Honestly wish I cared...

Well, hoped better for this one. But maybe it was just me. The whole day was off kilter.

Won’t go into the ups and downs, but will say it was good to wake up and see there weren’t the five inches of snow the weather bureau predicted. We got a wet, crusty bit of stuff, but nothing spectacular.

On the positive side of life, Mr. Kitcat’s blood work is good for a gentleman his age, though by the sound of it his thyroid may have been hiding a renal issue. We’ll see. Pills for now, more blood work in three months, and fingers crossed in the meantime.

Got a nice workout mid-afternoon, and some reading time, too.

Hoping for a better night’s sleep.

Forecast: winter...

Dreary day. But we needed it. Mists all day with the promise of snow this evening. Forecast went from five inches to three with temps falling into the low thirties.

Covered all the flowers this afternoon, and moved the ones yet to be planted into the garage. Feel like we should do all right providing the snow doesn’t get too wet and heavy.

Good day on the short fiction front. Got to the end of the new story. Have the feeling it’s going to do all right out in the market. With three fresh ones behind me, I think I can get back to the novel. If not this week, then next.

Made it to the gym and got in a decent workout on the stair master, but forewent any heavy lifting after yesterday. Thought I’d give my arm a break.

Tree surgeon’s supposed to show tomorrow morning, but if the weather goes south I’m not counting on it. Expect to be up in the middle of the night brushing snow from the bushes.

Nice talk with my buddy, S this afternoon. Real nice.

Tomorrow, Kit goes in for more blood work. Curious to see what the meds have done for him.

Lazy Sunday...

Up at sunrise, out to work.

Continuing to move ahead with the new story.

Gave up yard work for a late morning movie, but probably would have done better staying home and pruning the shrubs.

Salvaged the latter half of the afternoon at the gym trying to get the shoulder/arm back in shape.

Weather took a turn. Gray skies and falling temps. Guess it’s supposed to snow tonight, but we’ll see. Weathermen are only batting around .300 this spring.

Looking at getting a few things cleared up tomorrow. Digging in and seeing if I can’t get back to the novel soon.

Till then, this is it.

Saturday, 6:07 pm...

Up before four, thanks to Kit. Not sure what his deal was, but he and the little man had an action-packed night that ended in an early rise and demands for an early breakfast.

Put in some good clean work at the keyboard. Made a nice run toward the end on my newest short.

Cleaned up the front yard before noon, shoveling up the last big piles of topsoil. Took the dirt and yard debris off to Rocky Top, and stacked all of the old retainer stones from the garden in the alley.

Made a trip to Costco after all else was out of the way, then showered and turned in for a late day nap.

Pretty day today. Cold and maybe even snow coming before the weekend’s out. Feel like we’re making progress. Lawn’s looking good, and so are the trees and shrubs.

Think I've got it figured out now...

Just back from the doc. Looking forward to leaving the day behind.

Did some good work on the newest story in terms of edits, but had to shelve it earlier than expected to attend to other things.

Finished out the morning catching up on correspondence, then headed off to the gym for rehab.

Met R’s new beau today. Seems like a nice guy. Guess I’ll be turning over my second lawn to someone new soon.

More yard cleanup tomorrow.

What could be better?

Time to push a little harder...

Well this one didn’t go as planned, but what does?

Put in a couple of hours at the keyboard this morning, then left for the gym to get in an early workout. Was trying to stay ahead of the tree surgeon, only to have him call late this afternoon to reschedule the removal.

Had plenty of yardwork to finish, so got on that instead. Cut the lawn(s), too, though only as a preemptive measure before seeding.

Everything’s finished now for the time being—including the burlap work—so now it’s sit back, water, and see what comes up.

FT’d with Matty late in the day. Got to see the work in his new art “exhibition.”

Doc appointment tomorrow. Ain’t particularly looking forward to it, but can’t put it off any longer.

Got this much further...

Busy day from the get-go.

Out to the cottage early, made some decent revisions on the newest story, then spent two long hours on a zoom call with our financial advisor, re-visiting the red line of death we’ve been walking for twenty years now. Learned a couple of things, so that was nice, but afterward there was nothing to do but retreat into yardwork.

Finished the edging on the new flowerbed, set the foundation stones for the new pots, and took care of the clean-up in anticipation of yet another mess tomorrow when the tree reapers come to remove the old cottonwood in back.

Nice day today. Cool but sunny. Not sure what tomorrow’s supposed to bring, but we’ll be ready for it.

A step or two behind...

Didn’t sleep for a damn last night. Woke a little after two, and never quiet found the sweet spot afterward. Too much on the mind, I guess.

Went out to the cottage early and picked up where I’d been the day before. Made headway on a few fronts, then took a break and headed off for the gym.

Yard reconstruction is coming along. S picked up some new pots for the front, along with a million dollars worth of flowers. Looks like I’ve got some digging and edging in front of me before seed. Anyway, there’s no turning back now.

Lots of unanswered mail in front of me.

Need to shoot for an early rise and see if I can’t get some work done before the interruptions begin. Many goings on this week. Financial dude tomorrow, tree surgeon the day after, the doc the day after that. I see cutting, pruning, and poverty in the future!

A Day of Reflection...

Too much on the mind lately.

Or maybe not enough.

Late start today. Later than usual, anyway. Put in time on the newest of the new stories, and spent a little time catching up on my reading and research.

Made an early trip to the gym, then the grocery store, then home to some family phone calls, and a nice long FaceTime with the boys.

Behind on few things, ahead on a few others. If I get a good night’s sleep maybe I can make tomorrow into something all my own.

Trees are beginning to bud. Flowers too. That’s something—right?

Shoulder to the wheel...

Trout dinner last night was outstanding. A great time all around.

Roving bands of teenagers made for a tough night’s sleep last night, but it’s spring, juices are flowing, and folks have been cooped up for a long time, so tried not to sweat it.

Woke at a decent hour and came close to staying in bed rather than work. Sad to say duty won out.

Worked the newest story a good part of the morning, then went off in search of pots for the front yard landscaping project.

Came home, took a long nap, and now here I am—back at the keyboard.

Submitted an early copy of Born Blue to the ABR Jolley Prize. We’ll see what happens—but not for a long time, of course. Meanwhile, plugging ahead with all the other projects.

Cool, rainy weather coming in tonight. More of the same tomorrow.

Looking forward to the start of a new week.

Time for another do-over...

Man. Today had some clunk to it, and not sure why.

Up at a good early hour making revisions, then off to lunch, and after that, off to the gym.

The revisions went as expected, lunch was a mild fiasco, and the gym—which has recently changed hands—is apparently being reconfigured to accommodate twenty year olds with yoga/and or/cage fighting aspirations.

Came home and shoveled dirt around the yard, prepping it for seed. Not sure when exactly that will happen, but with the hot weather coming, it’s got to happen soon.

Kath coming to dinner tonight. Gonna bake the trout from yesterday’s fishing trip. Looking forward to kicking back and taking it easy.

It doesn't get any better...

Spent the early morning revising the newest story, “Born Blue.” Think I’ve got something there. Figure to call it a reader draft by tomorrow.

Spent the rest of the day fishing the Arkansas. Thought it might be slow when I first put in, but it turned out to be one of the best days I’ve had on the water in a long time.

Brought home a nice brown and bookend rainbows, all big, all beautiful. Caught and released at least five more. Lost a magnificent rainbow just as I was trying to net it.

Weather was perfect in the canyon. Not much wind, high blue sky, lots of sun.

Great to get out.

Rounding the corner...

Decent day all around.

Revisions on “Born Blue” went well. Same with the new story.

Quit the keyboard around 10:30 and went back to work on the flower bed. Dug a lot of dirt, lugged a lot of stone, but finished up with the tough stuff by about 3:30 and went out for a Starbuck’s.

Arborist guys came late afternoon and fertilized all the trees. Another big job out of the way.

Next up, replanting and reseeding.

Weather’s shaped up, and figures to hold for another day or so. With any luck, I’ll get down to the Arkansas tomorrow for some fishing. Save the other work for the weekend.

April 28...

Helter skelter.

Up earlier than usual, out to the cottage to write, the off to the gym.

Got home and dismantled the old flower bed in front. A lot happened in between, but I’ll be damned if I can remember what it was.

Woke to grey skies, strong winds and threats of rain. Now it’s blue skies and sunshine.

Not gonna try and predict what tomorrow will bring.

Yeah, redo...

Morning took a big U-turn. Ended up canceling the fishing trip and sticking around. Made the most of day, despite the change of plans.

Worked out a few revisions on a short story, cleared the old flower bed, hit the gym, made a trip to Rocky Top and even got the mower into the lawn shop for sharpening and maintenance.

Cooking chicken cacciatore for dinner.

We’ll see about tomorrow.

Temps say summer's on the way...

Muddling through another Monday.

Close to finishing a reader draft on “Born Blue.” Think it’ll be an okay piece if I don’t mess up the end. Meanwhile, letting the long piece cool while I take on yard work and other chores around the house. Got the tree guys coming to fertilize soon, the surgeons to take down the cottonwood next week, negotiations with the house painter…and all manner of spring cleaning to deal with.

Which is why I’m taking tomorrow off to do a little fishing.

Gonna re-do the stonework flowerbed this week, too. See if we can’t come up with something a little more practical. Would’ve started on it this afternoon, but the neighborhood kids were out chasing around, and I didn’t want to see anyone get hurt.

Took a quiet drive down to the park after hitting the gym. Got a chance to sit back and chat a while, enjoy the day.

Out and about...

Dinner at Kath’s last night. A nice quiet evening.

Woke early, and went to work on the third of the news stories I’m writing. Made some pretty decent progress before putting myself to work in the yard for the better part of the afternoon.

Grass is looking better than I thought it would, but have a lot of seeding to do to get it back where it was two years ago. Gonna wait at least another week for the fertilizer to seep in, then give it a shot. Need to take the mower in for maintenance in the meantime.

Had a Sunday drive around the west side late in the day. Lots of folks out. Nice to see the streets busy again, but gotta say I’m not ready to commune with the public, maskless, until Covid stops making headlines.

Watching the Academy Awards tonight.

Taking it easy.

Thinking about fishing tomorrow if the weather holds.

TGIF...

Roller coaster ride of a day that ended on the upswing.

Made headway at the keyboard on the long manuscript, got FaceTime calls from Jack and Matty to bookend the day, and in between, hit the gym and found some time to read.

Had a nice walk around the neighborhood, too, to celebrate an unexpected victory.

I’ll take one this this anytime.