Groundhogs, Snow, and Other Things

February 4 9am 13 degrees, bright sunshine this morning, a glorious sunrise (earlier than it has been which gives hope), 2-3 inches of snow on the ground, chilly though, down to 6 last night - which wasn't in the forecast.

Groundhogs were everywhere, early in the week. My neighbor Hubert used to say, "You should be halfway through the woodpile by Groundhog Day." Soooooooo, we're about halfway through - the end of winter is in sight.

I received a wonderful compliment from a writer whose opinion I admire greatly. She said, "Your writing has become very much a "voice." And it is a voice that does not strain to impress, the way young voices too often do. It just is. And it communicates - not only what you are saying, but the mood, the nuances."

A wonderful way to start the week, the month, the year.

Now, of course, I need to get some real writing done, to use this perceived gift to clear the last hurdles to successful publication.

The new year has begun; on to the future, tomorrow, and the hope that comes with longer days, warmer sun, and groundhogs.

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January Thaw

January 25 9am 33 degrees. January thaw came right on schedule - most of the snow is gone, some icy spots still apparent, deeper snow in the backyard, but brown grass has appeared - of course this is all going to end with very cold temps this week and more snow - but, hey, it was nice while it lasted.

Dropped $12.50 a ticket and wasted a perfectly good Saturday night to watch Avatar at the local IMAX. Visually, it was stunning, but, in my humble opinion, it takes more than that to carry a movie - the plot sucked, the editing was horrible (how did he get that big metal bar and grenades?), And it was all supposed to be so inventive? Okay, inventive in the way it simply borrowed the big stuff from others? Let's see - big tree (LOTR), troop ships (Star Wars), giant mechanical warriors (Star Wars & Matrix), Plot line - just about any giant romance movie made in the last 100 years. Other than that, it wasn't too bad.

Did get a chance to see "It's Complicated". Now, that is a very cool movie - need to see it again as we were laughing too hard to catch everything. Good crisp writing and a storyline for us Boomers.

Now, off to start my week and salvage the month.

Onward & Upward.

January 23 11am 31 degrees, supposed to rise above freezing today and stay there for 48 hours - into the 40's tomorrow which should melt all the remaining snow and loosen the ice gripping the driveway. Doesn't feel especially warm at the moment...

Celebrating a friend's birthday tonight - eight of us going to dinner, then to the IMAX to see Avatar - I really have no interest in doing this, however, it will calm youngest boy down as he and I are trying to review all the movies before the Oscars. Never been a big Cameron fan - the bigger, bolder, greatest shtick is just annoying and so seldom lives up to the hype. We'll see - I like to be pleasantly surprised.

Been a long hard week - I'm glad it's over.

Onward and Upward.

January 18 10am 28 degrees, ice fog all around, fog forms and then freezes to the trees and fences creating a texture that defies description. Very cool.

Bought -from my local bookstore - The Bookshelf - which, oddly, doesn't have a website, Her Fearful Symmetry, by Audrey Niffenegger. Assuming that consumption of this book would bring a $4.5 million payday - probably harder than that -but, not a bad read. Was never a big Henry James fan.

Currently deep into Wildfire by Nelson DeMille, not something I would buy, but I got it at the local used bookstore, in hardcover, for 50 cents. Trying real hard to get into the story, but the constructs are so poorly done, it is difficult. Oh, sure, the bad guys capture a trespasser and then have him sit in on the meeting where they lay out in great detail just what they're going to do. I guess I'm supposed to be reading Jack Bauer was here. Tad confusing.

Speaking of Jack Bauer - two hours into the new season - gotta love it, gotta love it.

Okay, off to work now. Upward and Onward.

January 13 9am 24 degrees and rising. 6-8 inches of snow on ground, everything very white.

Braved a big snow storm on the 7th to go to Writer's Circle - only 4 of us made it, but it was a good meeting, except I had to drive home through six inches of fresh snow making my own track. Sure glad I ponied up for the new snow tires.

Life is moving forward wonderfully. Kids are all doing well, work is going very well, and I keep trying to squeeze a few more minutes every day to write.

Be it ever thus.

January 1 1pm 21 degrees and dropping, with snow flurries.

Made it through Christmas in grand shape - life is good.

Among my New Year resolutions - get some actual writing done. I've been slacking badly and this is going to be the year to get something sold.

Which means, braving the inbox of Janet Reid. Should be fun, I haven't offered anything to her since way back in the Miss Snark era.

Negotiations are progressing on getting a permanent writing gig with the local newspaper chain - something about not having budget figures is the only thing holding those up - and, of course, budget numbers will determine whether my time and effort are compensated enough to make it worthwhile.

On tap this summer - making it to New York - have not been there in 30 years - and I really want to go again. Coming to meet with an agent would just be icing on the cake.

Reading more. I received from my Daughter, as always, the latest Stephen King opus. I managed to finish (all 1150 pages) by the 29th. The Dome is his best work in years. - although the ending was a bit too much like IT for my tastes.

On a personal note, and I have resolved to make this blog more about writing and less about my life in general - the huge wedding of last June, has brought about great news. My wife and I will become grandparents for the first time in July. Very exciting.

Onward & Upward.

December 15 5:30pm 23 degrees, snowing heavily, though these are only supposed to be flurries, roads look nasty, wife at work, one child on roads.

Been a pretty quiet time around here. Sales are holding, but that should slack off as we are getting ever closer to Christmas.

Wife went nuts and wrapped enough presents to extend 6 feet from all sides of the tree - I think if we mounded them up, they would be bigger than the tree itself. I'm wrapping some myself tonight.

Feeders are into the third 40 lb bag of sunflower seeds. At least the birds are having a good time.

Off to hometown to see Mom tomorrow, do a little shopping, check the restaurant for placemats.

Watching with interest the e-book controversy. Everyone looking out for themselves. And, hopefully, the agents are looking out for us....

Onward and Upward.

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Christmas Spirit

December 6 11am 21 degrees - the cold of winter has arrived, no snow (he said, hopefully, wishing it to remain so..)

The week kicked in, finally, and turned out to be a record start for December. My other business tends to be like publishing, in that nothing much happens in December. Sales drop off dramatically about the 14th and won't resume until January 10th or so. Just a giant lull in which most folks are thinking about what to get Aunt Jane - whether to go with the pot holders again or be creative and get her the latest bi/les mystery series?

Wife and I went shopping Friday night, got the tree yesterday, put it up last night, all decorated and lit. Different doing it with no children about, just her and I, going through the boxes of ornaments, cradled in our memories.

Doing my annual Christmas letters is on tap this afternoon - along with a huge pot of home made bean soup, simmering in the kitchen and smelling up the house(according to the rest of the family who steadfastly refuse to even try it).

Going to be interesting to see what Harlequin is going to do next - the bean counters are doubtless working overtime this weekend to see if the extra money they are going to make will be enough to cover the increasingly vocal and strident damage to their reputation.

December 2 9am 37 degrees - woke very early this morning to a spectacular full moon shining through the bedroom window - very cool. High clouds now, rain coming this afternoon, and overnight tonight, our first snowfall (at least that's what the weather guy says)

Having trouble getting the week started, just not into it and I only have a couple weeks to make the month before everyone closes down for Christmas. Can't quite get it going.

Got Christmas cards with pictures printed on Monday. My Mother started doing this in 1951 and is still at it. We started in 1976. Traditions go on. Relatives we seldom see are able to watch the kids grow up. So much better than generic letters recounting people and things we don't know - or care - about.

My youngest child turns 20 today - no more teenagers. Another phase begins.

Life is good, now, to work....

November 30 9am 32 degrees - clear Michigan sky, glorious sunshine. Snow has held off other than a few flurries, grass is still green, holding on to the promise of summer. Not bad, not bad at all.

Thanksgiving has come and gone - pretty quiet around here. Had a busy week last week and am still trying to recover. Not much on the agenda today other than getting the Christmas cards printed. My Mother started sending picture Christmas cards in 1951 and hasn't missed a year. She still is going strong and I started in 1974. Relatives we don't see often have watched our kids grow up in pictures.

Bernita is back - life is good.
Writing on the agenda for today and, hopefully, the whole month of December. Business gets pretty slow this time of year - just go with the flow.

Onward and Upward.

November 23 8am 43 degrees - foggy, this stretch of odd weather brings fog in the mornings, blue skies in the afternoon, just a little above normal. Conversations begin with "better than last year" and "didn't we have a foot of snow this time a couple years back?"

Business is pretty much insane, with everything coming to a head all at once.

And the rest of my life has been pretty full as well - rushing tither and yon simply trying to stay ahead.

Did manage to squeeze a few hours out to celebrate my 31st wedding anniversary. The nice folks at the Lapeer Best Western gave me a whirlpool suite Friday night. A little wine, a leisurely soak, and the Swedish shower brought the Will Smith line, "I gotta get me one of those!"

Life goes on, life is good. The future beckons, we roll forward.

November 16 8am 38 degrees - high clouds as the sun rises after yet another marvelous weekend - high of 68 on Saturday - considering there have been years recently when snow has been piling up.

Shopping with Mother was fun. Even at 86, she has a flair for the dramatic and an eye for what makes her look good.

Slowly recovering from my adventure, much slower than I would like.

Getting a lot done for a change. Things are moving forward, quickly. This is a good thing.

Bernita is back and she was sorely missed.

Kristin Nelson has been running a series of posts concerning contracts - yet another reason for writers to leave the arcane details to the agents.

Life is good. In my corner of the world, along the river, the trees are bare, charcoal colored branches, bereft of leaves, ground covered by dark brown oak leaves, such a horrid color, yet, here and there, a glimpse of green growth, holding on before the coming freeze, holding the promise of the cycles continuing to play out in our lives and in our world.

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Veteran's Day - Remembrance Day

November 11 7am 27 degrees - clear blue Michigan sky, frost on the ground, had a wonderful weekend of 68 degree weather.

Outside this past weekend, battening down the house for the coming winter, washing windows, sprucing up.

Week was rolling along fine until Tuesday morning about 3:30. I woke to extreme pain and pressure at the bottom of my rib cage. Ah, just gas, couple of Maalox, glass of water, back to bed. Repeat at 4, repeat at 4:30, by 5, it was becoming clear this was a particularly bad episode or maybe something else. Then, new pains started in different places around and about my chest. Check google for heart attack symptoms. Wake wife, comb hair, go to ER.

By nine, it was obviously a heavy duty gas attack - by noon, I was home. Lost the whole day and am more annoyed that my body seems to be turning on me after 58 years of being able to count on it to keep me moving day after day.

One of my personal heroes, Uncle Jack, fell and broke his hip. He is 93. The hospital wanted to do little but make him comfortable, but he insisted on having surgery to repair the damage and get him walking again, he is planning on heading to Florida for Christmas. Happy to report, operation was successful - though the doctors were skeptical - and recovery is going well.

Bernita - after an absence of some time - has returned. Her delightful take on publishing and writing and living has been missed.

Off to do battle with the world. Lost a whole day this week and am taking tomorrow off to take my Mother shopping for winter clothes. This will be her first winter in Michigan in over twenty years.

Upward and Onward.

November 5 9am 37 degrees - clear blue Michigan sky, the leaves have pretty much relocated to the yard, breeze is cold not chilly, winter feels as if it could come at any time.

Work goes well - writing is still struggling.

Bloggers seem less likely to blog on a daily basis - too many other things happening, I guess. My kids are telling me if I want to keep track of them, I need to go on facebook. Good Grief, another thing to waste time on?

Apparently, I have little to contribute this morning as well....

Interestingly enough, I discovered watching the news/opinion/ranting shows on television will put me immediately to sleep.

Life is good - for all my complaining. We go on.

October 28 9am 49 degrees - rainy overnight, hazy this morning as the sun is just coming up in my little part of the world.

This week going even better than last, sales are amazingly good, money flowing, good stuff.

Creating a new work schedule, seems to be just the ticket. Things are happening.

Watching the political stuff - interesting but does cause one to ponder when the Democratic party got so chummy with Wall Street. Here, have some money to replace all the money you lost betting on risky stuff. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?

And some mornings, it seems the best solution to Al Queda is simply to nuke large portions of the Afghan/Pakistan border. Would probably get most of them and, if not, would certainly slow them down.

Okay, shouldn't be musing on such stuff - no one really cares what I think.

Looking forward to the new Stephen King book - though I'll likely have to wait until Christmas as Daughter always buys me the latest.

And, gee, Christmas is less than two months away. Okay, now that I've depressed myself, off to work.

October 21 8am 52 degrees - rainy morning, but temp going to 70 this afternoon, a welcome respite after a couple weeks of way way below normal.

Things are pretty quiet around here; nothing really going on. Getting used to my wife working afternoon shift, going through a tough period of how much time can I waste...

On the other hand, business going extremely well, money moving in and out, ads being sold.

New projects trying to be born. Down on the river last night, playing in the leaves that float my way and get caught in the rocks. The magic of the water (man, was it ever cold), carrying red and yellow messengers from upstream. Winter comes.

October 16 9am 33 degrees - bright sunshine and clear blue Michigan skies. Been unseasonably cold here the past weeks - some 15-20 degrees below where we should be. Heavy frost, flowers gone, leaves turning quickly.

Work goes well - actually still 20% ahead of last year, who da thunk?

No one seems to be blogging these days. Guess that whole scene is about over - just ask Robin. Even Janet is posting less these days.

Perhaps everyone is getting back to writing??? as opposed to twittering, facebooking, blogging and whatever else is taking precious minutes from our days?

Went to funeral home yesterday for Bev Hayward Wood. She was my first mother-in-law, back some forty years ago. Her life is the stuff of novels, a simple life, full of big families, raucous siblings, and a childlike take on everyday living. Always a smile, always caring, always asking about my kids even though only one of them was her actual granddaughter.

Sometimes I sit in awe of the magic that is my life. May it be ever so.

October 5 7pm 53 degrees - darkness is falling on a cloudy cool day.

Been an interesting couple weeks, wine tasting up north with four couples, golf, wine, shopping, hanging out. We had a sauna in the house that was absolutely marvelous.

Back home, wife working new shift, long hours into the evening, leaving me here alone to ponder the universe, the rest of my life, and whether to let the cat in or not.

Gearing up for winter. Bought my first 40lb bag of sunflower seeds today. The birds have been coming around asking when I'm going to start the winter feeding - no, seriously, the chickadees and woodpeckers come to see if the feeders are up yet. Had one little guy perch on the window looking inside to see if we were still here.

Fireplace burning, trying to keep the chill off the house while at the same time not using propane, which is still ridiculously expensive.

Life is good.

September 22 3pm 81 degrees - cloudy, but amazingly warm for the first day of Fall. Tries to rain, we've gotten a little, less than 1/2 inch - which is our total for the entire month.

Patry Francis is back home after her LAST surgery. She is such a sweet soul, whose talent with the written word is simply among the best. Hopefully, her long nightmare is finally over and the second novel will be coming soon. Patry was one of the first friends I made on this blog. I cheered when she burned her waitress shoes, special ordered her book, enjoyed it, passed it on, cried when she got the diagnosis, prayed through the surgeries, oohed and aahed over her grandchildren, and got teary eyed at today's post. A life's journey through this blog and PublishersMarketplace.

As we attempt to get back into the swing of writing and publishing, (news on these attempts are awaiting approval), the sense of community we share here is very important.

Off this weekend for our Annual Wine Tasting Weekend. This year, we have a huge modern house in Sutton's Bay as our home base. Vacations come not often enough.

Onward and Upward.

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Dry September

September 14 10am 70 degrees - clear blue Michigan sky - been clear for the past two weeks, no rain, just bountiful sunshine. Flowers are drying up, river has dropped to 8 inches or so, mosquitoes are finally dropping off a bit.

What have I been doing? Labor Day Saturday on the lake, Detroit Shock game where my wife was accosted by the mascot, Zap. Attended a wedding for the neighbor kid on Saturday, a lot of US Open tennis, working in the yard, and such.

Blogs have been quiet - as if everyone has found something better to do, or more fun, or more whatever? LitPark with the amazing Susan Henderson has apparently succumbed to the lack of time to keep things going.

I, on the other hand, am coming to the conclusion that I should be blogging about writing and not the usual dribble of my life. Hence, I haven't been doing much either.

Wife has gone on a new shift, working afternoons three days a week, which will afford me time to actually write more. I will keep you folks apprised of this new development as warranted.

Now, it's off to the sales wars. Starting to run a bit behind on that score as I try for a sixth straight record breaking month. Onward and Upward.

September 2 9am 48 degrees - clear blue Michigan sky, perfect stretch of weather, cold nights - had a fire last night - low 40's - long sleeves but glorious clear skies.

Alan projects over the weekend - drained the hot water heater - overflow pipe was dripping - benefit? solved the problem and the water is much hotter now. Vacuumed out the furnace - and the heater in my office. Wife is good with keeping the heat off as long as possible by using the heater in my office, fireplace, and small electric heater in our bedroom.

Haven't heard from youngest at college - must be doing okay.

Onward and Upward.

August 27 8am 54 degrees - cloudy, chilly morning with more chill in the forecast.

After overdosing on Ted Kennedy to the point where the grainy videos were becoming too much, I wandered through the other 500 channels of cable looking for something to watch. Ended up putting in the Fellowship of the Ring (extended version). What does this say about the programming ability of the networks and cable companies? Do they really want us to watch?

A month ago, I wrote a 150 word letter to the editor about a local (very local - just our township) election. I'm still getting comments on it. Does this indicate an audience for my stuff? Can it be an indication that people are still actually reading the local newspaper?

I had a good run writing a column in the Flint Journal - ten years, once a week. Something I enjoyed and I ended up making more money than most folks get for their first novel. Of course, in these days of penny pinching, it is nearly impossible to get such a gig, unless you are willing to do it for free.

What to do?

August 26 8am 61 degrees, raining, coming down pretty good as a cold front moves in.

One consequence of our flooding a couple weeks ago has been the emergence of a huge mosquito population - they are everywhere and relentless. The cats bring them in from outdoors and there doesn't appear to be any solution except to sit in the house (if you go outside, you get swarmed), covered with Deet.

Quiet weekend, went to the festival on Friday evening for a few minutes, left before it got completely underway. Saturday, split a little wood, played cards. Sunday, went golfing in the rain. Didn't embarrass myself. Monday, took youngest to college, stopped at Daughter's and met the Grand Dog. A huge pile of super fluffy puppy - a Newfoundland - will get bigger.

Off to Mom's this morning. Deliver mats and all that.

Sales continue to amaze - have no idea what that's all about, but we'll take it.

Onward and Upward.

August 21 Noon 73 degrees, blue sky with puffy white clouds.

Quiet week, all in all. Nothing spectacular, good sales, money coming in, lazy day today, running around the internet, catching Agatha Christie's lost Poirot - very cool, thanks PM,

Weekend has nothing special planned. Not likely to go near our local festival, tend to stay away if I have no real reason to show up, which I don't.
Monday, move youngest back to Oakland U and into his dorm room. He gets to go a week early as he works with the housing department setting up internet for the dorm rooms.

Weather is cooling down, maybe I'll fire up the chain saw and get some wood put up for the winter - I know it's coming, certainly not ready.

Writing on tap. Time to get geared up for another push at publication.

Onward and Upward.

August 17 8am 72 degrees, trying to get light out, very cloudy this morning and the air thick enough to cut with a knife, a few thunderstorms overnight, sticky.

A quiet weekend, a few "Alan" projects, replaced the door handle on the back screen door, cleaned up an area of the basement that used to be under the fuel oil tank (isn't now since I switched to gas), mowed the lawns. The river has gone down to within a foot of usual. - which means it fell some six feet in three days. Makes one wonder where did all that water go?

Delivered placemats Friday, and wasn't able to get a massage (booked up), so went for a psychic healing instead. Interesting concept and my body/mind is still trying to get a handle on the effects. All this new age stuff is intriguing and I can see how people can get caught up in it. Not saying where I sit or believe, just observing and learning.

Life is good as we enter the last three weeks of summer - oh yes, an extra bonus week this year. Michigan, due to upper Michigan relying on the tourist business, cannot start school -by law - until the day after Labor Day. This year, public schools will start on September 8. Hopefully, the extra week of summer will be profitable.

Much on tap this week. Have to get out and kick some serious sales.
Onward and Upward.

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Summer in Michigan
originally posted: August 14, 2009

August 14 10am 67 degrees - warm day coming, close to 90 for the weekend.

Water is slowly going down - from 8 feet down to 3 or 4, my property is reappearing, albeit with a patina of wet soggy river water leavings.

Been a decent week, sales moving right along. Yesterday, delivered special Lapeer Days placemats to 6 restaurants in five towns. More today. Such fun. No decision on whether we'll go to Lapeer Days or not next week. Middle son is personal assistant to Hooper - the Detroit Piston's Mascot and he is scheduled to make an appearance so we'll probably have to go down for a few minutes.

The carnival can't set up in the usual spot as it had 8 feet of water last Monday - the water has receded but there is no way the ground will dry out enough for the tiltawhirl by next Wednesday.

Off to deliver mats, get a little writing done, maybe a massage, maybe a psychic reading, something fun and/or different.

August 10 8am 71 degrees - clear blue Michigan sky. Did I mention that we needed rain? Lawn dry, crunchy. Dragging the hose around trying to keep my flowers blooming?

Saturday, it rained. Rained all day. 1 3/4 inches. Saturday night at 1am, thunder, lightning and more rain. Another two inches. South of here, they got considerable more.

Here along the river, it has gone from 1 foot deep to 8 feet deep and moving fast. Town is under water and the summer festival known as Lapeer Days starts next week - the park where they set up has 9 feet of water in it. Going to be interesting.

Selling ads today might be a challenge as roads are closed, some businesses are freaking out as the water gets ever higher, many are without power as some storms were pretty intense.

Suppose I shouldn't have asked for rain...

Wife is nearing the end of her odd schedule filling in for her co-worker. She is tired.

All this extra time, home alone, has helped working out the plot lines in my WIP. It has been giving me fits trying to figure out how to create the overarch to make it more than just readable, to make it unputdownable, thereby not only getting to publication, but beyond.

Just keep writing, Ric, it will be fine.

August 3 8pm 79 degrees - semi-cloudy or would that be partly cloudy? whatever.

We survived a long, long day of 40th Class Reunion. Old girlfriends were, well, older. It was great fun, we had both class sponsors show up, which was a highlight.

Sunday was reading newspapers, napping, mowing a little lawn, generally kicking back, relaxing.

Back at it today, hard and heavy. Have 4 straight months of record breaking sales and this one looks like a winner, too.

And writing has moved to the top of my to-do list.

Blogs enjoyed today. LitPark, PubRants, James Goodman and Robin Slick. Go have fun and maybe learn something.

July 31 9am 66 degrees - clear blue Michigan sky, glorious.

Sort of a lost cause yesterday. Got running done and then didn't have anything to do. Wandered around for a bit, at loose ends.

Finally came home, spent an hour watering my flowers - it is a tad dry here. The rains have been missing my little piece of heaven.

Then, still being unfocused, I walked down along the river and sat on the rocks. Cedar Waxwings swooped from side to side, sometimes changing directions mid-flight, very cool. Had no idea what they were doing and then I saw - ever so slowly, little white bugs - they almost looked like dandelion puffs - would rise from the water floating into the air and the birds would swoop by and snatch them. Amazing to watch.

Reminding me that special moments arrive when you aren't looking for them, and life is wonderful if you take the time to let magic happen.

July 30 8am 61 degrees, blue Michigan sky with odd bits of white - not really clouds, just streamers.

Managed not to get a lot done this week - been working on Reunion stuff. That is now done and we are looking forward to spending Saturday renewing friendships and bragging about the kids. T-shirts designed and ordered, book on what everyone has been doing the past 40 years ready to go to printer, Cake ordered - now, if I could only find my Yearbook...

Business has been on hold, which is fine, no big deal, have to deliver placemats tomorrow, a couple more sales would be nice, but I'm already 20% ahead of last year's July.

It is absolutely spectacular outside. A glorious summer day. Saw my first combine in the field harvesting wheat yesterday. Amber waves of grain turning to yellow gold straw.

Summer festivals in full swing. Once I get the Reunion out of the way, the wife is covering vacation for her co-manager, so next week will be odd - when your wife works two days a week and suddenly goes to seven, it makes the house seem empty.

Onward and Upward.

July 26 8am 65 degrees, cloudy sky this morning, after an absolutely perfect sunrise into blue. Wheat is ready to harvest, but the humidity is a bit high - amber waves of grain.

Woke early, in the dusk, waiting for the coffee to brew, watched a doe bring her two fawns across the road and through my yard going down to the river.
Phlox are blooming, impatiens are spectacular, day lilies are coming out.

Finished The Moveable Feast - remix. Would have to read the original again to tell you what is different, but it still reads wonderfully - but, then, most anything by Hemingway reads that way.

Have neighbor's 50th Wedding Anniversary party today. Finished up a long hard two weeks of work - all profitable.

Cards last night, planned our annual wine tasting trip, got the food figured out, Life is good.

Need to finish mowing the yard between rainshowers today - clouds are building pretty good right now.

Putting the finishing touches on a booklet for the 40th class reunion of Brown City High School Class of 69. that party is next weekend. Summer rolling right along, fall will be here before we know it.

July 16 8am 63 degrees, clear blue Michigan sky - had a few (very few) raindrops last evening - humidity has dropped and the wheat is getting closer to harvest every day.

Watching two small dogs for our friends this week while they vacation. I don't like dogs and this week has only reinforced that belief.

Week was disrupted by tradition of attending the first showing of each Harry Potter movie with my sons. Tuesday evening, 10 pm, found me standing in front of the Trillium theater in Grand Blanc with 2600 other people in a very long line. While waiting, I got to people watch.

I found it interesting that people now consider shoes to be passe. Fully 50% were wearing flipflops. And many of the rest were wearing moccasins or the latest retro sneakers which are nothing more than a piece of rubber with canvas uppers. Less than 20% were wearing actual shoes. Yeah, yeah, I know it's summertime but still. An amazing number of people wander into the restaurants looking for a job wearing flipflops.

Now, to the movie itself. The manager came into our theater and told us that all 13 screens (his number - I can't believe the architect actually designed a 13 screen cinema.) were sold out - 2600 tickets for the midnight show - AND half the tickets for the 3am show as well. Bear in mind this is the middle of the week and the entire population of Grand Blanc is about 8,000. Yeah, I know we have 20% unemployment hereabouts but who, if anyone, actually showed up for work on Wednesday morning?

And, the movie, good as it was, wasn't worth missing work for. It's felt, at times, as if the screenwriter missed the point of the book, instead going for the teen romance angle and pushing the magic, dark and otherwise, to the background. It didn't work for me. I'll be interested to see if J K Rowling has any comments.

Got my copy of the new version of The Moveable Feast, by Earnest Hemingway. As I noted on LitPark, the 1964 edition was partially responsible for my writing career. And I, on good days, can still see Papa's influence.

Off to my hometown today to mow Mom's lawn and deliver mats.

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Another Month Closer to Winter
originally posted: August 2, 2009

September 2 9am 48 degrees, clear blue Michigan sky, lovely stretch of weather this week, cold nights (started a fire last night, low 40's), days are getting warmer - long sleeve, but the sun is wonderful.

Weekend Alan projects - drain the hot water heater - the overflow vent was dripping water - benefit? Stopped the leak and the hot water is much hotter now. Cleaned the furnace and the heater in my office - vacuuming getting ready for winter, though the wife says the little electric heater in our bedroom, the fireplace, and my office heater will hopefully negate the need to turn the furnace on until we can no longer stand the cold.

No word from college which indicates youngest is settling in just fine. I called him Saturday and he was at the Detroit Lion's game. Ah, to be young again.

Life is good.

August 27 8am 54 degrees - cloudy, chilly morning with more chill in the forecast.

After overdosing on Ted Kennedy to the point where the grainy videos were becoming too much, I wandered through the other 500 channels of cable looking for something to watch. Ended up putting in the Fellowship of the Ring (extended version). What does this say about the programming ability of the networks and cable companies? Do they really want us to watch?

A month ago, I wrote a 150 word letter to the editor about a local (very local - just our township) election. I'm still getting comments on it. Does this indicate an audience for my stuff? Can it be an indication that people are still actually reading the local newspaper?

I had a good run writing a column in the Flint Journal - ten years, once a week. Something I enjoyed and I ended up making more money than most folks get for their first novel. Of course, in these days of penny pinching, it is nearly impossible to get such a gig, unless you are willing to do it for free.

What to do?

August 26 8am 61 degrees, raining, coming down pretty good as a cold front moves in.

One consequence of our flooding a couple weeks ago has been the emergence of a huge mosquito population - they are everywhere and relentless. The cats bring them in from outdoors and there doesn't appear to be any solution except to sit in the house (if you go outside, you get swarmed), covered with Deet.

Quiet weekend, went to the festival on Friday evening for a few minutes, left before it got completely underway. Saturday, split a little wood, played cards. Sunday, went golfing in the rain. Didn't embarrass myself. Monday, took youngest to college, stopped at Daughter's and met the Grand Dog. A huge pile of super fluffy puppy - a Newfoundland - will get bigger.

Off to Mom's this morning. Deliver mats and all that.

Sales continue to amaze - have no idea what that's all about, but we'll take it.

Onward and Upward.

August 21 Noon 73 degrees, blue sky with puffy white clouds.

Quiet week, all in all. Nothing spectacular, good sales, money coming in, lazy day today, running around the internet, catching Agatha Christie's lost Poirot - very cool, thanks PM,

Weekend has nothing special planned. Not likely to go near our local festival, tend to stay away if I have no real reason to show up, which I don't.
Monday, move youngest back to Oakland U and into his dorm room. He gets to go a week early as he works with the housing department setting up internet for the dorm rooms.

Weather is cooling down, maybe I'll fire up the chain saw and get some wood put up for the winter - I know it's coming, certainly not ready.

Writing on tap. Time to get geared up for another push at publication.

Onward and Upward.

August 17 8am 72 degrees, trying to get light out, very cloudy this morning and the air thick enough to cut with a knife, a few thunderstorms overnight, sticky.

A quiet weekend, a few "Alan" projects, replaced the door handle on the back screen door, cleaned up an area of the basement that used to be under the fuel oil tank (isn't now since I switched to gas), mowed the lawns. The river has gone down to within a foot of usual. - which means it fell some six feet in three days. Makes one wonder where did all that water go?

Delivered placemats Friday, and wasn't able to get a massage (booked up), so went for a psychic healing instead. Interesting concept and my body/mind is still trying to get a handle on the effects. All this new age stuff is intriguing and I can see how people can get caught up in it. Not saying where I sit or believe, just observing and learning.

Life is good as we enter the last three weeks of summer - oh yes, an extra bonus week this year. Michigan, due to upper Michigan relying on the tourist business, cannot start school -by law - until the day after Labor Day. This year, public schools will start on September 8. Hopefully, the extra week of summer will be profitable.

Much on tap this week. Have to get out and kick some serious sales.
Onward and Upward.

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Ric Marion is a writer, far from New York, in the rural thumb of Michigan. Done about everything, welfare caseworker, shop rat, trucking supervisor, editor, columnist, small business owner.
This writer is in search of agency representation.