Sun Dog

Went to WalMart with Kelly tonight to get some index cards so I can start getting the three volumes of Christmas Stories organized.  As we were driving down the aisle to park we looked up at the always interesting sky and there was a round spot that was a perfect rainbow sphere. Pretty amazing, the show nature puts on for us when we're scurrying around not paying attention to anything but our immediate needs.  So- tonight, I just want to say grab a chair, haul it out into your back yard, your front yard, side yard, the middle of the street you live on-whatever- but just go outdoors tomorrow for fifteen minutes and look at nature. Do NOT take your cellphone or any other source of distraction. Just sit outdoors and look at the sky, the grass, the ants in the anthill, the butterfly fluttering about, the dragonflies stitching the air on gossamer wings- and enjoy the simplicity and beauty that surrounds us every day that we take for granted. Fifteen minutes alone with nature- let me know what you experienced, what you saw, hear, felt, smelled or maybe even tasted if you choose to chew on a blade of grass. Tonight I shared a sun dog.

 Yesterday I could have written about the young mourning dove taking a breather on the back deck railing. It really didn't seem too concerned about me and the cats. It was about 1/2 the size of a regular adult mourning dove, and its feather were all ruffled up, standing out every which way giving it a sort of punk appearance. It groomed itself, watched us in the kitchen door for awhile then turned its back on us and gazed out across the yard. It was there for half an hour or more, then flew off as Kelly cam around the house from the drive way when she got home from work.

Often, when running errands after dinner, Kelly and I see something and say,
"Oh, damn! We forgot the camera again!" We especially like to chase thunderstorms, capturing the ominous black clouds, the rainbows that often appear after one passes through, the bright sunlight outlining dark clouds.  I've always been a cloud watcher, seeing things in the clouds. Now she does the same thing. We've captured awesome dragons, a witch astride a broom, a black-faced sheep, fingerprints in the blue sky, whales, angels, and a sheepdog! You just have to look, and employ a little imagination. But I have seen cloud pictures other cloud watchers have posted on facebook and the internet, and I do see what they see in them!

Gail wants a book about a spider for her niece who is afraid of spiders. Have been kicking around some ideas that I need to develop to deliver the story.  I wrote stories all the time for Kelly when she was little. I haven't written a children's story in quite awhile since my child is now 24-years old, and I always wrote above her level. I surrounded her with books and stories when she was growing up. She has read things I've written that I didn't even know she'd read- like my 240,000+ word epic novel I wrote for my friend Darlene one year- but never gave it to her! I had no idea Kelly had read it! So, I am a little nervous about writing a children's story- we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, I need to get back to editing the third novella in Miss Peculiar's Haunting Tales, Volume II now that Kelly has done a read through and fixed some of its woes. I have been reading The Archetypes-First Generation again and grinding my teeth at the number of things I have to go back in and fix after three edits already! It can't just be me, it has to be part of the file transfer. I would have caught crazy crap like I am finding in the first half dozen read throughs! Well, I'll tackle the text one more time and we'll see what happens. I really don't plan on promoting my books until I'm happy with them...if I'm ever happy with them!!

Remember- enjoy a few minutes with beautiful Mother Nature tomorrow and if you want to drop me a comment about what you experience I'd be happy to hear from you!