forecast. Looks grim for the rest of the summer.

Got to work around six this morning and kept at it until 8:30. After that, headed out to the Kid's 4th of July parade with the boys.

Early afternoon, caught a movie. Did a little more yardwork, too. 

Writing went a little better today.  

Back to civilian life tomorrow.

3rd of July...

This one went by in a hurry.

Caught up on some edits I couldn't manage yesterday while E. was here. Trying to stay optimistic about the arc of the story, but have lost so much aesthetic distance at this point, the only thing to do is press on. 

Fourth of July tomorrow. Gonna wagon the boys down to the park to be in the kids parade. They've got their patriotic top hats and boas and pompons and pinwheels ready to go. Should be a fun time.

Hot one today. Whatever greening up the lawn did after the last rain was set back after the past two days. Not sure when to expect any relief, but have nothing to complain about compared to the hundreds who've lost their homes in the fires.

Glad it's been wet in Wyoming.  

Living the dream...

Did I mention it's hot?

Another toasty one today. Got a little writing done this morning, then helped Eric the Reluctant with the new/old gate for the back patio. Removed a set of 100 year old bolts without breaking or stripping even one. Didn't figure on that kind of luck. Eric did some work with the table saw and we bolted the thing back together and now it's all up to the metal works folks and Vern the mason. Can't believe after all these years it's going to be a door again.

Hit the gym about 2:00, and got in a nice workout. Thinking about trying an earlier time slot, but there aren't many people around at that hour and anything earlier is cutting into prime writing time. 

Rejection from TriQuarterly today. Would rather have had an acceptance, but it's nice to see anything after the long dry spell.

Down in the dirt...

Yeah. 

Made some good revisions this morning, then went back to work on the yard. Moved a lot of stone and brick...policed the area behind the garage, planted new three new trees, moved a few hostas...

Started the morning in a jacket and flannels, ended it in shorts and a tee shirt.

Too tire to much of anything now except hunt down a beer and take a shower.

Disappearing act...

So yesterday's post disappeared. All right. Not the first time. But where the hell does it go?

Sheesh.

Up early to the keyboard. Managed to accomplish what I wanted while realizing I've still got a long way to go. Took a long break to do some yard work, cut my lawns and prune the trees on the back patio. Things are looking pretty good, despite the fact we've been living with temps close to a hundred most of the week.

Finally got some rain. Heavy late afternoon showers. Hope the mountains saw some too. Fires are bad and getting worse by the day.

Hot, and not in a good way...

Lots not worth noting, so I won't try. 

Long day, short on accomplishments. Did manage an early morning wagon ride around the Old North End, but temps were well into the 80s even by 9:30 am. Hung out upstairs most of the afternoon, prepping mss and putting in research. Got a few things out the door, but fewer than expected. Didn't make it to the gym, either.

Weather folks say the heat wave won't break until Saturday or Sunday. 

New fires burning. Fireworks banned in Manitou and Woodland Park for the Fourth as a precautionary measure.

Mid-week missive...

So here we are, another Wednesday. Another early rise. Another decent day at the keyboard. Not great, but decent. Wrote till noon, barring a few unexpected interruptions, then went off to the gym for an abbreviated workout. Came home and spent the rest of the afternoon talking retirement with the financial advisor--always an interesting time.

Geez. Only a couple of days before the end of the month. Thought June would last forever and now I'm staring down July. Gotta start working on my Wyoming plans. The whens and hows. Gotta start thinking about new tires for the truck, too. Old ones won't get me out of there if I run into a hard rain.