Some Words Sunday–Mother’s Day

Running (cred. Dan Mabee)

A shortish post today–it’s Mother’s Day in these parts.

Mother’s Day in our family is spent doing things for and with the Boodle.  It has been that way since I became a mother, and I have no interest in changing the pattern.

I became a mom through the Boodle’s presence in my life.  What better way to celebrate that fact (especially given the fun we have together)?

The truth is that I have a problem with any commercialized holiday, and Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day fall just under Christmas and Halloween for commercialization in my book.  And at least All Hallow’s Eve and the Winter Solstice have some real historical precedence.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t celebrate motherhood, or fatherhood, or parenthood in general.  Honoring those we love is never a bad thing.  Setting aside a special day where people buy cards, take mom out to dinner and tell her how much they appreciate her sounds great in theory too.

I favor the longer term approach though.  Instead of cards and remembrances on a special day–leave me a solitary flower on my pillow unexpectedly, bring me my tea in the morning with a smile, or just come over and hugs me daily.

Oh, yeah…  my husband does most of that anyway.  He doesn’t leave the flowers, but the Boodle brings dandelion bouquets all year.  The hubby comes in while I’m working and rubs my shoulders and tells me I’m beautiful regularly.

Who needs Mother’s Day when one has all that?

Spring kittens

Then there are those who have no concept of a special day for mothers.  It’s not a worldwide phenomenon, but I was thinking a bit more local… as in our deck.

See, we have outdoor cats.  You may have read some of Shan Jeniah‘s posts about her semi-feral cats.  Well, because of the winter ick and life happening here, we missed our chance to get their sister, Punkin, spayed in time.

It was actually quite funny when I found that out yesterday.  Creamsicle met me on the stairs,  all love and mews and leading, as she tried to lure me over to the nest, a “Come–come see the grandkids!”  Even Grandpa Beauty has been a lot more civil lately.

Punkin wanted none of it.  All wild animal instincts triggered by new motherhood, she hissed and yowled from behind to try to draw our attention to her and away from her babies.  Thing is, the silly girl made her nest right in front of the sliding glass door on the deck….

Just outside the window

We moms are pretty funny sometimes.

ROW80 Check-in

After all that great news the last few check-ins, I almost feel depressed by this Sunday’s.  Of course, I spent two days driving out to Syracuse to spent time with family.  My grandmother turned 90 on Thursday.  My grandfather is in a nursing home (not quite on death watch but we know all the time we have with him is borrowed).   And the same ick and steady series of small calamities that kept me from getting our cat fixed in time also kept us from making the trip out (especially the ick, as Grandpa is on antibiotic therapy).

After a time, phone calls and letters just aren’t enough.

I did bring my laptop; I did get some editing done and I wrote some journal entries.  I didn’t write any new fiction at all.

Along the drive, I took time to stop off and see some new places that we usually don’t have time for during these trips.  Instead of the highway for the whole drive, I took rt. 5 from Canajoharie to Utica, and grabbed pictures along the way.   On the way home, I detoured down toward Fayetteville and passed by my Great-aunt Pearl‘s former house.

I even gathered up the courage to knock on the door of the lady who owns it now and introduced myself.  We had a wonderful talk, and in the way patterns repeat, I can see how she’s becoming much like my great-aunt once was.  I wonder if her brother has a daughter too…

Dungeon Office

I also took some time to hike the trails at Chittenango Falls and had supper in the “Dungeon” of Beardslee Castle.  Not much writing time, but lots of fodder for the future…  And despite the sitting and driving, I made my ROW80 Fitness goals for the week. 

I almost wanted to be depressed by the lack of writing, but… as you can see, I can’t.  It was a good week.

I hope whatever your Sunday brings you, it is good.

 

Friday Photo — Washington Park

This gallery contains 11 photos.

It rained today–a good thing as the ground needed water desperately. But last Friday the sun was bright; there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  It was a perfect summer day…  in early May.  My husband and I took a … Continue reading →

What? Another #ROW80 – #WIPpet Wednesday?

Cafe Office

Wednesday, Wednesday….  It seems to come around every week at this same exact time…

Oh, yeah, it’s supposed to do that.   <:-|

#WIPpet Wednesday number two here, and close on its heels is another ROW80 check-in.

Chapters? We don’t need no Stinking Chapters

A strange thing happened when I started looking over my WIPs for this weeks WIPpet–I realized I haven’t written much of anything resembling a chapter in…  Well, almost 20 years.  When I write, I just….write (and then I type it in later).

Even with Release (my sole nod toward chapter breaks over scene breaks), I didn’t start writing chapters.  Those divisions came later… in the fourth or fifth draft.

So I felt a little off trying to find something for today.  I mean, last week’s post was easy; every book has a beginning.  But what do you do when you don’t break up your story into definable parts?

I don’t know what you do (tell me in the comments?), but I fudged it.  Since today’s date is May 8, 2013, I went into my present WIP Swan Song (yes, I know, that fanfic last week was fun, but it’s just the sandbox for Release and Swan Song) and picked out eight paragraphs from the fifth section from my Scrivener project for the beast.

“Are you telling me that you…” The Guard commander paused yet again, his expression completely bereft of the calm that Alanii had begun to associate with the man. After one more broken attempt to speak, the man let out a bark of laughter that caused the whole of the Spotted Hawk’s common room spin to see what had inspired such an outburst.

More than a bit nonplussed Alanii looked at the sea of curious faces, the mass of curiosity surrounding them an assault on his mind. He swallowed and then once more, as his mouth felt suddenly dry. Surely, he thought, nothing he’d done or said should have garnered this sort of reaction.

“Sir?” Alanii asked. His voice cracked, producing barely a whisper despite his attempt to show some strength of will and authority in the face of the guardsman’s mirth. He tried again.  Then when that “sir” had come out as a bare whisper, he picked up the ale the innkeeper had set before him—according to Val, he’d be wise to start drinking the common beverage in case he did end up getting his father’s approval for military training…supposedly wine didn’t travel quite as well as a good keg (although he doubted that). Then, as he tasted the thick, sweet, grainy drink his friend preferred, he understood what Val really had meant.

No wonder the man could go most of a day just on his drinks. Val, and most of the other guards, Alanii realized, drank their dinners. Either that, or someone had poured some very weak porridge into his mug.

The pause he took to run a cautious tongue along his teeth and remove anything that might have settled there had been enough for Lanilis Kailiis to regain his stoicism. The man gave a small shake of his head and then nodded to the glass Alanii had just put down. “What do you think the soldier’s bread?”

The man seemed more than content to simply ignore the fact that he’d drawn so much attention to himself only moments before.

Alanii didn’t know what he should say. The drink wasn’t unpleasant, but it wasn’t something he’d have chosen. Had he tried it a bit younger, he might have acquired a fondness for it close to that of his best friend was. It certainly seemed fortifying enough. “I can stand it,” he said trying to keep his tone neutral. The simple fact that Lanilis Kailiis had called it “soldier’s bread” meant the man had drunk more than his fair share of similar brews during his lifetime. It also implied that the man would likely insist he do the same.

Why did Val always have to be right? Alanii wondered.

There you go…a bit tamer than last week’s piece.  I’d considered posting a bit of Release‘s Chapter 5, but I didn’t want you think that everything I wrote was all death and dismemberment.  Maybe next week…. 

ROW80 Check-in

YAY!  Writing, writing, and even more writing!

P writing blue (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Is that a good enough update?  I mean, it about covers it.  I’ve spent hours of writing, editing, and contemplating my WIPs since Sunday.  In Swan Song, ‘Listii and his sister are checking both sides of the road for signs of an ambush as they try to easy their way through some wild country, tired and wishing they could stop and rest, but not daring to.  In another unnamed story (the one I was posting last year for my Tuesday Snippets), I have Alanii and Valmara trapped in a trysting cave as a tsunami tears through the region, and the millennium of feuding between them and their families may prove more dangerous than the storm.

I’ve edited too.  It’s amazing what one notices after some time away from one’s writing–especially NaNoWriMo produced stories such as the piece I posted for today’s WIPpet!  Yes, I nibbled down the over-writing a touch here.  It’s still needs work, but I figured it was better to post this and write more.  It’s supposed to be a Work In Progress after all!

It’s not all roses this week so far.  I had to call the dentist about another inflamed tooth, and Monday morning I woke up unable to walk on my right foot.  Has anyone else has this happen to them?  It’s like I twisted it in my sleep.  But the afternoon my arch and toes were swollen to about twice their normal size.  Some ibuprofen and all…  it’s better today, but it was weird.

It didn’t keep me from getting some exercise in.  So in all, a pretty good start to the week.  And I missed (and will miss) most of my sprints on Twitter this week.  There are a lot of things to get done and most of them don’t involve me sitting at my computer.

Come and join in our fun bloghops!

For #WIPPet Wednesday, post a bit of your Work In Progress (hopefully a current one so we can encourage its eventual publication).  Make sure the sample you post somehow correlates to the day’s date (perhaps a paragraph on the first, or paragraphs, or lines, or sentences or …  well, something loosely related to the date). Then use this inlinkz linky (complete with blue froggie) to add your post to the collection!

A huge thank you to K. L. Schwengel at My Random Muse for hosting this group.

Brainchild of the talented Kait Nolan, the Round of Words in 80 Days truly is the “Writing challenge that know You have a Life” (and that is Life with a capital L).  The ROW80, as you’ve probably guessed by the multitude of posts I’ve made for it, has become my online home (Thanks, Kait!).  Even more than Facebook…  (definitely more than Facebook!)  Check out the blog, set yourself some goals, read the FAQ and then add your post to the linky and visit some.

Most of all, have some fun and meet some other really wonderful bloggers!

Related articles

• How Should I Break Up Chapters in a Novel (writers.stackexchange.com)
• Write On! Chapter Breaks: You’ve got to be cruel to be kind (dailykos.com)
• Chapter Breaks: Where Should They Go? (blog.karenwoodward.org)