Rain. No dance necessary...

Big, lashing rain tonight. Came down hard starting around 5:00. Flash flood warnings and all.

Was up early after the first sound night’s sleep in a week. Muddled along at the keyboard until I came within an inch of finishing the reader draft of the new story, then set it aside for coffee, a little recording time on the long piece, and after that some pruning.

Drove up to Woodland Park and down highway 67 to scout Lake Manitou for places to put in the canoe the day we take Mom up on a picnic lunch (Friday). Had a nice drive, and stopped for Starbucks on the way down the mountain.

Did some grocery shopping on the way home, thinking to grill teriyaki chicken tonight. Given the rain, looks like it’ll be grilled cheese and soup instead. No matter. It’s all good.

Working through the rest.

Will be for some time.

Heat stroked...

Hot one today. Was already in the 80s by nine o’clock. Even the early hours are a bit warm, though turning on the A/C at 5:30 in the morning seems a bit extravagant. Only problem with leaving the cottage door ajar is the marauding mosquitos.

Anyway, more progress on both the long and short projects. So can’t complain. Think I’ll have a reader draft together on the short piece before the weekend’s out. Hope so, anyway. Also giving some serious thought to pulling out the memoir again.

Had a nice workout. Picked up brats for dinner after leaving the gym. Came home, shot the breeze with our carpenter, Steve, while watering the lawn, then called it a day. I don’t know. Feels like we’re waiting for the other shoe to fall, only it’s already fallen.

Just trying not to think...

Out to the cottage early, early to the keyboard. Wrote a script, messed with some files, and enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee on the back patio before the little guy arrived.

 Nice day. Weather’s still unbelievably hot, but other than that not much to complain about. Goofed  around the house for a while, then drove out to Sportsman’s Warehouse to pick up an extra life vest and kill a little time.

 Got in a nice workout at the gym while M napped. Filled the pool and let it warm, and sat around the last part of the afternoon while he and J played.

 Been working out this “news” gag with the boys. They get a charge out of it. I pretend to pick up the evening paper and find myself in shock after reading the headlines. Been working it for two weeks now, and it’s still drawing laughs.

 Skirting the headlines, and not sad for it. With everything else going on, I couldn’t give a good goddamn about politics or much of anything else. Kind of liberating. I’m sad about the sorry state of the movies at the moment, but hey, maybe that’ll improve soon, too.

 Need to get my last review off to N tomorrow.

 Hit the sack early again. Keep taking small victories where I can.

Inching forward...

Okay. Another uneven day in a series of uneven days, but an okay one in the end.

Up early, worked on the new draft, then resumed recording the long piece. Stayed at it for about an hour, then went off to see the insurance rep about upcoming changes in the healthcare policies.

Hit the gym when I got back and put in a nice workout. After that, grocery shopping, then and home again to read more of the long piece.

Garage lift is finally working the way it should. Garage itself is still a mess, but it gets cleaner and more organized by the day. Who knows, one of these evenings I may be able to park the Jeep in it.

Been looking at some new water to take Mom on next Friday. Found some nice places nearby. Might check one or two of them out this weekend. Providing I’m still above ground.

Realized this morning, I’ve been giving away little bits of myself all summer with pointless wishes. Trying to stay out in front of things has its drawbacks, too, I guess.

Where's Wyoming when you need it?

Threatening to rain again, but I have my doubts. For some reason, the clouds just won’t let go. Been hot all week—mid 90s—and supposed to stay that way for a while.

Feeling good about the new story. Might have a reader draft soon. The long piece? Keep getting waylaid, but maybe that’s okay. It’ll come when it comes.

Didn’t get to the gym today and missed it. But had a pretty good time at home nonetheless. Took Mattie out for ride in the wagon, and he fell asleep a block from home. Would have stayed asleep, too, if it hadn’t started raining. A three minute shower, and we get caught in it! If that doesn’t speak to the the way the month’s been going, nothing will.

Mom coming out for a visit next week. Who knows? Maybe that’s the antidote to everything.

Gotta keep chugging along.

It’s all we can do.

Felt like Monday because it was...

Didn’t sleep much last night. Some kind of allergy-spawned asthma attack. Hit the cottage early and worked on the short piece, then read a few chapters of the long one. Pretty good morning, work-wise. Not great, but all right.

Was tired, but had a nice hard workout at the gym, too. Then came home and started cleaning and organizing the garage. Got big hopes of getting everything in its place. For good. Who knows, maybe this time I’ll win out.

Broke the news about the boys leaving to Mom last night. A tough conversation. But we’re moving on again.

Young M here early tomorrow. We’ll see if we can’t make a day of it. Supposed to be ungodly hot, so we might have to get creative.

Gonna hope for a decent night’s sleep and an early rise. See what the day brings.

Ain't dead yet...

Lawns mowed, garage lift fixed, Robin’s tree limbs split into firewood…

Productive weekend.

New story’s getting better all the time. Long piece is getting better all the time. Lots of projects in front of me.

So breathe.

Breathe.

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.