AUDRA PHIPPS isn't too horrible. I just printed it out and read it and it's mildly amusing. I think it's worth pursuing, even if it is difficult. The character of Audra is fun to write. She's so shallow.
On the IF front, I printed out two different versions of a scene for writing group. One has a more explosive denouement than the other. I'm not positive which fits better in the story. The louder one has more information about the feelings of the characters, but in the story as written the reader is given somewhat limited information, which was how I wanted it. We'll see what WG thinks.
I should get SEA CHANGE back on Tuesday. I'll have my work cut out for me then. Which is how it should be for Vermont. I found out that the Vermont Studio Center will not have any fiction-writing mentors for the time I am there. There will be two poets, but that's it. (Not that it isn't good they have poets.) Prose writers can't consult with the poets. Only poets can. There are 14 writers among 55 in all for the month of September. I was surprised the number was so small. I would consult with the poets about my poetry but that's not allowed apparently. They can only consult with poets who applied as poets. I wish I wrote only poetry so I could say, "I'm a poet," when people ask me what I do. Then see the look on their faces.
I suppose I could say it. Let them imagine how much money I make.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Revising Blues
I decided this morning to revisit IF I COULD BE WHERE YOU ARE, the novella I wrote, and do a complete read-through. So I waded through 135 pages making corrections as I went. Then after I had finished and was feeling satisfied with my work, I noticed in my file that I had missed IF I COULD BE WHERE YOU ARE TWO, which was happily sitting in the folder the whole time. I had revised the wrong one. Now I'm on page 86 of revising the second revision. It was pretty disheartening for a moment.
I decided to turn to IF because I was so frustrated with AUDRA PHIPPS. I just don't know where I'm going. Monday I wrote one sentence. "The scrubby trees whipped past." (She's in a car.) Argh! Is this what it will be like in Vermont? I may have to come up with another idea quickly if AUDRA PHIPPS is going to be like laboring through quicksand. Now it feels like I'll never write anything good again. Kim and I were talking about that feeling. Sometimes it's a cruel, cruel world for writers. Other times it's worth every bit of toil, for the satisfaction of writing a good sentence.
Kim and I went for another long walk last night while the fellas played World of Warcraft. This time we took the dogs, who were very good on the walk. You feel pretty protected with two pit bulls on the leash. People made careful detours around us. Especially a lady with a little dachshund. We visited Carolyn after the walk and saw pictures of the little baby she's going to have. In September they find out if it's a boy or a girl.
I decided to turn to IF because I was so frustrated with AUDRA PHIPPS. I just don't know where I'm going. Monday I wrote one sentence. "The scrubby trees whipped past." (She's in a car.) Argh! Is this what it will be like in Vermont? I may have to come up with another idea quickly if AUDRA PHIPPS is going to be like laboring through quicksand. Now it feels like I'll never write anything good again. Kim and I were talking about that feeling. Sometimes it's a cruel, cruel world for writers. Other times it's worth every bit of toil, for the satisfaction of writing a good sentence.
Kim and I went for another long walk last night while the fellas played World of Warcraft. This time we took the dogs, who were very good on the walk. You feel pretty protected with two pit bulls on the leash. People made careful detours around us. Especially a lady with a little dachshund. We visited Carolyn after the walk and saw pictures of the little baby she's going to have. In September they find out if it's a boy or a girl.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Finding Old Friends
I found an old friend, Tracy Ossmann. We have a very coincidental history. We knew each other in Minnesota, in junior high. We had several of the same classes all through junior high. Then I moved to Texas. Skip to five years later and I'm going to Germany for junior year. Someone in my program tells me a Tracy saw my name on the list and said she knows me. I couldn't think who it would be. Then I'm sitting in a class one day and see a familiar-looking person on the other end of the table, except with a shorter haircut. Sure enough, it was Tracy Ossmann. We exclaimed over the coincidence. Of all the towns in all the world and all the classes in all the world...you walked into this one. So we were friends again. Then after college I moved back to Minnesota and lived about ten minutes from her house. I returned to Texas and we lost touch when she was going to stay in South America. Sunday night I decided to google her and found her on a genealogy website, with an email address. So I emailed and sure enough, it was the same Tracy. It's not every day you rescue a friendship like that.
Yesterday Kim and Alan and we went to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I guess I was the only one who thought it was kind of awful. Maybe everything is a pale comparison compared to The Dark Knight. I'm still working on AUDRA PHIPPS and it's very heavy going. It feels like each sentence is painfully eked out, which is not how I usually write. I hope it gets easier. I can't wait for writing group next time to see what everyone thought of SC and how I can revise. It less than twenty days I head to Vermont.
Yesterday Kim and Alan and we went to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I guess I was the only one who thought it was kind of awful. Maybe everything is a pale comparison compared to The Dark Knight. I'm still working on AUDRA PHIPPS and it's very heavy going. It feels like each sentence is painfully eked out, which is not how I usually write. I hope it gets easier. I can't wait for writing group next time to see what everyone thought of SC and how I can revise. It less than twenty days I head to Vermont.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Wondering about SEA CHANGE
The writing group is reading SEA CHANGE, the whole manuscript. They're passing the same copy around. Two of them have finished it so far. Mimi has it now. They didn't want to talk about it at the meeting because Mimi hadn't read it. So I'm on tenterhooks, a little bit. MB did say she liked it and read it in a couple of sittings so that's good. She gave me a comparison to a book she's reading, On Chesil Beach. I checked it out today. It's by Ian McEwan, who wrote Amsterdam, which I liked. I am working on AUDRA PHIPPS, a new project, but am unsure in what direction it's going. It's fairly fun to write though, because it's a lighter, different kind of humor. It kind of skims the surface.
My, it's hot today. It's supposed to get up to 105, someone said. We watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on TV last night. It was spectacular. I don't think one could get that kind of precision anywhere else. When the group of 2008 men were drumming, it was like one body replicated more than a thousand times. I liked the printing blocks which formed different shapes as they undulated up and down. It turned out they were operated from underneath by people! We had speculated it was a computer. I also loved the giant LED screen rolled out on the floor like a scroll, images floating down its length. And the Olympic rings in lights on the floor, which gradually lifted up as if by magic into the air.
My, it's hot today. It's supposed to get up to 105, someone said. We watched the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics on TV last night. It was spectacular. I don't think one could get that kind of precision anywhere else. When the group of 2008 men were drumming, it was like one body replicated more than a thousand times. I liked the printing blocks which formed different shapes as they undulated up and down. It turned out they were operated from underneath by people! We had speculated it was a computer. I also loved the giant LED screen rolled out on the floor like a scroll, images floating down its length. And the Olympic rings in lights on the floor, which gradually lifted up as if by magic into the air.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Tahoe and back to Inverness via Stockton
After I dropped William off at the Marin Airporter (so he could take the bus across the Golden Gate to San Francisco Airport) I drove to Christie and Andrew Pang's house, which is only about ten minutes from the Airporter. They live in a wonderful house high up on a hill with a panoramic view of the area. You can see the Marin Civic Center from their house, built by Frank Lloyd Wright and used in the movie Gattaca for its futuristic look. They have the house decorated with many pieces of Chinese furniture. A big fireplace opens on both sides into two rooms.
Christie, Andrew, Maddie, and I traveled up to South Lake Tahoe to their vacation home. They rent it out to people sometimes and go there for vacations other times. There's often some project to do (this time it was rebuilding the deck and getting the house and deck painted and stained). So they're thinking of selling it because it's so much work. I'm really glad I got to see it and stay there before it's gone. The area they live is full of trees; it's like living in a forest. At night you could hear coyotes howling in packs very close. It was an eerie sound. Once I got up and looked out into the black night thinking I could see them they sounded so close.
Christie and Maddie and I went hiking on a couple of days. Once we hiked down to Emerald Bay, a stunning bay of Lake Tahoe, which has an old mansion at the foot of the bay called Vikingsholm. It was owned by a rich lady who also owned all the land around the bay. She donated it to the state of California so it's all protected now and undeveloped. There's an island in the middle of the bay with a little teahouse on the very tippy-top of the little mountain in the center. The bay really is an emerald green. We hiked down a mile and then after sitting by the beach for a while, watching the geese and wading, we hiked, gulp, back up. It's very steep. One lady we passed who was pushing her baby up the hill in a stroller said, "Babies have the life!"
On another day we hiked in the lands behind their house...lots of runners and cyclists. A red dusty winding trail through the woods. Different from midwestern woods: drier and more spare. The air was quite dry and my skin felt crackly. We went to church at the tiny Episcopal chapel outside of Stanford Sierra Camp where Christie's parents were staying. The doors to the chapel were open and we sat on benches outside the door, since the church could not fit everyone. A dog came to the service, too! So it was very inclusive. :)
I spent a day at Stanford Camp on "beach day." A barbecue was held on the beach and people went swimming in the icy water and hung around the beach. An egg toss was held and the winners pitched an egg the length of the beach! It was a California barbecue, meaning there was no barbecue to eat there. It was hamburgers and hot dogs instead. That made me laugh. Of course a Texan expects to get barbecue at a barbecue. I went swimming in the freezing water, much to my surprise, and stayed in for a while. It actually felt good after I got used to it and I didn't want to get out. Carol and Joe went in too. Their friend Don splashed me before I was ready to make the plunge and I screamed. It takes a lot for me to scream. We ate lunch, served by the students who work there for the summer. It was all served because they'd had incidences of neurovirus there earlier in the summer and they were trying to eliminate it, so you couldn't help yourself to the food. After lunch Don and I went canoing around Fallen Leaf Lake. It seemed like a very narrow canoe. We made a good paddling team, much better than at the paddleboats which we tried at first. Then we just seemed to go in circles so we swapped for the canoes. At dinner we got together with the Pangs again and the Pangs and I drove home.
One night Christie and Andrew tried to go to the Dark Knight while I watched Maddie. Unfortunately the two shows they could have seen were both sold out. I was hoping to give them a nice date night so it was too bad. It was wonderful getting to know Maddie and playing with her. She's a sweet baby and I learned a lot observing them with her. She's starting to sleep through the night so that's great. While I was there she learned how to put an object in a box, close the lid, open the lid and get it out again. She liked playing with my gold disk necklace. If I put it in my shirt she still knew it was there and would pull it out again.
The last day Christie, Maddie, and I went to lunch at Mariel and Gary Thomsen's house. It was only about 45 minutes to Incline Village from South Lake Tahoe. Mariel and Gary's new kitchen is marvelous. They did most of the work themselves and it took six months. I think it was totally worth it (I'm sure they do too) because it adds so much to the house and really opened up the kitchen. They removed a wall and made the kitchen open up to the living room, which has a cathedral ceiling. Now Mariel won't be cut off from everyone when she's working in the kitchen. We ate outside and walked the brook that traverses their property after lunch. Everyone's doing well in the Thomsen family. Mariel and Gary were off to England in the following week to go to a friend's wedding. Then they're off again around Christmas for the sibling's wedding.
Instead of driving back to San Rafael with the Pangs as we had originally planned, I ended up going to Stockton with the Lawrences on Saturday on their drive back home from Stanford Camp. Aunt Leslie's mother died while I was in Tahoe. I was glad to be able to be there for the family gathering and remembrances of Peg. We went the cemetery and saw the resting places of Peg, Tutu and Granddaddy, and Spencer. I hadn't been back there since Tutu's funeral, nine years ago. In fact I don't think I've been back to Stockton in that time, amazingly. Time has flown.
Mom came to stay as well and Leslie, Mom, and I drove out to Inverness on Tuesday. We had a precious couple of days there to round off the trip. Mom and I went to Shipwreck the first day. The second day we went to Shell Beach with Carol and went swimming in the bay. We ottered and had a good time. The last night I got to see Cathy Barron with little Phil at the Lawrence's house in Inverness. It was just a glimpse but it was nice to have tea with them.
While at Inverness I had been talking with the Point Reyes jeweler about having a ring made. We went in and made all the arrangements to have a silver ring I have copied into white gold and my engagement diamond put in it. So all the plans are made; I just have to save up the money to do it. Then I will have just one ring to wear and it won't catch on things since it will be flat.
It was a marvelous trip.
Christie, Andrew, Maddie, and I traveled up to South Lake Tahoe to their vacation home. They rent it out to people sometimes and go there for vacations other times. There's often some project to do (this time it was rebuilding the deck and getting the house and deck painted and stained). So they're thinking of selling it because it's so much work. I'm really glad I got to see it and stay there before it's gone. The area they live is full of trees; it's like living in a forest. At night you could hear coyotes howling in packs very close. It was an eerie sound. Once I got up and looked out into the black night thinking I could see them they sounded so close.
Christie and Maddie and I went hiking on a couple of days. Once we hiked down to Emerald Bay, a stunning bay of Lake Tahoe, which has an old mansion at the foot of the bay called Vikingsholm. It was owned by a rich lady who also owned all the land around the bay. She donated it to the state of California so it's all protected now and undeveloped. There's an island in the middle of the bay with a little teahouse on the very tippy-top of the little mountain in the center. The bay really is an emerald green. We hiked down a mile and then after sitting by the beach for a while, watching the geese and wading, we hiked, gulp, back up. It's very steep. One lady we passed who was pushing her baby up the hill in a stroller said, "Babies have the life!"
On another day we hiked in the lands behind their house...lots of runners and cyclists. A red dusty winding trail through the woods. Different from midwestern woods: drier and more spare. The air was quite dry and my skin felt crackly. We went to church at the tiny Episcopal chapel outside of Stanford Sierra Camp where Christie's parents were staying. The doors to the chapel were open and we sat on benches outside the door, since the church could not fit everyone. A dog came to the service, too! So it was very inclusive. :)
I spent a day at Stanford Camp on "beach day." A barbecue was held on the beach and people went swimming in the icy water and hung around the beach. An egg toss was held and the winners pitched an egg the length of the beach! It was a California barbecue, meaning there was no barbecue to eat there. It was hamburgers and hot dogs instead. That made me laugh. Of course a Texan expects to get barbecue at a barbecue. I went swimming in the freezing water, much to my surprise, and stayed in for a while. It actually felt good after I got used to it and I didn't want to get out. Carol and Joe went in too. Their friend Don splashed me before I was ready to make the plunge and I screamed. It takes a lot for me to scream. We ate lunch, served by the students who work there for the summer. It was all served because they'd had incidences of neurovirus there earlier in the summer and they were trying to eliminate it, so you couldn't help yourself to the food. After lunch Don and I went canoing around Fallen Leaf Lake. It seemed like a very narrow canoe. We made a good paddling team, much better than at the paddleboats which we tried at first. Then we just seemed to go in circles so we swapped for the canoes. At dinner we got together with the Pangs again and the Pangs and I drove home.
One night Christie and Andrew tried to go to the Dark Knight while I watched Maddie. Unfortunately the two shows they could have seen were both sold out. I was hoping to give them a nice date night so it was too bad. It was wonderful getting to know Maddie and playing with her. She's a sweet baby and I learned a lot observing them with her. She's starting to sleep through the night so that's great. While I was there she learned how to put an object in a box, close the lid, open the lid and get it out again. She liked playing with my gold disk necklace. If I put it in my shirt she still knew it was there and would pull it out again.
The last day Christie, Maddie, and I went to lunch at Mariel and Gary Thomsen's house. It was only about 45 minutes to Incline Village from South Lake Tahoe. Mariel and Gary's new kitchen is marvelous. They did most of the work themselves and it took six months. I think it was totally worth it (I'm sure they do too) because it adds so much to the house and really opened up the kitchen. They removed a wall and made the kitchen open up to the living room, which has a cathedral ceiling. Now Mariel won't be cut off from everyone when she's working in the kitchen. We ate outside and walked the brook that traverses their property after lunch. Everyone's doing well in the Thomsen family. Mariel and Gary were off to England in the following week to go to a friend's wedding. Then they're off again around Christmas for the sibling's wedding.
Instead of driving back to San Rafael with the Pangs as we had originally planned, I ended up going to Stockton with the Lawrences on Saturday on their drive back home from Stanford Camp. Aunt Leslie's mother died while I was in Tahoe. I was glad to be able to be there for the family gathering and remembrances of Peg. We went the cemetery and saw the resting places of Peg, Tutu and Granddaddy, and Spencer. I hadn't been back there since Tutu's funeral, nine years ago. In fact I don't think I've been back to Stockton in that time, amazingly. Time has flown.
Mom came to stay as well and Leslie, Mom, and I drove out to Inverness on Tuesday. We had a precious couple of days there to round off the trip. Mom and I went to Shipwreck the first day. The second day we went to Shell Beach with Carol and went swimming in the bay. We ottered and had a good time. The last night I got to see Cathy Barron with little Phil at the Lawrence's house in Inverness. It was just a glimpse but it was nice to have tea with them.
While at Inverness I had been talking with the Point Reyes jeweler about having a ring made. We went in and made all the arrangements to have a silver ring I have copied into white gold and my engagement diamond put in it. So all the plans are made; I just have to save up the money to do it. Then I will have just one ring to wear and it won't catch on things since it will be flat.
It was a marvelous trip.
Monday, August 4, 2008
California Trip
I'm back after a month away. California was lovely. William and I had our honeymoon for the first two weeks of the trip. Christie picked us up in her truck and we went for lunch at Christie and Andrew's. We met Maddie, the 10-month-old. She's incredibly cute. She has very straight dark brown hair, four teeth, and a huge smile. Then William and I took the truck and drove the very windy Lucas Valley Road to Inverness. We passed Skywalker Ranch, owned by George Lucas, although the road is not named for him. Carol Lawrence was saying maybe the name of the road clinched the deal when he was looking at property.
The first full day we went to Bear Valley Nature Center and hiked to Divide Meadow to have our lunch. It was a very sunny day and maybe we should have gone to the beach considering the changeable weather. We had a mixture of sunny and cool, foggy days. We went to Chicken Ranch, Shipwreck, Shell, and Limantour Beaches over our stay. The day we ended up at Limantour we had intended to hike to it on the Muddy Hollow Trail, a trail I found in a book and was not familiar with. It turned out to be massively overgrown and very prickly. We didn't make it all the way to the beach. We turned back and drove to the beach instead. Fewer stinging nettles. We did see two deer very close up. The beach was very sunny and nice that day. We weren't equipped for the beach, no swimming suits. Next to us was a French family, the boys and father in Speedos. It was very cute in comparison to all the American families in their baggy board shorts.
We went to Shipwreck twice on our trip. The first time the waves were absolutely huge. Some of the biggest I've ever seen there. It was cool that day. The second time the waves were the smallest and gentlest I've ever seen. It was even quieter than Drake's Beach. You almost could have gone swimming if it weren't for the suspicious undercurrent. Shell Beach was a lovely day. It was sunny again and we waded from Pebble Beach to Shell Beach. Again no bathing suits! (We were wearing clothes, however.) Many people were swimming that day. It seems the two days it was the nicest I wasn't wearing the darn suit.
While at the house I read many books. The Club Dumas, the Beverly Cleary books, Wind in the Willows, Emma, The Talented Mr. Ribpley, and Gone with the Wind. We watched some movies too. The Devil's Advocate, Meet the Robinsons, a couple of bad Jean-Claude van Damme movies that were at the house, tried to watch Prozac Nation but couldn't get through it, and the first half of the Pride and Prejudice miniseries, which was on TV. We went to the Busy Bee bakery one day and William was a little disappointed because the pastry wasn't as fresh as he expected. We did go in the afternoon, so they may have been sitting there all day.
Another day we hiked Pierce Point, also known as Tomales Point. William kept pronouncing it To-mal-eez Point, but it's actually Tom-AH-less. As I pointed out to him in a very wifely fashion. Just like in Austin, there are several words at the Point Reyes Peninsula not pronounced how they look. One controversial pronunciation is "Reyes." The old way of saying it is "Rays." The correct Spanish way is "Ray-us." It means "king." But I can't bring myself to say it the correct way. Too long have I been inculcated with the old pronunciation. It's like calling Shipwreck the newfangled "North" and "South" Beach. How boring is that?
The hike to Pierce Point starts at the old Pierce farm. It's now a site with signs explaining all the old buildings and barns. Someone still lives in the farmhouse but I don't know who. You start there and hike for about two hours out to the point. At the end you get to some huge cliffs which you traverse carefully. There was one overlook that gave me the heebie-jeebies. Too high for me. At the very point you can see the...er...point...and have a view of both Tomales Bay and the ocean. Then another two hours back. At the point the hike is through sand, even though you're very high up, and is especially difficult. We passed by many Tule Elk, who were napping and grazing. We had to be within 100 feet of them. There are Mountain Lions out there too but they were lying low. We ran out of water toward the end and that motivated us to hike a little faster.
The plan was to climb down to McClure's Beach at the end, one of the most spectacular beaches, but we were too worn out by then. No trip to the lighthouse this year, the windiest spot on the western coast.
One night for our Date Night we went to The Station House in Point Reyes Station. It was a nice meal outside amidst the garden but we were sitting very close to our neighbors and that made the conversation a little sparse. I had steak kabobs. William had one of their new dishes too but I forget what it was. Our last day, a Friday, we went to William's favorite restaurant, a fresh seafood place called Tony's which is only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. William had fresh salmon and I had halibut. We took some pictures of the fishing boats and enjoyed the view of the other side of the bay, different from the house's view.
There's more to tell, from my part of the trip after William went home, but it will have to wait until next time.
The first full day we went to Bear Valley Nature Center and hiked to Divide Meadow to have our lunch. It was a very sunny day and maybe we should have gone to the beach considering the changeable weather. We had a mixture of sunny and cool, foggy days. We went to Chicken Ranch, Shipwreck, Shell, and Limantour Beaches over our stay. The day we ended up at Limantour we had intended to hike to it on the Muddy Hollow Trail, a trail I found in a book and was not familiar with. It turned out to be massively overgrown and very prickly. We didn't make it all the way to the beach. We turned back and drove to the beach instead. Fewer stinging nettles. We did see two deer very close up. The beach was very sunny and nice that day. We weren't equipped for the beach, no swimming suits. Next to us was a French family, the boys and father in Speedos. It was very cute in comparison to all the American families in their baggy board shorts.
We went to Shipwreck twice on our trip. The first time the waves were absolutely huge. Some of the biggest I've ever seen there. It was cool that day. The second time the waves were the smallest and gentlest I've ever seen. It was even quieter than Drake's Beach. You almost could have gone swimming if it weren't for the suspicious undercurrent. Shell Beach was a lovely day. It was sunny again and we waded from Pebble Beach to Shell Beach. Again no bathing suits! (We were wearing clothes, however.) Many people were swimming that day. It seems the two days it was the nicest I wasn't wearing the darn suit.
While at the house I read many books. The Club Dumas, the Beverly Cleary books, Wind in the Willows, Emma, The Talented Mr. Ribpley, and Gone with the Wind. We watched some movies too. The Devil's Advocate, Meet the Robinsons, a couple of bad Jean-Claude van Damme movies that were at the house, tried to watch Prozac Nation but couldn't get through it, and the first half of the Pride and Prejudice miniseries, which was on TV. We went to the Busy Bee bakery one day and William was a little disappointed because the pastry wasn't as fresh as he expected. We did go in the afternoon, so they may have been sitting there all day.
Another day we hiked Pierce Point, also known as Tomales Point. William kept pronouncing it To-mal-eez Point, but it's actually Tom-AH-less. As I pointed out to him in a very wifely fashion. Just like in Austin, there are several words at the Point Reyes Peninsula not pronounced how they look. One controversial pronunciation is "Reyes." The old way of saying it is "Rays." The correct Spanish way is "Ray-us." It means "king." But I can't bring myself to say it the correct way. Too long have I been inculcated with the old pronunciation. It's like calling Shipwreck the newfangled "North" and "South" Beach. How boring is that?
The hike to Pierce Point starts at the old Pierce farm. It's now a site with signs explaining all the old buildings and barns. Someone still lives in the farmhouse but I don't know who. You start there and hike for about two hours out to the point. At the end you get to some huge cliffs which you traverse carefully. There was one overlook that gave me the heebie-jeebies. Too high for me. At the very point you can see the...er...point...and have a view of both Tomales Bay and the ocean. Then another two hours back. At the point the hike is through sand, even though you're very high up, and is especially difficult. We passed by many Tule Elk, who were napping and grazing. We had to be within 100 feet of them. There are Mountain Lions out there too but they were lying low. We ran out of water toward the end and that motivated us to hike a little faster.
The plan was to climb down to McClure's Beach at the end, one of the most spectacular beaches, but we were too worn out by then. No trip to the lighthouse this year, the windiest spot on the western coast.
One night for our Date Night we went to The Station House in Point Reyes Station. It was a nice meal outside amidst the garden but we were sitting very close to our neighbors and that made the conversation a little sparse. I had steak kabobs. William had one of their new dishes too but I forget what it was. Our last day, a Friday, we went to William's favorite restaurant, a fresh seafood place called Tony's which is only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. William had fresh salmon and I had halibut. We took some pictures of the fishing boats and enjoyed the view of the other side of the bay, different from the house's view.
There's more to tell, from my part of the trip after William went home, but it will have to wait until next time.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Getting Ready
I'm all packed. Somehow I thought Wednesday was Thursday and thought we were leaving the next day so I'm ready a day early. Nothing wrong with that. Tomorrow, fourth of July, we're going with Kim and Alan to the fireworks down at Auditorium Shores. I think that's where they are, anyway. Maybe I need to look it up on austin360.com. Yesterday I finished the latest revision of SEA CHANGE and passed it off to Mary Beth from writing group to read. They'll pass it among themselves so that all of them will have read it at some point. Then I'll get it back and start revising again. I went through and mapped out every day in the story so I knew what happened on each day and that all the dates made sense. It makes me feel much more secure having done that, knowing the timeline is all right. I had avoided doing it before because it seemed so painstaking. It was, but worth it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
