writer
Woke from a bad dream at five, rolled out of bed at six, brewed a pot of coffee and went to work.
Close on the new stories.
Took a couple hours off around mid-afternoon to clean the house. Got in a trip to Costco, too, to pick up water and a bottle of Jack. After that, a long walk downtown to the Post Office.
Anniversary of my dad’s death today. He would’ve been a very cranky ninety-four. Gonna watch Singing in the Rain tonight in his honor.
Well, today makes two in a row.
Up early, but couldn’t find the muscle to make it more than just another quiet day at home.
Got some good revisions in early, then put up the keyboard and settled into yard work. Doused the lawn with another application of fungicide and laid out new grass seed, top soil.
Had a sprinkling of rain, but nothing like the weather folks promised. Maybe it’ll happen tonight, we’ll see.
Went off on a two-mile walk, then came home to some Cicero and a small nap. Also looked over the proofs of “Morphosis.”
That’s it.
Will give it a better try tomorrow.
Another amazing day in quarantine.
Hit the keyboard early, but got distracted by an amorous squirrel couple mating on the fence. Was just hitting stride again when we got a call from the boys. After that, there was a long walk, and after that we closed the blinds and blew the rest of the afternoon watching Dr. Zhivago.
Wild times, indeed.
Pizza tonight. Yard work tomorrow—providing it doesn’t rain.
Arm still giving me fits. On the positive side, it’s an excellent alarm clock. It goes off a little earlier than I’d like, but once it does there’s no going back to sleep.
Hodgepodge of goings on this morning, but managed to get in some good writing time anyway.
Decent workout, too. Plus a three-mile walk.
Made brief trip to Safeway to pick up some food, and came back with a headache. Gotta say being out among people isn’t so much fun right now.
Taking it easy tonight. See if I can’t beat this arm thing long enough to get a decent night’s sleep.
Gotta get this arm repaired. Woke up at two and couldn’t get back to sleep until four. Tossed, turned, nothing helped. Been popping Aleve like it was dope, but it doesn’t help. First thing I’m gonna do when this COVID-19 stuff is behind us is see my doc and get an RX for some physical therapy. I may have to wait a year, or two, at the pace things are going, but I’m sure it’ll be worth it.
On the positive side of things, had a pretty good day writing. Found the end for one of the short pieces I’d been working on, and put in some decent revisions on the other. Things are coming along more slowly than I’d like, but at least they’re moving.
Took a walk downtown to the post office around noon. Streets were empty. Construction guys over at CC were working away on the new arena, but the rest of the town was dead and a long way from looking for resurrection. Weather was nice again, but it’s not supposed to last. Been hearing reports of snow all day.
Made a pot of tomato soup for dinner. Seems like a good night for it. Boys called late in the day, and that made everything even better.
One last thing…
Told myself when I started this journal I’d keep politics out of it. Other things too. If these writings outlive me, just know there was a reason for that decision, and that the past few years have proved it to be a sound one.
Could have sworn I wrote an entry last night. Maybe it’s my imagination. Wouldn’t be the strangest thing that’s happened in the last month, would it?
Anyway, back now.
Put in a long day at the keyboard, working two short pieces side-by-side. Took a nice walk early afternoon, then got in some workout time in the garage. Rope, straps, medicine ball. Did it all.
Monkeyed with the computer for an hour or so and discovered my aptitude for technology is wanting. Managed to download something that disabled something else that left me unable to download pics from my phone. On the bright side, I didn’t shoot the computer. Yet.
Pretty day. Woke up to snow, and now it’s gone. Temps only made it into the thirties, but the sun was out and the sky was a perfect blue.
Saw they saved City Lights with a GoFundMe campaign. Nice. Would’ve been a smaller world without it.
Quiet day on the homestead.
Put in some decent work this morning. Snow started falling out a cloudless blue sky around nine, then thought better of it and quit.
Caught up on a little bit or correspondence, a little bit of housekeeping. Later, read a nice story on Narrative, “East Beach” by Steven Potter. Also caught up with an essay in the New West anthology before settling in for a nap.
What a day!
K came over for dinner tonight. Nothing fancy, but it felt like a feast. Cheeseburgers and corn, key-lime pie for dessert…
Gonna leap in with both feet tomorrow.
Woke up around five with my arm pounding. Decided to get up and write. Made some decent progress on the newest story and did a quick sketch for another. Gave away the keyboard to go grocery shopping and pick up some grass seed at the hardware store. Took a while to get in and out, but it wasn’t as bad as it might have been. People are being pretty civil, and most are willing to follow store orders. So here’s hoping we dodged the C bullet yet again.
Thought I might get in another hour of writing after we got home and disinfected the food, but mom called just as I was sitting down and that, as they say, was that.
Spent the rest of the day de-thatching the lawn. Need to get another application of F-stop down to kill the fungus, but will have to wait until a sunny day comes along. Weather folks are predicting snow tonight, cold temps for most of the week. We’ll see what comes.
Kids across the street are having an Easter egg hunt. Dave’s running his leaf blower. Cherry, our neighbor on the corner, is in the hospital recovering (I hope) from a broken hip. Sounds like a scene from an Hieronymus Bosch painting, doesn’t it?
Tired from the fresh air and general lack of activity. Took a walk tonight, but barely made it around the block. Looking forward to a nice movie.
Up early, real early. Went to work on the philharmonic stuff and didn’t quit until I had it all in hand.
Not much else to speak of.
Got a letter off to the boys, braved a trip to costco, then came home and took a walk.
Pretty day. Wish I’d seen more of it.
Well, this one started out with a sigh and never got any better.
Woke around three with my arm talking to me in a big way. Couldn’t make the ache go away and eventually signed on for some Aleve. Helped a little, but not much. Got out of be around six and went down to the cottage to write but was so tired, I’m not sure it was worth it.
Plugged away till mid afternoon when we got a call from young Jack. He was killing time, waiting for the official start of his birthday party.
Tried to write a little more, but gave up in favor of a walk.
I’ll leave this one in the loss column for the time being. But no point in bitching. With some sleep tomorrow might prove to be better day. Hope so.
All over the place today.
Up late last night. Couldn’t sleep. John Prine’s passing got to me. Went to bed later than I should, but still managed and early rise and some productive time at the keyboard.
Good to be busy.
Took a long walk around noon, then came home and worked a little more. FaceTimed with Matty.
Needed some odds and ends from the grocery store and went off in search of the despite my better judgment. Stood in line at the checkout counter behind an old woman who decided to argue over coupons and everything else under the sun. Came close to stealing her cane and beating her to death with it.
Took another walk when I got home. Beautiful day, so no reason not to.
Attitude’s good enough, but still haven’t managed to put a schedule together that works well with the stay at home orders. Nothing to do, I guess, but keep experimenting.
Jackie’s birthday tomorrow. Were supposed to be celebrating it here. Maybe next year.
Goddamnit. Post I just wrote disappeared. Well, that’s it. I’m through for the night.
This one started out fast but fizzled.
Close to having a reader draft of the new short. Working title, “An Existential Threat.”
Picked up some new commercial work today from the Philharmonic. Good to see some paying gigs come through the door. Spent too much of mid-day reading the news, but enjoyed a nice palate cleanser when the mail came and there was a letter from Jackie in it. Man, do I miss those boys.
Spoke to mom later in the day, and got updated on all the news from Albuquerque, which didn’t amount to much. Went out for a walk afterward. Enjoyed a short virtual concert staged by John and his guitar buddy, Mark when we got back.
Looks to be a quiet evening.
Hope to get in some reading tonight.
Missed putting up an entry yesterday and can’t recall the reason.
Not sure it makes much difference, yesterday and today being so close in look you couldn’t tell one from the other, but here I am hoping to fill in the blanks.
Up early to the keyboard, working on my N assignments. Put two critiques in my queue before taking some time off for scones and coffee with K and S. Had a nice chat, then went back to work. This time on the short piece I’ve futzing with for the past week.
Found time for a decent workout yesterday, but had to settle for a long walk to the post office today. Three miles there and back. Not bad, though I sure am missing the weights at the gym. Them and the heavy bag.
Got another story picked up, too. The fifth, I think, since January. This one by DASH, out of Cal State Fullerton. The piece is flash fiction, titled “Morphosis.”
FaceTimed with J on the way home from our walk. His birthday’s Thursday. He called to say he’d gotten our package.
Up early, but nothing to show for it. Not sure how I let the day slip by, but I did. Managed some edits on the new story, a short walk close to noon. Not much else.
Three new N pieces came in while I was napping. Read two, and saved the third for tomorrow.
Trying to map a new workout, but still haven’t nailed the logistics. Everything’s new now. Figured a way to hang straps from the interior garage door, which is a good start, and commandeered the mats we used to put beneath the boy’s pool for a floor cushion, but the whole deal’s still a work in progress.
Finished another essay in the New West writings. Some of the most enjoyable reading I’ve done in a long time.
Virus is picking up steam from what little I’ve read. Supposed to peak this month. We’ll see. Meanwhile, caution, forbearance and the rest.
Time to get back to the new novel.
Emptied my N queue today. That must count for something. Was making headway on the new story, too, but got sidetracked somehow and forced to give it up. That’s the way things go these days.
Got out for a nice walk before noon. Almost three miles. Folks are still in pretty good spirits, which is nice, and there were paper products at the store, which was a hopeful sign, too.
Missing the boys. Jack’s birthday is just around the corner. The time we were supposed to spend with them is off the table, as it should be, but it doesn’t make the pill any easier to swallow. Just hoping it won’t be forever before we see them again.
Gotta get back to work on the new long piece tomorrow. Get out a letter or two.
Okay, so, another one behind us.
Up early working on a new story. Then went to work revising “Blood from Stone.” A few small things here and there before shipping it off.
Got in a long walk around noon—getting to be a habit, isn’t it?—then home for more revisions, research, etc.
Somehow the whole thing filled up the afternoon.
Sitting here now after 6:00 wondering where the day went.
Tomorrow (or maybe the day after) back to the long piece.
Lots of reading today. Also, packed up and shipped off two N critiques, which puts me pretty close to the end of my to-do list.
Like I said, more tomorrow.
Walked through downtown yesterday singing “Little Deuce Coupe” in full throat, and didn’t get arrested. That’s how dead the town is.
Up early, writing. Then editing. Then working on reviews.
Took a two-hour walk mid-afternoon, enjoying the good weather before it dashes off. Pretty day out there. Not much foot traffic, which was kind of surprising under the circumstances.
Came home and took a nice peaceful nap.
If it wasn’t for money running out, a guy could get used to this lifestyle.
Need to start shaping up. Working with a schedule. Not doing badly at the moment, but a little more discipline wouldn’t hurt.
We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
Nice visit over dinner last night with K. She cooked up a splendid chicken cacciatore, and we celebrated the night with a couple of bottles of red wine and lively conversation.
Out early to work on the new story.
Chugged along pretty well until we got another call from the boys. Two in as many days! For all the virus has snatched away, this is the one thing it’s started to give back in spades. Had something akin to a two hour playtime with the two of them. J was working on schemes to get us out there. M was just happy to make noises and babble. Can’t think or even wonder when we’ll see them again, but it’s nice to know they still remember us, still miss us.
Took a long walk around the CC campus after we got off the phone. Reacquainted ourselves with the grounds, the buildings. Scouted out the new doings and had a leisurely walk back. Settled into a new essay, then a nap when we got home.
Pretty day. Blue sky. A little chilly when the wind gusted up, but nothing to complain about. Saw it was raining in Pittsburgh. Lahui, too, probably.
Long day short on work.
Up early to the King Soopers in the hope of scoring some cleaning products. Was met by a long, long line of equally-destitute looking seniors. They let 100 of us in.
Made a side trip to Calicrate to pick up some beef.
Got in a long walk afterward.
Posted a few letters.
Dinner at K’s tonight. See if I can’t relax a little more, get an early to bed, and pick up tomorrow.
