Woke up and it was June...

End of a long, long week. Mom out the door at ten this morning with Patrick, the rest of the day spent in decompression. Had hoped to get some writing done, but that was hoping for too much, too soon, so spent the afternoon researching transport carriers for canoes.

Had a nice surprise mid-week when a big-time literary agent wrote to compliment me on my story “Sweetheart of the Rodeo.” Nice to know someone out there reads. Nicer still when you find out what they’re reading is yours.

Got a lotta ground to make up this week. Everything was thrown out of whack with all the visitors, visiting, and driving around. Only had a few stolen moments to write. Looking forward to getting back to the keyboard tomorrow.

Back...at last!

Hard to believe its been four days since checking in. But there you have it.

Home Sunday after a long drive through the San Luis Valley, guests last night for dinner, up early this morning working on new projects, and more guests arriving tomorrow afternoon. Don’t know how people do it. Looking after little ones is one thing, hanging with grownups, something else altogether.

Looking to go out for a walk here in a while, maybe wheel Mom around the neighborhood before dinner. After that, an early night to bed. Tired from all the hubbub.

Let's do it...

Well. The end of one week, the beginning of another.

Up early. On it before six. Put in some time on the fiction, then changed gears and spent the rest of the morning on commercial projects. Hit the gym around 1:30. Dry cleaners after that, and the grocery store after that.

On the road tomorrow.

C’s wedding tomorrow evening, the drive home with Mom the day after. Busy week ahead.

Got the lawns cut tonight, but didn’t finish until I was drenched during the late afternoon storm that blew in. Comes with the territory, I guess.

Fingers crossed I make it through the week.

Getting in time...

Out of bed and in the cottage, at the keyboard, by 5:30.

Got in some good work, commercial and otherwise. Hit the gym earlier than usual. Stopped by the boys’ house to say hello to P&R, drop off a couple of surprises. Young J was asleep, napping, and M was busy playing in the front room.

Came home, then took off again to go shopping for some new slacks for the wedding Saturday night. Managed to score, but not without a good deal of brain damage. Anyway, deed done.

Gonna try and relax tonight, get up early again and go as hard as I can knowing next week will be a giant bust all the way around.

What? I'm f-ing broke?

Somehow the day got lost. It happened around two o’clock when we talked to our esteemed financial advisor, and eyes glazed over in anticipation of old age, poverty and death. I’m not sure I want to be around when the rest of my generation discovers their retirement is destined to be spent dumpster diving and living in back alleys because they hadn’t had the sense to cancel their HBO and or eat at Chili’s once a month.

Screw it.

Talked to my uncle after the hackles went down, and set up an afternoon gathering for next week when mom is here. Look forward to getting everyone together. Meanwhile, on to business at hand. Mom’s excited, and that’s the main thing.

Sigh.

Was full of energy when I got home from the gym, and now it’s gone. Eh. That’s the way things go, I guess.

Watching it all go by...

Up earlier than usual. Put in some good work.

Trying to pull back a bit on the writing and give myself a little more time reading. Still putting in four or five hours a day a the keyboard, but more of it in composition. Giving the draft work more time to cool between sessions. Not sure if it’s making any difference yet, but while the weather warms and the trees come out, it seems like the right thing to do.

Good workout this afternoon. Enjoying the new things I’m learning.

Gonna have to abandon it while mom’s here and shift to a morning routine, but at least I’ll have a few new tricks to work with.

Went for a nice walk this evening. Weather was beautiful. Supposed to rain tonight, but that’s all right. It won’t be long before the high temps roll in. May as well enjoy the cool evenings while they’re here.

Tired. Gonna hit it early again tomorrow.

Yeah, Monday again...

Early rise on a nice sunny morning. Hit the keyboard hard. Was making pretty good progress, till the school called looking to send young M home with a fever. Thankfully, everything straightened itself out after some rest and aspirin.

Got to the gym later than usual, but had a good workout. New routine is tough in ways I'm not used to. Gonna take a few weeks, I supposed, before the soreness settles into something tolerable. Meanwhile, it’s just keep on slugging.

Sent my N critique off this morning. A nice story. Not contest caliber, maybe, but nice.

Last thing. Bought a canoe tonight. Simple little 13-footer that’ll play nicely on the small lakes and reservoirs around here. Give the boys a chance to fish from the water. Should be a lot of fun. It’s supposed to arrive at Sportsman’s Warehouse next Monday.

Rain’s moved in. Not sure what that bodes for tomorrow, but whatever it is, I’ll take it. Grass looks like a million bucks. Like to keep it that way for a while.

Just keep chipping away...

Restless night. Not sure why, maybe the warm weather. Kicked off the covers around midnight, but didn’t get back to sleep until near morning. Up before six, and able to put a finish on the draft of the new story. Feeling good about it. Think it has potential.

Went off to the movies early afternoon. Back in time to catch the late afternoon rains, give my uncle a call and catch up with some of my correspondence.

Mom coming in next week. Looking to get schedules in order, make sure we maximize our time. Gonna be a bit of a juggling act this time, owing to the boys being out of school, etc.

Looking to settle in and get some reading done tonight. Wake rested and push some work out the door. Also going to have to take a look at the workout schedule for next week and see if I can’t convert to mornings during mom’s stay.

Big week coming up. Big week.

Water, water everywhere...

Good day.

Up early, writing. Then off to the park with the boys. Weather was perfect. Cool, sunny, and crisp. Waited in line for a long time for a free canoe run, courtesy of Angler’s Covey, but it was worth it. J and I had a blast paddling around Prospect Lake. Young M wanted to go along, but refused a life jacket and lost out. Next time we’ll get it right. Snow cones and popsicles made up for our sins.

Went hunting for teak later in the day. Not much luck. Looking to build a potting shed on the side of the house, but it appears it’s going to take some time, given a limited supply of both materials and money. Still have a good reserve of brick from the last wall project. May look at something in that direction.

Rain came late in the day. Just a few sprinkles.

Might go to a movie tomorrow. We’ll see. Tonight, just going to hang around, eat pizza.

Friday, and taking it easy...

Good day with work, in general.

Made some nice revisions on the new story, cleaned the house, hit the gym, and finished off the day mowing my lawns.

Taking the boys to the sportsman’s show tomorrow, over at the park. Not sure what to expect except a good sized crowd. Get lucky, we might end up with a door prize or something. Read they’ll be giving a way fishing rods to the first 500 kids.

The H.G. Wells book gets more entertaining all the time. Crossed over from Neanderthal man to Cro-Magnon man last night. Apparently, they wanted nothing to do with one another! Put more crudely, the Cro-Magnon folks found Neanderthals too homely to mate with.

Just glanced out the window. The rains have returned. This is the wettest, coolest May we’ve had in a long time. Let’s hope it keeps the fires down this summer.

Keeping on...

This one went by like a streak.

Got in some early revisions on the new short piece, then spent the rest of the day chasing after the baby. Park, school, store. Lots of outdoor time. Glad we didn’t get the rain they promised. Until now, anyway.

Looking to the weeks ahead. Caley’s wedding in Santa Fe soon, mom here for a week. Other goings on. Schedule’s starting to fill up, and Wyoming’s beginning to beckon, too. Not sure when that’ll happen, but with the snow being what it is up on the Bighorns, late July and early August aren’t out of the question.

Good being away from the long piece. Enjoying this new story I’m working on and think it might be one of the better things I’ve written in a while. We’ll see. Meanwhile, I’m just going to enjoy it.

Reading a 1920s copy of H.G. Wells History of the World now, among other things. Enjoying it more than I thought I would, though Out of Africa is still hanging around my heart. Re-reading McCarthy’s Child of God again, too, for what must be the fifteenth time. Man, the guy can write.

Taking the boys to the Sportsman’s show in the park this Saturday. Should be fun. Just about time to get Jack out fishing again.

Just me being optimistic...

Slept in a bit today. Didn’t get to the keyboard until 6:30.

Working a new story. Feels like a breath of fresh air after the big push with the long piece. Got in some good work, the went to the gym to work on my new routine. Weight stuff I haven’t tried before. Felt all right to step into something new.

Weather was cockeyed today. Overcast, cool, cloudy. Started sprinkling off an on during the afternoon.

M tomorrow.

Hope we can get outside for a while, maybe kick around at the park.

Week’s gone suspiciously fast for a short one interrupted by a holiday, but it ain’t over yet. We’ll see what happens.

So that's nice...

So the day went more smoothly than I figured it would. Maybe because it got off to a good start. Was up early to have coffee with my buddy G, catch up on news of the outside world, then home again to spend the morning with young M, and finish the commercial projects I spent the weekend drafting.

No fiction today, and it felt good.

Tomorrow, back at it.

Didn’t spend as much time outside as I would’ve liked, but was impressed by what I saw of the day. Crisp clear air, blue ski with big, thick cumulus clouds, and an off-again, on-again breeze that was strong but nice.

Read that the snowpack around the state was at record levels. All the rivers are high. Hope it bodes well for the summer, and the fire danger.

Started adding some new stuff to my workout. Need a change of scenery. We’ll see how it plays.

The over and under...

Quiet day.

Up early, and off to the keyboard. Put in most of the morning on commercial work. Three drafts and counting. Needed a break a little after noon and went shopping for stuff around the house. Pretty ho-hum stuff.

Also found an interesting article on Gordon Lish. An interview, really, with a handful of his students.

Can’t claim to have killed any giants, but the day’s not over yet. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Calling it.

The start of the weekend...

Running close to burn out on the long piece. Made the last of the revisions for this round and put the ms. to bed. Don’t think I can look at it again for a while, but that should free up some time for the stories I’ve shelved.

Quit on the keyboard a little afternoon, then went out and finished pruning the trees. Made a trip to Rocky Top, cleaned the gutters, and took the truck to the car wash. Not a whole lot of excitement, but the day was clear and beautiful, and it was nice just driving around. The heavy snow really brought out the leaves.

Need to get cracking on the commercial stuff. Thought I’d get a good jump on it today, but was so close to the end of the revisions I’ve been working on, I couldn’t resist taking them to the end.

Yard looks great. The hard work’s paying off. Now to find the time to sit around and enjoy it.

Stay tuned...

Nice day.

Up early, wrote a while, then went to the trolley museum with young J. Played a little T-ball before he left, and embarked a long, serious bug-hunt. All in all, a lot of fun.

Hit the gym later this afternoon, then the barber, then the grocery store. Cut the lawn(s) when I got home.

Not sure what tomorrow’s gonna bring, but I’m guessing it’s going to come with a bit of copywriting, some yardwork, and a trip to Rocky Top. Wish I could say fishing, too, but even I won’t venture up into the mountains on Memorial Day weekend.

Wild times...

Had the boys all day today, so most of it’s a blur. Up early for a quick round of revisions, then straight to the rest. Lowe’s, iHop, a couple of episodes of Baby Einsteins, playtime with every toy in the house, forty minutes of wrestling, ten minutes of pouting… All good.

Young J back tomorrow for another around. M home for the day.

Still have copy to write, trees to prune, flower boxes to re-hang, and a whole lot more. Fingers crossed I make it.

Only a few pages left in the Africa book. Decided to save them for this evening. Gonna hate putting that one down.

Limb by limb...

Big snow last night. Big and wet. Had to go out in the middle of the night, dressed in a poncho, and stand on a ladder and shake the boughs to keep them from breaking. Shoveled the walks, too, which felt very much like shoveling wet cement, and repeated the process again a little after five this morning. Took a few casualties, but not as many as the neighbors, some of whom were hit pretty hard.

Planted a few hundred bucks in flowers on Saturday. Hope some of them survive. Have hauled the pots into the garage for tonight—it’s supposed to dip to freezing—so maybe we’ll come out okay. It was a late snow, even for the Rockies, and the accumulation was heavy. Probably five inches. Hope we’ve seen the end of it, but who knows.

Finishing the last few pages of Out of Africa. Dinesen talks about locusts, how their invasions were so massive, the weight of the alighting insects would break the limbs of her coffee trees. She goes into great description about how the settlers would try, in vain, to ward them off. Sympathized greatly, last night, while trying to save the trees.

No M. today. School out of session owing to the weather. He and J will both be over on Thursday. Hope the sun comes back so we can get outside.