writer
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.
Went to work on a new story this morning. Thought I’d change things up after devoting so much time to the long piece. Felt good to get into something short again.
Walked earlier than usual, thinking to heed the forecast of heavy early afternoon winds. A good choice. The sun was out and the weather was perfect for strolling around the block. Worked a little more when we got home, then hooked up with the boys via FaceTime. All in all a pretty good day.
Read and napped later in the afternoon. Also nice. Then, to cap the whole thing off, found an acceptance slip in my email box from the Owen Wister Review for “Unseen,” a story that was a finalist in the Tucson Festival of Books, and pleasantly reviewed by a number of literary magazines, but never published before.
Just when you think it’s over, right?
Looks as if I’ll have some interesting work going in to the weekend. Happy about that. Happy, as always, to be busy.
Yeah, the days bleed into one another. But it’s good to keep an eye out for the odd detail that makes them different. Not just to mark time, but to remember why it’s important to hold on and appreciate. Didn’t do much of anything today but write. Even so, the time was well spent. Got in a nice walk around noon. Had a nice slice of Irish cheddar. Felt the sunburned skin on top of my head and remembered why I should wear a hat while fishing. No complaints, no worries, no expectations. Just taking it one day at a time and being thankful everyone I know is healthy.
Opening day jitters? Who knows. Thought I was ready to bring home a nice fish dinner, but got skunked down on the Arkansas for the first time in a long time. No matter. Had a great day getting out and getting away from it all. Air was a little cool early on with the wind blowing through the canyon, but it got better as it got later in the day. High clouds, blue sky, sun. Had a big brown chase my fly to the bank, but it was the only fish I saw all afternoon.
Canon City was dead like everywhere else, but I was happy seeing it that way. The fewer parades and rallies we have the better.
D’s birthday today. Forty-five. Called this morning and got rolled into voicemail, but left a message wishing him the best. Be nice if we could catch up sometime, but I’ve learned it’s not up to me in most of these things. You do what you can, and leave the rest to whatever.
Read a terrific essay by W. Kittredge last night. An old piece that must have found its way into a magazine in the early seventies. Wish I could remember the title, but I can’t. Anyway, an eye opener.
Quiet for a Monday.
Up early, writing. Then out for a short walk. Saw my neighbor, R, which was nice. The block was quiet otherwise, and when I got back I wrote a couple of quick letters, paid some bills, and took it easy.
Tried making a deposit at Ent, and ended up stranded at the drive-thru for something like forty minutes. Expected a wait, but not that long. When I finished the transaction the nice clerk said I could have used the walk-up at the front of the building. I didn’t even know they had a walk up.
Definitely going fishing tomorrow. Hard to know what, exactly, is going on but heard the Gov of NM is putting a lock on certain kinds of travel tomorrow. Gonna hit the water before the same happens here.
That’s it. The rest can wait till tomorrow.
Well, okay. One more thing. Made it to the end of the new piece this morning. A tentative end, of course, but an end. Looking forward to what comes next.
Did some decent work early on at the keyboard, then made the mistake of driving off to Calhan to see the “Paint Mines.” Drive was nice, but if a quiet stroll in nature was what you were after, you would have done better taking a jog down 16th Street in Denver. Would have met with fewer people. Not exaggerating when I say there were well over a hundred sight-seers out there trudging through the gumbo. And I mean people who looked like they hadn’t been out of the house in years. But the day was nice, if a little cool, and everyone was well behaved. So…lesson learned. Packed a couple of corned beef sandwiches in the hope of having a small picnic lunch out on the prairie, but ended up wolfing them down in the car on the way home. Not all adventures work out the way you hope.
Killed the rest of the afternoon reading and napping. Which makes for a good day, anytime. Cooking up the chicken marsala tonight and cracking a nice bottle of pinot. Not sure what’s going on in the rest of the world, and don’t really care at the moment. Have too much out in front of me to do anything but press forward with eyes open and hope for the best.
Toying with the notion of going fishing this week. Yeah, sneak down to the Arkansas and see if I can’t catch dinner. As long as gas prices are low, why not? Silver lining isn’t always where you expect it to be. Maybe it’s never where you expect it to be.
Critique off to N. One story left. Set it aside after the first read thinking maybe it had the right stuff. Gonna find out tomorrow.
Well, can’t say I lost my arm-wrestling match with the day but then I didn’t lose ground, either.
Up at a decent hour and off to the cottage to write. Did pretty well, pushing the new ms word count over 65,000. Should be able to reach the end here in a day or so. The end, that is, of the beginning. But before I leap into revisions, I’m going to go back to the shorts I left in a state of despair and see if I can’t shape one or two into a decent story. Also going to get in some added reading time.
Read an old essay by L. McMurtry this afternoon. One I hadn’t seen before—Take My Saddle from the Wall: A Valediction. Caught up on some other pieces as well, before tending to another N. critique.
Was wondering about the boys when we got a FaceTime call from Jack while out on a late afternoon walk. They’d cut off all his hair! He looked like a lifer in the orange top he was wearing! Good, so good, to hear his voice again. Matty was wild, as always. Neither one let on any disappointment about not coming out. They seem (or Jack does, anyway) to realize people are sick and travel is dangerous.
Miss the hell out of the both.
Nothing to do but bear it.
Another quiet day filled with little surprises.
Progress on new book, progress with reading list.
No walk today—snow and sleet—no anything. Quick trip to liquor store to pick up Marsala, a decent bottle of wine. Birthday card off to Dylan. Card off to Mark G.
Just trying to stay in touch.
Might try and get away tomorrow. Or Sunday.
Well, if I hadn’t heard it all before now, the Broadmoor announced it’s closing for 70 days. They did get killed with the Space Symposium canceling, but this won’t help the local economy much.
On the positive side of things, I’m 62,000 words into the new piece.
One the negative side of things, haven’t heard from my grandsons in weeks.
On the positive side of things, the weather’s supposed to break for the weekend.
On the negative side of things, I’m still worrying about my people.
On the positive side of things, I have plenty of things to keep me busy.
