Winter, cracked in half

Ram Bunctious

It's January. According to my calculations, that's smack dab in the middle of winter. I was just out in Montana for an extra week or so due to tangibles of winter: snow, ice, cold. However, the roads did eventually turn green (on the weather.com travel map) & home I came.

Many games of all sorts (except poker, alas) were played. Mom won the pitch series for the first time ever. (Go, Mom!)

It's been a while since I posted, so I'll just do one to have it done.

Blog alternative:
289. Do a slap dash, half assed version of something you've been putting off. Break the ice, as it were. After all, winter is half over.

Big old brown dog slobbered on my prom dress

I know what you're thinking: What was a big old brown dog doing at the prom? (Or what was I doing at a prom, for that matter.)

There was no prom involved. It was the day after Halloween & I was a race marshall at the 5K turnaround point for the Running Lungs 10K-5K-2K. Good thing I had that extra layer of prom dress (skirt, actually) over my long johns & jeans, because it was 17 degrees when I left the house. "What?" you say. (I know what you're saying as well as what you're thinking. Bwaaa haaa haaa!) "17 degrees in Asheville on November 1st?"

Actually, no. I was (& am) back in Rochester, Minnesota. With a dog-slobbered prom skirt & all of my other possessions under one roof. In Asheville, I had a storage unit, which is probably NOT a healthy thing. It's like weighing several thousand extra pounds, but because you're not carrying it around with you, you never do anything about it. Oh, you go out there & poke around & pick things up & put them down & maybe deal with 3 items, but then you pull the door down & click the padlock shut & drive away with a sigh. When all the stuff is visible, you are far more likely to recycle & throw away & give away. (I made a trip to Goodwill today.)

Perhaps it wasn't the very best time to move north, as the temp lately has been in the negatives, wind chill wise, but hey, that just keeps you inside, working on organizing & creating. Plus right now I have a warm little dog on my lap, one of my grand-dogs. I am back in the Winter house. If you have to live in a house in Minnesota in the winter, the Winter house is the one. Passive solar, earth bermed, capable of leaping -- if it's a sunny day -- a winter temperature into the temperate range. (At least while the sun is up.)

The polar vortex is easing up & we're going to be a bit more seasonal by the weekend. Yay!

Blog alternative:
288. Put on a fancy extra layer to go out in, even if it's silly.

Back Again

I know what you're thinking: She was trapped in her car for all of July & August. The bear's not that big. Surely she could have driven to a location with wi-fi & bought it an apple pie or something...

I am in -- as you may have guessed from the photo -- Montana. Actually I'm in Montana for the second time since last I blogged. My dad had a minor heart attack in June & I basically spent 3 weeks in July with my folks, for moral support & foot rubs & card playing. That time I flew.

This time was a big surprise, because his 80th birthday was September 7th & my niece is getting married later in September so Mom & Dad figured I'd just make it out for the wedding. But heck, an 80th birthday is not one to miss! I spent the morning of September 2nd (no way was I getting on the highways over Labor Day weekend) cuddling with Derrick & talking & then drove (with a stop or three along the way) to Big Sky & spent a couple days in a (super cool) log cabin with Minnesota friends (hi Debbie & Jim) & went to Yellowstone Park for the first time in 40-some years (which makes it my second time there ever) & drove to Nye to surprise the heck out of my folks & provide a little brown bear with a photo opportunity.

July & August happened in a lovely fashion, as far as I remember. Grin. Guess I'll leave them at that. September. I just love fall, when it gets brisk -- & it got down to real brisk already up at Nye. 22 degrees. Except today it's going to be 85 there. Montana weather. Gotta love it.

In Montana I have sporadic cell phone service & sporadic wi-fi capabilities, depending where I am, so I'm taking advantage of some coffee shopping. I've provided some foot rubs & been involved in a bunch of card games (right now I'm behind, so I better get cracking) & done a bit of visiting & worked on a novel & soaked up the beauty of those brash teenage mountains, the Rockies. Beautiful in a different way than the rounded greener grandmamma mountains of North Carolina.

Anyway, I'm back. Hope your summer went well & your fall is going weller. (I know it's not quite the first day of fall yet, but I do it strictly calendrically. (Weird. There seems to be doubt in the program's mind about both weller & calendrically, not to mention grandmamma...)

Blog alternative:
287. Surprise someone you love with a phone call or a cupcake or a handmade card or an invitation to a frisbee game or...

Friday the 13th Feng Shui

One of the other aliens who
lives in this house.

Happy Friday the 13th!

I took a couple workshops (one's not quite over yet) at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute here.

One is about planning wills & health care directives & such & is informative & humorous & tremendously worthwhile. (If anyone wants to know cool stuff about signature cards for Pay on Death dispersal of bank accounts or the importance of putting JWROS on your car title (joint with right of survivorship) so the other guy or gal can just drive away after your next vehicle turns out to be a hearse, just let me know. Grin.)

The other was a really cool class on Feng Shui (fung shway, in case anyone else out there besides me has the unfortunate habit of not being able to pronounce things they've only read...) which inspired another room re-org. This one is my best ever! For a while, of course, the room was both shaken & stirred, but it's coming along very nicely & I've released a bunch of stuff into the wild of recycling & giveaway & turned some art supplies into reality, rather than possibility. So much fun, too. Su-shen, who taught the class, is very much in favor of common sense & personal preference & intuition, as well as the ancient Chinese wisdom.

I turned several key horizontal surfaces into "this is where pretty stuff lives" spaces rather than "this is where I can chuck stuff rather than dealing with it" zones. I also strung a belt composed of metal circles from one corner of the closet molding to a shelf around the corner & hung necklaces on it. Guess what? I've worn several pretty necklaces that had been huddled in bags & boxes & beltbags, waiting to be appreciated. Now, they're appreciated, by me anyway, whether I'm wearing them or not, since they make up part of the room decor.

Blog alternative:
286. Figure out a way to display some item that's squirreled away, forgotten like a nut that will never turn into a tree. Jewelry. Jewelry-making-tools. A favorite frisbee. See if visibility increases utility.

Free to be...CrabbyPants

Shadows of leaves

on sunlit leaves

I've had many scheduled activities this month, including listening to Christine Kloser's free teleclass, the Transformational Author Experience. 22 hours of really interesting information. Christine is a great interviewer & her experts are amazing. It's a 2-week event that ends on Friday, but you can catch at least the 3 Friday events over the weekend, so check it out at
the Transformational Author Experience
if you're interested. Even if you're not specifically writing a book, some of her experts talk about things like inspiration & finding your calling & marketing your seminars & social media & money. But you have to sign up before it's over...

One of her experts was Marci Shimoff, who wrote a great book called Happy for No Reason. Lots of great information & exercises & an easy read. I just read it & loved it, so my post title & topic may sound contradictory, but it isn't, really.

The other day I was feeling a little crabby. Now, me on crabby is a lot like a lot of people's best days. I don't do crabby often, or well. But, there I was, feeling (a little) crabby. I believe (now) in honoring & expressing my emotions, in a useful way, letting them flow, rather than putting on a perky, positive front & denying that I even felt that way. I've had years of experience with the perky, positive front, which was mostly -- but not always -- authentic. Now when I'm perky & positive, I want it to be front, back, inside, outside & sideways. But the other day, crabby.

I had no reason. I wasn't tired or hungry. I hadn't just had something disappointing happen. (I'll get to that later.) But instead of saying to myself, "This is ridiculous! Quit it!" I just let myself feel what I was feeling. I got over it before the day was even out, & I chose to mostly hang out just with my own little crabbypants self rather than spreading it around, but it was satisfying. Relaxing. Authentic. That was who I was right then, & I didn't have to pretend anything to anybody, including myself. Whew.

Earlier in the month, I had a disappointing experience, when I got the news back from my editor that my novel either needed to be longer, or maybe shorter, & maybe it wasn't for a young audience, but maybe it was, & what did I think? It was a very thoughtful, well-considered email & --

-- I went into a cave wondering if I even wanted to be -- or could be -- or ever had been -- a novelist. I'd just wanted to have it out of my hands. Sigh. I still haven't touched it, but I have come up with one idea for addressing one of her concerns, & when I'm hungry to do so, I'll go to that scene & implement the new idea & then see what happens.

I tell you this to illustrate that I went ahead & felt what I was feeling when I did know the reason, which made my no-reason-crabbypants feel quite silly to me, but I was willing to just let it wash out in its own time anyway.

I am a happy person, & getting happier. Life is good, especially if you let in the occasional crabbypants. The sweet is sweeter after a little sour.

Blog alternative:
285. Embrace your inner crabbypants. Don't give her a car & a smart phone & access to your checking account, but a hug & a big "I love you just as you are" will go a long way.

Refugee of the Month Club

trapped in the side of the a rental car,
legs too twisted to run...

I told you I had some fun writing news to share, & I do.

Years ago, when I lived in Minnesota, the Rochester Repertory Theater (aka, the Rep) held a series of 10-minute play contests. Each of them had a theme. The first was actually performed at a new Saturn dealership in town & all the plays had to center around cars. The one I wrote (all of the ones I wrote for the contests were chosen & produced) was called "Life, Love & Highway Safety" & one of the main (non-speaking) characters was an inflatable safety man. (Actually, it was a blow-up adult toy & I had to paint a mask to go over his face.) Another time they were set at the Goodhue County Historical Society & I set "An Apple from the Teacher" in their one-room school display. (I attended a one-room school in Montana for elementary school, with one teacher for eight grades & 12 to 25 students in the whole school.) "The Carrie Casanova Memorial Coat Tree" required the use of a coat rack, and had two living characters, plus a ghost, and a narrator. Another had to center around a trunk, and for that I wrote "Refugee of the Month Club," which made me laugh out loud when I reread it a few months ago.

Apparently, the folks at the Rep had the same reaction, because this summer they're doing 10 of their favorite plays from all the competitions & "Refugee of the Month Club" will be one of them. So, if you're going to be in Minnesota, check out TREASURES in TEN July 11 - 12, 17-19, and 24 -26 at the Rochester Repertory Theater (103 7th St NE, Rochester, MN 55906. 507.289.7800) & enjoy the show.

I also found out that "Even Cowgirls Spread the News," a poem I had published in The Magazine of Speculative Poetry, was nominated for a Rhysling Award.

I'm sure I have more to tell you. Thunderstorms. All sorts of classes I took during Asheville Small Business Week, including one on 3D printing. I could etcetera all day, but then I wouldn't get to my day, would I? Grin.

So, catch you on the flip-flop.

Blog alternative:
284. Dust off something you created months or years ago, whether it's a story, a drawing, a recipe, a photo of a particularly beautiful floral arrangement. Enjoy the heck out of it. See what happens then...

Cloudy, with a chance of dishes

Derrick, hugging a tree.

Oh, April. It's one of the cruelest months for blogging, because it's so fun & busy, what with birthdays & all. Plus I've been doing a lot of dishes.

Don't laugh! Derrick has been (slowly) acquiring a house that is in the family & has a clouded title. Now it's mostly sunny, only partly cloudy, & we can start cleaning it up. For a while, it had no water, so a bunch of dirty dishes piled up on the counters & table & I have just about finished washing them. The water hasn't been turned on yet, although we did get the electricity turned on, so we hauled water over & I warmed water in my electric kettle to make effective dishwater. It's been an adventure. I enjoyed every minute of it, except when I splashed a little extra hot water on my hand.

Did some outside, too. Derrick mowed & I raked the lawn. I didn't want to get all the same muscles stiff, so I experimented with form -- just call me "Dances With Rake."

Tomorrow should be very fun, because this week there are a bunch of free classes & I signed up to see one on 3D printing. I'm fascinated by the Santa Claus machines, as they are sometimes called.

It's late-ish & I should go to bed. I mainly just wanted to blog before my birthday.

In the next installment, I'll tell you some more fun writing news.

Blog alternative:
283. Dance with a rake. Or a broom.