It's been a week since I posted here. A busy one, too. I've hardly had a minute to stop to think let alone actually put some words down. First it was going to the Coast to batten things down for the bad weather we were expecting. While we were there we had breakfast with my aunt and uncle and visited for two hours aboard their sailboat. They were about to move the boat to a different harbor to watch a lighted yacht parade. The weather turned against them, though, and they never made it there. We had originally planned to go along, and we're glad we didn't. They got as far as the ship canal and decided the wisest thing would be to turn back. So I think they missed the parade as well, but at least everybody stayed safe.
We had snow flurries on Friday. Highly unusual for early December in this part of the world. Along with all the other unusual climate events that have been happening over the last decade, I think the case for climate change is pretty well clinched. We stayed in and put up the Christmas tree. I made some 9-bean soup with the Thanksgiving ham we had leftover from my SO's family gathering last Saturday. It was good but it made gallons. We froze some, and took some to Daddy. We're going to have to have a smorgasborg of leftovers from the freezer soon. We've been labeling things, but I was looking this morning at all the little containers in there: stuffed cabbage, shrimp carbonara, etoufee, cowboy stew, Bahamian rum cake slices, orange spice cake slices, corn pudding. It will be a mini-feast when we finally do dive into all this food.
In fact, I'm getting kind of tired of all the eating we've been doing. Both of us need to lose weight, me more than him, and we've both been saying we planned to lose at least ten pounds before Denver the second week in January. Obviously, that's not going to happen. I need to pull out the treadmill but don't seem to ever find the extra time it would take to get on the thing and spend a half hour. I guess I'm not dedicated to it at the present moment. I look enviously at all the clothes in my closet I cannot wear but for some reason that just hasn't been enough of an incentive. I guess I'm just destined to struggle with this from now on.
The cold weather took its toll on the flora outside. After a record low of 26 for the day, we ventured out to survey the damage. The esparanza at the end of the patio looks as if it might be dead. The foilage and flowers are dark green mush now. I'll keep an eye for bark damage, but think I might have to chop this one off at the ground. The pecan tree lost all its leaves overnight and they blanketed the part of the driveway where they fell. Out on the long part of the drive, two durantas I planted in the spring look to have fared about as well as the esparanza, and most disturbing, the three little crepe myrtles we have babied along since we moved in, through last winter and this summer's serious drought, also look like they're swabbed in green mush. I had the foresight to bring in the gorgeous bougainvillea basket and it actually seems to be thriving in the sunroom, but I'm sick over these losses. First it was the drought, then the roofers, and now this freak snowstorm.
However, when you're dealing with three acres, there's just no way to save everything. On a positive note, the rye grass the SO planted is lush and green and seemed to repel the killing frost that lay on all the rest of the ground yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, three more volunteers have read the children's book. It's always odd to see the different perspectives one reader will have from another. I have a tendency to doubt myself, and am often too ready to make changes against my better judgment. I did that and the very next reader complained about some of the new changes. So I'm back to the original and just a little confused. The third readers were parents of two preschool children. I probably got the best feedback from them. But I'm going to let the thing set for a while yet. The book is however, 99.9% finished, and at this point, any changes I make will be minor. I plan to get the manuscript into a submissions format, and send it off the first week in January. It's time for the thing to fly or fail.
Onward ....
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