Words Written: DFL: 1302

Egads, I forgot part of Saturday!

After the Cat House, we went to the poppy fields. The poppies were apparently stunning this year because of all the rain, but we were hitting the fields at the end of the season, so there weren’t many (but there were far more than when we took Amanda…). We were all too tired and/or unwell to walk any of the trails, but we took some pictures and perused the gift shop…

…where I found a stuffed baby red-tailed hawk that makes a real recorded cry! It’s just too wonderful! Ken was so sweet and bought it for me. It’s on one of the staircase balustrades right now, and folks are wont to make it cry out when they walk by. Hee.

The other thing we saw was rattlesnakes! A small boy had told his mom that he’d found one, so we all had to look. Sharp eyes, that little boy. It was just a baby, with a tiny little rattle, and all it wanted to do was slink away from our prying eyes. Then, as we were driving out of the preserve, we spotted another one at the side of the road. Bigger, but still disinterested in humans to the point of retreat. We got a few pictures of both.

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I seem to be in a pretty good mood today, ‘though not for any specific reason. Maybe because the writing is going so well. The new book is fun, and even though I’m currently exploring and randomly writing things that need to be in the first chapter or so, it seems easy. Most of the idea came in a big wash during a brainstorming exercise at an OCW workshop, and I even wrote a synopsis from that exercise. (Some of it’s changing, of course, but there’s nothing wrong with that.) I think I can write 1000 words/day on it on the commute, which is a fine speed.

Of course, I can’t forget about AETW. I made myself a schedule for this weekend (well, for Saturday, at least) that includes reading all the crits for that and making notes about things to change. It’s harder to edit while commuting, but we’ll see how it goes—or I can make it a weekend project, maybe?

So, the good mood. Who knows. Obviously I haven’t internalized the fact that Ken leaves Friday for 6 weeks or so in Portland. He’s thinking about flying back for Darach Anniversary on the 21st, which is about halfway through the time he’ll be gone, which will help. :-) But it’ll be especially weird having him leave 2 days after Ed & Marian leave—the house will seem especially empty. Plus Morgana & Brian left today for England, and won’t be back until the 21st, so my closest friends (in terms of distance) won’t be around for random get-togethers. Bah. It’ll all be very strange.

I was going to toddle over to the gym today and get a tour in preparation for joining, but money’s tight this week and I should probably wait another week or so. Phooh. I should bring socks and sneakers to work and at least take a few laps around the parking lot; several other people already do that. Can’t hurt!

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Tonight is Ed & Marian’s last evening here. We ate tri-tip and cheesy-garlicky mashed potatoes, and played Kill Dr. Lucky and Fluxx, and since they’re leaving at just about the same time I leave for work, we’re all calling it an early-ish night. Sigh!

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Currently Reading: Buried Deep, Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Lately Listened To: various songs (I’m having trouble committing to albums)

Recently Watched: nada—too busy