I got sick on the way back from Baton Rouge, and Leonore got even sicker a day or two later. Neither of us has recovered yet. It's that thing that's going around.
In spite of which, in a display of awe-inspiring courage and self-discipline, I've been noodling away at the manuscript, taking it in here and letting it out there and rewriting and fiddling. I've had the same experience everyone else does when doing this: some parts are even better than I remembered, other parts are . . . very much not as good as I remembered. There's still a lot to be expanded or added, so my earlier deadline was absurd.
The weather has continued to be much worse than a normal winter - much lower temps and more frequent snow. Main roads are okay, but sideroads are mostly awful. Sidewalks aren't too bad where people have shoveled, but they're truly hazardous where people haven't. (The city has laws about keeping sidewalks clear, and it imposes fines on those who don't, but a lot of homeowners and businesses don't seem to care.) Local emergency rooms and orthopedic surgeons are doing a land-office business setting broken bones, according to a report on local TV news recently. It's sobering to think about, as one skids one's way to the bus stop or the office.
Speaking of which, my briefcase is heavier than usual because I've been taking my heavy old laptop to work with me and working on the book during lunchtime. Makes me feel good, but walking with that weight one side makes the trip even more an adventure.
We did have a warm spell. That's what we normally expect after a storm here, but this one didn't last the way our winter warm spells normally do. I got out and shoveled lots and lots, trying to clear some of the snow keeping my car trapped. That was on the assumption that the warm spell would continue and I'd be able to get my car free. Hah. It's trapped again. Anyway, I was doing the shoveling wearing hiking boots, jeans, a t-shirt, and a hat for protection against the sun. It seemed very Colorado to me.
3 comments:
Wow, bringing the WIP to work. I've only ever managed a little short-story editing over lunch. I'm terribly impressed...
I've been pleasantly surprised by how well it's worked, so far.
I tried the same thing at a previous job (to which I drove, rather than took the bus and walked), and I never actually set the laptop up and wrote while at work. It seems easier at this job, somehow. Or maybe it's that I'd feel silly not working on the ms. after lugging the laptop over ice and snow, uphill, against the wind, fighting off the dire wolves.
Bloody wolves. They do make for decent motivation, though.
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