Cold snap...

So. Up at 5:30 and off to work. A light snow came overnight, and the neighborhood looked like winter. Dusted the patio with a broom. Snow in my slippers.

Got in a good morning’s work, went off to the gym, turned around when I looked in the window and saw people without masks and came home to take a nap.

Pushed all but one of my N reviews out the door.

Papers say everybody’s tired of the pandemic, and all I can think is we’ve got to hang tough. The cold weather’s gonna be a challenge. Like to make it through another winter without getting sick.

Here’s hoping.

Not Debatable...

Yeah. Back at it.

Slow rise today, but not a late one. Needed some time to meet the morning.

Good day today with revisions, then off to PT, a short workout, and home again. Finished work on the boys’ zombie costumes. Got everything ready to ship off.

New fire moving into Grand Lake. Another threatening Estes Park. Hoping the weather turns cold, and the snow forecasted shows up in spades.

2020 can’t get a whole lot worse.

Pike, yes, peak no...

Couldn’t sleep last night. Just as well. Made for an early rise, and fresh made sub sandwiches for the fishing trip. Had a good drive up to Denver, and a great day fishing with my uncle. Didn’t catch much—one small walleye, but had a great visit, long overdue.

Gotta get back at it and shoot for big day tomorrow. Lots to accomplish. Tonight, kicking back and doing lots of nothing.

The day before...

Up before seven, at work a little after.

Another day of good progress with the book. A nice workout at the park, too.

Did some painting on the boy’s Halloween costumes, then went off to tank up the car and pack the gear for tomorrow’s fishing excursion. Should have a nice time if the weather’s anything like it was today.

Calling it.

Hope to report a respectable catch tomorrow.

Taking it as it comes...

Good night’s sleep.

Early up, early to work.

Nice progress on the revisions.

PT a little after noon, short workout a little after that. Made a late afternoon excursion to Sportsman’s warehouse to pick up some equipment for Wednesday’s fishing trip with my Uncle Joe. Been a long time since I’ve fished for bass or walleye, but as of this evening we’re prepared for whatever comes.

Still playing catch up with a few things, but doing all right otherwise.

Eager to get started on a new short.

Fire...

An easy Sunday.

Late rise, straight to the cottage to work. Close to finishing this pass on the novel.

Worked, made a brief jaunt to the gym, then home again to watch a little football.

Gotta kick it into high gear tomorrow and finish another couple of reviews. Get some kind of read on the new fire outside Boulder and make sure my mid-week fishing trip isn’t going to tank.

Scouting the possibilities...

Good day. Lots of catching up.

Sped ahead with revisions on the new novel, too. Still a lot of clean up to attend to, but feeling good about the progress.

Spent the afternoon scouting the lakes up in Denver, looking for a good place to take Uncle Joe. Think I’ve settled on Cherry Creek. Good handicap access, short walks to the lake, and all the rest.

Smoke from the Littleton fire boiled over the north part of the horizon like something from a volcano. Was sad to see that. Not wishing the fall away, but wouldn’t mind seeing snowfall on the western states soon.

Figure to take it easy tonight, get a head start in the morning.

TGIF...

Back at it. Felt like Saturday, all day, and don’t know why. Anyway, got in another morning’s worth of good revisions, followed by a long FT conversation with young Jack. Not sure where the middle afternoon went—if there in fact was one—but took a late walk and jogged the soccer field stairs, then came home and started a pot of leek and potato soup.

Got to be later than usual last night, so hope to make up for it tonight. Tired from all the running around.

Couple of Aleve and a glass of wine ought to move things along.

To-do List...

Headway on the novel revisions.

PT and workout took up most of the afternoon. Had a nice talk with my bro back in Wisconsin.

K over for dinner tonight. Steak au poivre.

Worked out a fishing trip with uncle for next week

Need to crack on the N critiques tomorrow.

Well, I tried...

A little bit of writing interrupted by two miserably long trips out to the car dealership, only to learn the issue will have to be dealt with at some later date.

Did get a small workout in, too.

Gonna start again early tomorrow and see if I can’t do a little better.

Rome wasn’t burnt in a day.

Sleepwalking...

Up earlier than usual, out the door to the cottage earlier than usual. Got in some good writing. Jogged the stairs in the soccer field before going off to PT.

Worked through the afternoon, caught up on correspondence, picked up some pork chops at the grocery, then came home and read.

Took a walk early this evening. Weather was beautiful. Trees lost some of their leaves after yesterday’s blow, but things still looked pretty.

Checked out Chatfield State Park online. Like to take my uncle up there for a little fishing. We’ll see what the week brings.

Typical Sunday. Sort of...

Rough night with the arm. Not sure what’s going on, but hope it’s healing.

Good work on the long manuscript today, then a short trip to the gym. Got home, voted, treated myself to a latte from Starbucks, then went back to work, making submissions.

Received a long solicitous rejection from the Berkeley Fiction Review. Might have just been easier if they’d accepted the piece.

Calling it.

Dinner’s on the table.

Yeah, fall's here...

And then that happened.

Troubled arm, troubled night’s sleep. Even so, managed a decent wake-up time and some good revisions on the long piece.

FaceTimed with Jack and Matt for an hour or so, then went off to the gym. Had a nice quiet workout, then came home, talked to my uncle, filled up the truck and prepped dinner.

Sky was clear today, but the bad from the fires was still in the air. Ash out front are a beautiful shade of gold. Leaves were falling like snow all day.

Looking forward to a quiet Sunday.

Taking a breath before moving on...

Seems like the pace slackened today. Or maybe it was me.

Up at a decent hour, straight to work. Got a lot of revisions in place on the long piece, polished the commercial project and mailed it off, then jogged the stairs at the soccer field for an hour. Got in some quiet time mid-afternoon, including a short nap. Also got to FaceTime the boys for a while.

Hoped to go fishing today, but had a long hard night with the arm and knew it wouldn’t be very productive. Maybe tomorrow or Sunday. Have to play it by ear, I guess.

Figured to hit it hard again today, but just didn’t have the horses. Best laid plans, right?

And here it is, Wednesday...

Pretty good day. Had some solid revision time, got in a long jog on the soccer park stairs, drafted some new material for the Philharmonic, paid the bills and even got off a letter to Jack and Matty.

Air’s still smokey, but the temps have been kind. A little warm out there this afternoon, though nothing to complain about. Hope the good stuff lasts long enough for a late week fishing excursion.

Debates tonight.

Not sure what tomorrow’s supposed to bring, but I’d like to button up my stray projects and move on to something new. Maybe teak oil the backyard furniture.

Only Tuesday?

So, kinda let this one slip by. Don’t know what happened, except that I didn’t accomplish half of what I set out to do. Did a little research, made some revisions, spent a couple of hours at the gym, then home again for a quiet afternoon.

Gonna have to hit it hard tomorrow. Meanwhile, looking forward to a quiet evening.

Did get out for a short walk, but the sidewalks were busy and had to spend half the time dodging other walkers.

Caught up with some of the neighbor folk, which was nice, but it made me wish all the more this Covid business was behind us. Tired of the smoke, tired of being cooped up. Tired of talking to people from six feet away.

Locked and loaded...

Up again a little after four, young Tuck deciding he wanted to play. Hung back for an hour or so after the toe-biting game, and made a break for the cottage around six. Put in some good work at the keyboard. Think I’ve got a couple of good stories in the making. Reader draft of “Down There” ought to be in place before the end of the week. The other? We’ll see.

Jogged the stairs in the park this afternoon. Weather was cool, which helped. Felt pretty good when I got home, but took a nap in anticipation of company tonight. K coming over to watch the game.

New copywriting work came in. Happy for that. Gonna try and get a good night’s sleep, come at strong tomorrow and maybe have something ahead of deadline. Like to get in a day of fishing this week, too. While the weather’s nice. Smoke is still sitting over us in varying degrees of thickness, but wasn’t as bad today as it’s been earlier.

Owe a few letters. Need to get started on that, too. PT tomorrow. Full steam ahead.

Galavanting...

Woke at 4:45 with a kittie sleeping on my bad arm. Got up thinking to hit the office, but laid down again after getting dressed and dozed until a little after 7:00. So much for an early start.

Worked hard at the keyboard, and got in some good revisions on the two new shorts. After, went on a long drive through the San Isabel forest looking for Christmas tree country. Saw some nice streams in the backcountry, but didn’t have my gear, so had to pass. The aspen were pretty, but not quite there yet, giving a good excuse for another long drive next weekend. Found one possible tree-harvesting site at the southern end of the forest, but still not counting out a trip to Leadville where we’ve taken our last three.

Pretty day today, or would have been if the smoke had cleared a little more. Still, nothing to complain about. Temps were nice, the air smelled of fall, and winter can’t be far off.

Eager to get back to the gym tomorrow. Tonight, just gonna take it easy.