Rub some dirt on it...

Writing this early in the day. Figured I needed to catch up after going off the grid for a while.

Finished the three night stint with the boys yesterday, and miss them already. Raucous evening. Gotta see if I can get into the swing of the weekend now. Fix the garage lift. Chop up Robin’s tree-limbs. Clean the house.

Been trying to put a count on the number of submissions that have gone past the one year mark, waiting for acceptances/rejections. I believe it numbers in the double digits now. I know I’ve carped about this before, but who’s running the show in some of these places? Where’s the professionalism?

On a less whiney note, making good progress on the new story. Think I have most of it sorted out now, and feel pretty hopeful about the revisions. New changes keep coming, but they’ve been the spontaneous sort that show up in happy moments and make the good even better.

Looking forward to getting back in the groove. Accomplishing something.

So...

Blur of a day.

Spent the morning chasing little M around the house. Long talk with my bro, Joe, too. Shit keeps hitting the fan. Guess I was due for a karma makeover, so hey, why complain?

Boys come tomorrow for a three-day stay. That’ll be nice.

Everything else? Up in the air.

Gotta try and get back in the swing. N stories to critique, stories to finish, buddies to connect with. Keep believing.

The sleep of reason...

Nice day with young Jack. Fished Catamount, and brought home a nice rainbow he’ll be sharing with his little brother for dinner.

We’ve got this shorthand way of talking. Expect it’ll be one of the first things to go after he moves away. However it turns out, it’ll never be the same so I’ve gotta hope it’ll somehow, against all odds, get better. How ridiculous is that?

Figure this is gonna be a lost week. Month. Year.

Can only look forward. It’s the only thing that’s unspoiled, still in my control.

Distractions...

Working through. Trying to stay busy.

Up early writing headlines. Took a small break to help K plant a couple of rose bushes. Rest of the day, ran errands. Looked after S.

Raining again tonight.

Thunder’s rumbling.

Sun and water...

Couldn’t sleep last night. Up since one. Managed a little work at the keyboard, then packed up and headed into the mountains for a morning of fishing. Took the canoe up to Catamount Lake, and had a nice day on the water. Hadn’t been spin-casting in a while, but pulled a few good hits and lost a nice rainbow on the last cast when it jumped and broke the line.

Lot on the mind. Need to let it sift down. Take things as they come, and try not to lose sight of what’s ahead. Hope to put in some quality time at the keyboard tomorrow. Bang away at the gym. Stay busy. Life’s gonna go on which ever way it pleases, and I’ve gotta find a way to do the same.

At a loss...

At the keyboard early this morning when I got the news. Drew took a job in Pittsburgh. The boys are moving away after all this time. Can’t believe it, and don’t want to believe it, but there it is. Pittsburgh. Feels like something inside me died.

Coasting...

Somehow it became July without my knowing it!

Where was I, yesterday?

Up early to meet G for coffee this morning at Kairos. Had a great time, as always. Swapped some pretty good stories.

Kept young M busy with a trip to Target. Rest of the day went pretty much as scripted. Babysat, hit the gym for a while, then home again with the boys for the rest of the afternoon. Somewhere while goofing off, J recited the names of all the planets in the solar system. I don’t know. They’re smarter than we were.

More tired today than I planned on. Hoped to shuffle the last of the N critiques out the door tonight, but think I’ll wait until tomorrow instead. Sleep on it first.

Rain this afternoon. Cooled things off. Hope there’s more where that came from tomorrow.

Lost time...

No idea where this one went.

Had an early rise, hit the keyboard hard.

Recorded more of the long piece, then headed out to the gym. Came home and cut the lawns.

N reviews finished. One left to send off tomorrow.

Young M tomorrow, too.

Coffee with G at 7:00.

Settling into summer...

Quick up and down.

Up early. All but finished new short piece. Working out the final details on the ending. It’s coming in at just under 7,000 words, but feels pretty nice. Think I’ve got something good in it.

Spend the day policing the yard in anticipation of tonight’s dinner guests. John and Karin coming over for grilled salmon, wine, and a caramel ice cream and peach dessert.

Hot day, today. Well into the 90s again. Held off cutting the lawns so I wouldn’t burn them out. May be another day or two before I give it a try.

Saw the neighbors are back from their long camping trip. Farewell to the early morning cups of coffee on the front porch!

Talked to Mom last night, and see seemed well. Said it was plenty hot down in NM, too.

Like to get out on the water tomorrow, but not much chance of a canoe trip given the late start we’d get. Still might look at a quick trip up the mountain to do a little fly fishing. Or down to the Arkansas.

Speaking of fish, a friend at the gym gave me two nice Cabella bass rods yesterday. When I got home and looked at them I saw they were worth probably $300 or more with the caddy. Had to send him a text this morning saying I couldn’t accept them. Too valuable.

Skies starting to look a little gray. Maybe we’ll get a little rain.

Now comes the heat...

Well, summer finally showed up. Hit 90 today, maybe higher. Took an instant toll on the lawn, though I did fight back with a hose tonight after sending the boys home. Next few days are supposed to be burners. Finally turned on the AC.

Think this new story I’ve been working on is going to be a good one if I can keep it under control. My best in a while, though it has been a while since I’ve written anything short. Anyway, might have a reader’s draft in order by the end of the weekend, if I’m lucky.

The Wells book remains interesting, but I need to lock in on a new novel soon. Pick up on a few more short stories, too, though I think I have at least three sitting in my N queue at the moment. Read the first of them, but more came in last night.

Need to give Mom a call and see how she’s faring. It’s a helluva busy time when she’s here, but I miss her when she leaves. Saw some footage of Hidden Falls and Jenny Lake yesterday, and got hit hard with memories of my dad. Beautiful country out there. I’m glad he introduced me to it.

Hump day...

Wow. The day killed me off about an hour ago. Not sure why.

Up early, but not that early. Put in a couple of hours on the new short, then worked around the yard a while, trimming. Hit the gym after noon, then put in a little more yard work. Letter off to D. Research. Got J’s silver maple seedlings in the soil, too. Productive day most of the way around.

Got a nice note from my buddy, G, last night. Says he’ll be back in town soon. Look forward to catching up with him.

M comes early tomorrow. Might have to work out a trip to the park while the weather’s nice. He was a big help planting the roses and viburnum, but that bit of work’s finished and there’s nothing left to do in the yard now—at least for the moment— but water.

Gonna call an early one here and watch the debates tonight.

Hit the sack early.

Easing in...

So that was Monday.

Up a little after five, and down to the cottage to finish what I hope will be the last of the edits on the long piece for at least a couple of weeks. Turning it over to DocuMart tomorrow. Was going to do it today, but got waylaid by other things.

Did make it to the gym, and got in a nice workout.

Young M tomorrow, along with the first hot weather in some time. Gotta figure out a way to make the most of what promises to be a long afternoon once his bro arrives.

Tired for some reason. More tired than expected, anyway. We’ll see what the morning brings.

Calling it.

Sunday already...

Lazy day.

Up early, making revisions.

Later, off to the nursery to buy a few viburnum for the front flower bed.

Weather went back and forth for a while, and settled into a cool, breezy afternoon. Can’t say I accomplished as much as I wanted, but it is what it is and there’s always tomorrow.

Felt good backing away from the gym for a couple of days. Look forward to getting back at it tomorrow, but my body’s thankful for the rest.

More tomorrow.

Letter due family, invoices to clients. Gonna try and make a big week of it.

Make it official, it's Saturday...

Quick entry.

Up later than usual last night, up later than usual this morning. Out of bed and at the keyboard by 6:10. Put in a solid 3 1/2 hours of revisions, then went to work on the overhead hoist in the garage, assembling the cargo bed. Needed a side to Ace to pick up a couple of nuts for a U-bolt, but the job’s done except for some minor adjustments. At least I hope it’s done. We’ll see how the programming goes.

No gym today. Needed some time to recuperate. But got in a nap, which was almost as good. Kept thinking today was Sunday, a misconception brought on by yesterdays boat excursion. Looking forward to an early rise tomorrow, and an end to the current revisions on the long piece. Gonna send a file off to DocuMart on Monday and have a paper copy made that I hope to put to audio—kind of a touch point before burning reader copies. Need to start revising the outline, get to work on a synopsis, etc. Also wanna get back to the short I’ve been fooling around with.

Rains came again this afternoon. Snow in the mountains. Wouldn’t mind seeing a little sunshine, but will never complain about moisture again if it keeps the fires away. We’ll see. It’s a long summer.

A little of this, a little of that...

Got it going early again. Two productive hours before the little guy arrived.

Feeling better and better about the long piece. Or hell, maybe I’m just getting lazy, I don’t know. Either way, it’s rolling to completion and that’s a merciful thing. Want to start moving on to other things.

Managed a quick but productive trip to the gym mid afternoon, then home again to round up the boys and kill the rest of the day.

Gonna launch the new canoe tomorrow morning, and if the day’s half as nice as this one was we should have a successful maiden voyage. I’m tempted to take my fishing gear along and see if I can’t bring home dinner. We’ll see how much ambition I have after loading the boat and the rest of the gear.

K coming for dinner tomorrow night. Bringing steaks! If the weather holds, maybe we’ll have our first backyard fire of the season.

Turning the corner on a new week...

Full day. Up at 5:30, making a mad run to the end of the long piece. The structure is finally, solidly, in place, and the revisions from here should be small and manageable. Whether there’s any worth to what’s been done as a whole remains to be seen. Another reprieve is probably in order before heading down that path. Anyway, it’s on to green woods and pastures new for a while.

Got in another nice day at the gym. The new routine is energizing. Came home afterward and made another trip to Sportsman’s Warehouse for a set of adult life preservers. Then a separate trip to Memorial Park to pick up a season boating license. Maiden voyage is scheduled for Friday, destination Quail Lake. After that, who knows?

The Wells book continues to fascinate. It’s quite a tome, and I’m a long, long way from finished, but haven’t any great hurry and am enjoying the read. Also finished a re-read of McCarthy’s Child of God. What a book. Funny, but the sheriff (Fate) and his deputy are almost a prototype of EdTom and his deputy in No Country.

Feels good to be back in the swing. Young M tomorrow, so we’ll see if the momentum lasts. Wanna get back to the short I was working on, and maybe draft a new one before the week’s out. We’ll see how the time plays out, the weather being strange and all.

All this and more...

So. Back to normal, for what it’s worth.

Early rise, good revisions, little guy back, and life is good. Miss Mom, but it’s nice to get some work done. Still leaning hard on the long piece. Feels like I might have a reader draft in the next week or so, but content to take things as come. Don’t have any other choice, really.

Drove back out to Sportsman’s Warehouse this morning to pick up a couple of life preservers for the boys. (Do they still call them that? Life preservers?) Anyway, got the floatation stuff, and two sets of oars. One for the big folks, one for the small. Now all that’s left are some adult vests and a permit or two. Looking forward to the first launch.

Made it to the gym early, and got in a nice workout. Felt good getting back in that routine, as well.

Can’t believe it’s the middle of June already. Must be the weather that’s throwing me off. Rain again today, and cool too. Still feels like spring.

Jeep died for no apparent reason, which I hope becomes apparent now that it’s parked outside Stanley’s Garage. Intermittent electrical? Christ, I hope not.

The rain was incidental...

Feeling more like myself.

Woke a little after five and got back to the keyboard. Plowed along pretty well and managed some good edits. Getting closer and closer on the long piece. We’ll see how the week goes.

Spent the early part of the afternoon at Freight Harbor looking for a trailer extension. Found, installed it, and picked up the new canoe at Sportsman’s Warehouse. Even at thirteen feet, the canoe seems big. But the extension worked, and the boat rode comfortably in the back bed of the truck, and we’ll be in business if I can find the ratchet tie-downs I seem to have lost, score a couple of paddles, and manage some free time to launch it.

Gonna take it easy tonight. Ease my way back into the gym tomorrow. Enjoy what comes along. Just good to be back in the saddle.