Hot, hot, and more hot...

A hot day from the get-go. Got in some decent time at the keyboard, but outside the skies were brown and filled with smoke.

Had to stick around the house to see if I’d be called for jury duty, but the time came and went and I was released into the general public and thanked for attending to my civic responsibilities, which amounted to exactly nothing. Hit the gym around noon, shopped for dinner, and picked up a prescription at King Soopers. Otherwise, a sleepy afternoon.

Weather guys say it’s supposed to reach 94 tomorrow. Having an afternoon beer with my buddy Scott. Sure hope we can find a seat in the shade.

Reflections on the past 9 hours and 12 minutes...

Getting hard to know when we’ll ever see a blue sky again. Who knows, I might be induced to prayer.

Meanwhile, a nice day by other standards.

Got in some decent writing, a good workout, a meaningful nap, and some nice phone time with my uncle. Now, if I could only find the motivation to get some work done around the yard.

Borrowed (half-heartedly) J. Steinbeck’s In Dubious Battle after failing to find a number of other titles I was searching for, and have since come to see what a buzzkill I’d been in assuming it wouldn’t be any fun. Am halfway through and enjoying it quite a bit.

Contributor copy of The Belmont Review showed up in the mail. My story “Devotion” is featured nicely in it. Would like to see that piece in a collection some day. Maybe I’ll spend the late fall gathering up pieces for submission.

Can’t believe tomorrow’s Thursday.

Plugging along...

Woke up to smoke-filled skies again. Another air quality advisory. Not sure when the weather’s supposed to break, but I hope it’s soon.

Was out to the cottage early, and got in some good writing. John came by to do some tech work, so I had to button things up and even hand over the laptop, but that was all right. Gave me a chance to visit the gym a little earlier than usual.

Have a lot of catching up to do, and need to do it before end of day tomorrow on the outside chance Thursday will see me in jury duty.

Sat in on young Jack’s chess lesson this evening. Had a lot of fun. Didn’t get a chance to gab afterward, but maybe we’ll catch up before week’s end.

Like to sit outside by the fireplace one of these fallish evenings. Just hasn’t been worth it with the air quality so poor.

Brats tonight. That’s about it.

Enjoying the peace and quiet...

Quiet day.

Air quality went to hell early on, and the hot temps made a return, not the worst day we’ve had this summer, so I’ll take it.

Did some good writing this morning, then went off for a longish workout at the gym. Hadn’t planned to do as much as I did, but when I got there and found the place empty I thought, why not?

Took a long nap this afternoon. Woke to find it near five. Been scheming for a way to get up the mountain this week and do some fishing, but I guess I’ll have to see how the rest of the schedule pans out.

Lot of dreams about my mom and dad lately. Had a dream about Jack last night as well. He was a chess piece, a rook. Wish I could recall the context of the narrative, but I can’t.

John comes over tomorrow to do some work on the computers. Not sure what the rest of the day is supposed to look like, but I guess someone will clue me in.

A quiet holiday weekend...

Have found myself in the literary doldrums. But who knows? Maybe this is the new reality. Either way, I’m in a place a rarely find myself, except this time it seems deeper, less desperate, and more pervasive than on other occasions.

None the less, I had a decent morning working on the new story, rough title “Cold Cocked.” It’s near finished, and probably would be already if I hadn’t allowed myself to drift.

Put in some notes on what I believe will be my next long piece, too. Gonna settle in hard with this one before I tear off writing. Have a good idea where I want it to go, and want to squander as little time as possible getting there.

Had a nice time visiting Kath last night, celebrating S’s birthday. First time in a long time you couldn’t smell smoke in the air. A haze settled on the mountains later in the afternoon—from the Tahoe fire, I suspect—but all in all it was a pretty afternoon that didn’t feel as hot as the thermometer made it out to be.

Feeling my folks over my shoulder these days. Wish I could talk to them.

Big week coming: dentist, jury duty, finding a new doc…etc., etc. But tomorrow, maybe just yard work and a trip to the gym.

Got it all figured out...

Looking at nice rain right now. This after a nice long rain last night. Glad I found the ambition to cut the lawn earlier.

Back and forth day trying to get things done. Wasn’t as productive as what I would have liked, but got in some good writing, took care of the billing, and was still able to do some cardio at the gym.

Been lazy of spirit lately, and can’t quite figure out why. Guess I’m winding down like the summer. Never did find a middle ground—either we had our feet to the gas pedal, or were sitting around listening to crickets. Sure miss the boys. They were a handful, but they kept things moving forward.

Might engage in a little yard work this weekend. Pull up the dead shrubs, collect the logs from the dead cottonwood. Get ready for my next trip to Rocky Top. We’ll see what sort of energy we can drum up.

Meanwhile, another birthday to celebrate.

Tonight, potato leek soup.

Thinking out loud...

Back again.

Spent the day making submissions, taking out garbage, scribbling notes. In other words, nothing worth talking about. Had a nice workout at the gym, mid-day, then came home and worked a little more.

Nice night tonight, in that last night’s rain cleared the air of smoke.

Finished the Johnson book last night, and started a new one today.

Gotta get cracking on the new short.

Looking forward to the start of the weekend tomorrow.

What about tomorrow?

Thought myself into a hole long before getting out of bed this morning, but managed to climb at least partway out of it by mid-afternoon.

Was up early—it’s getting darker by the day, isn’t it?—working on a short. Been trying to pare it back, but it seems to like its current length, around seven thousand words. Had a moment this morning, thinking maybe I’ll give up the writing game for good. Start spending all my spare time fishing. I gave up smoking a long time ago. Why not words?

Worked out early today, and the gym was entirely empty. Wish I’d had more energy than I did—I might have made the whole circuit—but even so it was nice to have the place to myself.

Took a short nap when I got home, then worked a little more before catching up with Jack and his chess instructor on Zoom. Good seeing him again. Matt, too, though it was only for a moment.

Looking for a quiet night. Not much happening around the neighborhood. Things are pretty quiet.

Nothing more, nothing less...

Yeah, all right. A day of ups and downs. But what day isn’t?

An early morning breeze kept me in bed until 6:00, after that some time at the keyboard followed by a few submissions. Life is a work in progress.

Put together a good afternoon at the gym with the shoulder feeling better and better. Picked up some groceries on the way home, watered the lawn, and that was about it.

Missing the boys. Should have called them this afternoon, but didn’t quite make it. Will talk to Jack tomorrow night (I hope) after his chess lesson. Matt, too.

Not sure where they days go, but go they do.

Looking ahead to a quiet night.

Small doings...

Feels as if I slept-walked through the entire day. Was up early, spent some good time at the keyboard, but didn’t make near as much progress as I’d hoped. Guess it got away from me.

Worked in the yard this afternoon. Picked up some privet and burning bush, but decided not to plant them until the temps fall at least below 90.

Came home and did a little more housekeeping, sending out submissions. With the desktop under the weather, things went slower than usual. Worked off the laptop until the cross referencing got to be too big a pain in the ass.

Sent off a letter to G. this afternoon, testing the waters for the new ms. We’ll see what sort of response it draws. Meanwhile, working on the query letter.

Questions, answers, and the occasional riddle...

Still trying to figure out what happened to last night’s post. Internet’s been patchy at best the last couple of days, and for no decent reason. Might need to have this computer looked over, too.

Early rise to a nice morning. More blue skies. Put in a lot of work at the keyboard, then watched a little pre-season football.

Drove out to Whole Foods early afternoon to pick up some mussels, and few veggies. Home to work the kinks out of the synopsis.

Meant to cut the lawn today, but didn’t. Guess I’ll get around to it tomorrow.

Talked to my sis, M, for a while. Good to catch up. As for the rest of the day, it was lost and I’m not in the mood to go out looking for it. Happy to be where I am.

Hope to send a note to my agent tomorrow and let him know the ms’s available. After that, back to some short fiction for a while.

A pleasant Saturday, in all. Nice to be home alone not worrying about company.

More later.

The short version...

Good day for getting things done.

Worked on the novel edits early, wrote the boys letters, got in a nice workout at the gym, then came home and caught up on few phone calls.

Saw the oral surgeon, too. Says the work is healing well.

Figure to hit it hard tomorrow morning. For now, pizza.

If only...

Quiet day all around.

Didn’t sleep much last night—the neck was sore—but after a fitful early morning, I went out to the cottage to write and managed to make headway on a number of different projects.

After, headed over to the gym and got in a workout.

Weather’s been improving by the day, and hope I don’t have to knock wood saying it. Skies are clearing, and it feels as though fall might be in the air.

Looking to put in a good day tomorrow to get the long manuscript in shape. Would like more than anything to ship it off before the weekend’s out, and wash my hands of it for a while.

A work in progress...

Good day for a Monday.

Up early with some aches and pains, but went to work on the synopsis and got it mostly in place. Also returned a few emails, and did some housekeeping—virtual and actual.

Hit the gym a little after one and got in the best workout I’ve had in a week.

Gonna take it easy tonight, tee some projects up for tomorrow and try to get an early start.

Jeep goes in tomorrow for its first annual checkup. Not expecting anything exciting in the way of a tune-up.

Day after that, Sheila’s Cousin D comes for two days to see to the reburial of their aunt and uncle.

Don’t know what to say to that one.

Suddenly, sunday...

So. Up early.

Finished the latest pass on the book, took in an early movie, chopped down the stump in the back yard and cooked dinner.

Tomorrow, need to catch up with my correspondence. That, and move forward with a few other things. Expecting guests on Tuesday.

That, and a return to hot weather.

Cut the lawn and started with the first fall winterizing.

Looking forward to getting back to the gym tomorrow.

Didn't feel like Saturday until just now...

Long day yesterday.

Woke early this morning and tried to catch up.

Passports are in the mill now, the book is getting closer to where I want it to be, and I’m nearly ready to get back to my projects around the house.

The tooth implant work set me back two days, but I started feeling better toward the end of the week, and even managed a decent cardio workout today. Like to start ramping things up, lifting and skipping rope again. We’ll see how the week goes.

Cool weather blew in last night and stuck around most of the day. Air cleared, too. Things don’t look quite as good as they should, but they’re a damned sight better than they’ve been most of the summer. Not ready for snow yet, but given a choice between that and fire, I’ll take the cold any time.

Taking it easy tonight. Might watch a movie. Or maybe sit outside a while. It’s so nice seeing a blue sky again, you don’t want to take a chance and miss it.

Start to finish...

Yeah. Back again.

Woke early, owing to the surgery, but made the most of the morning just the same. Put in some light revisions on the long manuscript and expect to finish it tomorrow. Saturday at the latest. Was surprised to find it needed as little help as it did, and hope to push it out the door sometime next week. Meanwhile, still trying to fight the good fight.

Had an abridged version of a workout today, avoiding any weights until I’m sure the stitches won’t rupture. Thought I might get back on it tomorrow, but we’ll have to see. Need to make an emergency run to the PO in Woodland park to see the passport papers processed.

Zoomed with the boys a while after Jack’s chess lesson this afternoon. Need to write them both a letter this weekend. Tonight? Same old, same old.

Had a good talk with my buddy S this afternoon.

Got a letter from my other buddy, B, this evening.

Good ways to end the day.

One step closer...

Dead to the world.

Spent the first of the day in an oral surgeon’s office, having phase two of my implant surgery. Rest was a blur. Read little, slept a lot, and managed only the barest of functionings. Face aches like hell. Only good part is, I missed all the smoke and heat.

Tomorrow’s a new one. Hope I can find a way to sleep through the night.

The day's news roundup...

Stayed up late last night watching The Sand Pebbles. Woke early, just the same, and hit the keyboard. Rereading the novel and still feeling pretty good about it. Have some changes and embellishments in mind, but if it keeps going in the right direction, I believe I’ll have it out the door soon.

Heavy rains last night. Happy to have them come. The grass was happy, too, though I can’t say it did much for the air. Thought we might be looking at something close to blue skies this morning, but they were back to being hazy and filled with smoke.

Broke away to the gym around noon, and had a nice workout with my buddy Solomon. After, checked with the Credit Union on the status of my HSA, picked up a prescription at Walgreens, and brought home some salmon fillets for tonight’s dinner.

Oral surgery tomorrow. Implant post. Will still be months before the dentist can replace the broken tooth, but at least we’re on our way.

Had a dream about Mom the night before last. She was "doing her hoola-hoop routine” before turning in for the night. My subconscious me didn’t even blink. It sounded just like her. God bless you, Mom, wherever you are.

Trying not to think about the rest...

Tuning back up.

Light day at the keyboard, but productive nonetheless. Managed a little of everything before taking care of the chores around the house.

Got in some grocery shopping, stopped by the gym for a quick workout, then home again to cut the lawn and douse it in Revive.

Nice day today. Nicer than most, lately. Sky opened to a light shade of blue, you could see the mountains for the first time in thirty-some days, and if I’m not entirely mistaken there were no air quality alerts.

Still sifting through the rest.

Got our passport photos today. So one more thing to chalk off the to-do list. Applications next. That, and wrangle up my old passport.

Meanwhile, a nice shrimp and corn dinner.