A Day Late & a Dollar Short: Thursday 13

It's been a full day. A best and worse day. Up and down. In and out. Near and far.

Is this my life?? Could be.....

1. I am back to "serious" writing. A publisher has asked me to re-calabrate and re-pitch my Career Counseling book, to come up with a new angle aimed specifically at people who have to or want to change their careers. I can do that. I started today. I don't know if my effort will result in a contract with them, but it feels like second base. I was afraid when I left my agent I would be lingering off the bases, so this is a good step. Writing and refining book proposals is the marketing and commerce side of my evolving writing career. No complaints: today it feels great.

2. I like writing poetry best because it is quick and compact. But the in-progress story of Casey and Izzy is my very favorite. I won't be surprised if it will remain so 20 years from now.

3. I have a formal appointment book, but I usually keep my to-do list on the front of a blank envelope. This morning I had about 10 things on it. I finished them all. After a period of slacking off from life's daily chores, it looks like I'm mostly organized again. Then again, I'm glad I've learned to slack off, finally.

4. My mind gets stuck on something and I just can't let it go. If it's something even potentially sad, I might cry while I think. Plus I'm am too often impatient and fail to let things play themselves out. I can live with that for myself, but sometimes I end up pulling in and/or hurting someone else who doesn't deserve to have to deal just because I'm acting out. I did this again today. Damn.

5. "I'm sorry" can get pretty stale if I keep walking down the same road.

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6. Finally I parboiled and skinned a couple of dozen tomatoes from the garden and made spaghetti sauce. This is a specialty of mine, recipe handed down from my red headed Italian father, but the homegrown tomatoes gave the sauce a sweetness all its own.

7. I've decided to set up a studio in a corner of the cellar. I will make a cozy little space for myself. There I will paint wood and make whatever mess I want. I used to paint birdhouses, some with polka dots and other neighborhood expressions, and then make up a story about who lives there. I might do this again.

8. Our hedges got trimmed today. JB and I started them last week but they were so overgrown we couldn't reach the middle. So now they look very spiffy, even a little funky. I gave our lawn guy creative license to make a few waves and wiggles and he joyfully did.

9. It is Fall in New England. Fresh apples, pears, blueberries, acorn and butternut squash, pumpkins. The leaves are just beginnning to change colors. In a couple of weeks they will be red and yellow and orange. It is a splendid sight.

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10. The Big Yellow writing group starts up again next Monday. There's something in that livingroom air that makes writing there effortless and fluid. It is just wonderful to write and read aloud there. And it's just as wonderful to hear everyone else read aloud.

11. Here' a # 1 reason to rejoice.

12. My insecurity has a life of its own. I really am an optimist but waves of sadness toss me every which way. I don't know if I can or want to change this. I don't know much these days, really. I can't tell you if that's good or bad.

13. Here's a small hardware store in one of the nearby Hill Towns. It's one of four buildings that make up the town center. You couldn't make up this kind of authenticity.

Click on the photo to see all the small town details

Have a good day yourself. If it's full of dualities like mine, well, maybe that's just the way it is sometimes.....