Part-time prevaricator
I went out to try to get some meteors during the 2018 Perseid shower, and I don’t think I captured a single one. (I saw two, but they were where my camera wasn’t pointed.)
But at least I got some nice star trails, on a dark and moonless night, despite the smoke in the air.
My goals for my writing retreat, 2018 edition, were pretty simple:
How’d I do?
At the start of the week, my novel sat at 65, 968 words. As I write this, I’ve just crossed the 80,000–word mark. So I managed 14,055 new words in this first draft. I’m happy with that—especially considering that I essentially took Friday off from writing.
Also, I got a pile of photos taken. I had hoped for some good shots of the Milky Way, but the moon was nearing full, so the skies were too bright for that. I did get a couple nice star-trail shots, though.
I also went to Winnipeg, for Chadwick’s book launch, and had a lovely chat in the evening with Mike & Michelle, a couple friends I haven’t seen in a long time.
As far as kayaking—well, the weather didn’t cooperate. It was consistently around 20°C here this week, which is a bit chilly to go out on the lake. It’s supposed to hit 27 or 28 Monday, but by then I’ll be back at the office. I did go for a few bike rides, which was nice, and as I write this on Sunday, I’m planning one more before I pack up and leave.
So, on the whole, I’m going to call Writing Retreat 2018 a success. It’s been a productive, fun, glorious time, and I’m going to miss it.
Same time next year.
The neighbours started showing up at their cabins on Friday. After having the run of the place, I had to reacclimatize myself to people. It wasn’t easy. (If I used emoji on this blog, there would be a winky face right here.)
The family to the north is having Hydro-related issues (the short version is they have no electricity, and probably won’t till at least Monday). Ed, who owns the cabin where I live, let them run a couple extension cords from his outside plug so they could have refrigeration. In return, they’ve turned on their wifi and gave me the password. So now I can post without having to go down to the coffee shop in town (not that that was any great hardship).
I gave myself Friday off from writing, but I still did a bunch of writing-related business: I read out on the deck, I checked in on the status of “Me and the Bee” with the markets that have had it since February (one rejection, damn it, and one hasn’t yet replied) and did some research on The Submission Grinder, looking for a possible home for it. I’m starting to think I might just have to publish it here and be done, but I’ll wait a while longer.
In the evening I headed out to do some star-trail photography, but got about ten minutes out and the clouds rolled in, so I returned to the cabin and went to bed instead.
Saturday I finally got out onto the deck to do some writing. It was pretty nice, though it’s a little annoying having to shut my laptop down completely to move it from one plug to another (the battery’s shot, so it’s just the way it is).
I did my 1,250 words, then took a drive to Shilo with Kathleen and a couple others, where we served as non-skating officials (or “flamingoes”, thanks to the pink shirts we were given to wear) at Scarlet Fever’s decisive victory over a Winnipeg roller-derby team whose name, sorry to say, eludes me at the moment.
It was about midnight when we left the after-party (first in last out, woo), and then I hemmed and hawed about whether I’d go back to the cabin or sleep at home. In the end, the cloudless night convinced me, and I managed to get the photo above (star trails over a pond and canola field, just north of Minnedosa). It was 3 AM by the time I got to bed.
And now here I am, out on the deck again, writing this post. Once it’s done, I’ll do my 1,250 words, and then I guess pack everything up and head home.
Thanks, Karen and Ed, for the use of the cabin. I really appreciate it.
Thanks, Minnedosa. It’s been great. Same time next year?
Tuesday and Wednesday were a lot like Monday, except I didn’t set my alarm for 2:30 AM either day.
I got up, wrote, read, wrote some more, then headed to Winnipeg, to see my friend Chadwick Ginther launch his new novel, Graveyard Mind, at McNally Robinson.
On my way, I happened upon a lovely field of sunflowers, so I stopped for a few photos. None of them turned out, because I neglected to turn on the autofocus on my lens. But that’s OK, because I went back today (Friday) to scout the spot for a possible round of star trails later tonight, and I got this photo:
And then, after visiting with some friends in Winnipeg (thanks for the iced tea, Mike & Michelle!), I stopped in at the abandoned house near Erickson, and got about a half-hour’s worth of star trails.
It was about 2:30 AM when I got back to the cabin (hmm, I seem to have an affinity for that time…), so I started the star-trail GIMP plugin whose eventual output you see above, then went to bed.
Monday morning I got my 1,250 words done quickly, then rewarded myself with a couple more episodes of Carnivàle. (Aside: I don’t know what’s up with the à in Carnivàle, any more than I know what’s up with my friend that insisted on pronouncing it Carnivalé.)
In the afternoon I headed into town on a couple missions: I wanted to get some supplies for the cabin (milk for my morning coffee, for instance, and peanut butter for my toast), and I wanted to upload Sunday’s photos, if possible. I took my laptop to the coffee shop for the second mission, and got permission to plug it in. (The battery no longer charges, and it’s time for a new laptop, or at least a new battery.) I sat down at a table near the outlet, pulled out my laptop, and discovered that I’d left the cord back at the cabin.
At least I managed to get milk and peanut butter.
Later in the day I went for a bike ride, and snapped photos of a bush full of red berries (I think they’re probably chokecherries, but I’m not sure enough that I’m going to taste them) and some of the bison in the bison enclosure (see up top).
In the evening, after supper, I did my 1,250 words, then went to bed fairly early. I had a plan, you see: I set my alarm for 2:30 AM, with the intent of getting to the abandoned house (see Sunday’s post) to get a longer set of star trails. I wanted to get there before moonset, so that the moon would partly light the house, and then stay till after the moon had gone down.
Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate. Clouds started rolling in to the north (to shoot the house, I’m shooting to the northeast), meaning that my star trail plan would be nixed. Also, I miscalculated how much moon I’d have; it had nearly set by the time I got halfway to the house.
Sighing, longing for bed, I turned around and started home. Something made me stop, though, about halfway back, at the top of a valley on the road between Minnedosa and Erickson.
The aurora were putting on a bit of a light show. I’d checked Space Weather earlier in the day, and found that there was a chance of a mild geomagnetic storm, so I kind of halfway expected it.
I stopped, and got some photos. I’m happy with what I got. At least I didn’t get up at 2:30 AM and drive 45 minutes round-trip for nothing.
This week is my writing retreat at Minnedosa. I’ve set myself a goal of 2,500 words a day, split between a morning and an evening writing sprint. I’m also taking advantage of the clear(ish) skies to do some astrophotography.
On Sunday, I arrived in the early afternoon. I went for a visit with my landlords (whose cabin I’m borrowing for the week), then settled in at the cabin. In the evening I did my 1,250 words, then hit the road. There’s an old, abandoned house that I got a geotagged photo of last year, and I wanted to see if I could find it. I thought it’d be a great location for some night photos: the Milky Way, perhaps, or some star trails.
(The moon is closing in on full right now, and it tends to wash out the fainter stars, so if I want Milky Way, I have to wait till after moonset. That’s… difficult, since it sets somewhere around 3 or 4 AM these days. (More on that in Monday’s post.))
I wanted to find the old house while it was still light, so I left the cabin around 9 PM and drove the half-hour north, up a highway that went from pavement to gravel about ⅓ of my way to my destination. (There was another route, possibly a little longer, but I knew it’d be paved the whole way. I decided I’d take it when I returned, after dark.)
I found the house, and then, since the sun was just barely setting, went for a tour. I drove down to Neepawa, stopping at the side of the road when I saw a particularly spectacular cloud lit by the sunset (above). From there I drove back to the cabin, where I watched a couple episodes of Carnivàle, waiting for full dark.
Just around midnight I set out again. I found the house in the dark, and snapped a few photos. I’m planning to head back for more another night.
And then I went back to my home for the week, and crawled into bed around 2 AM.
Last night, after midnight, I took a drive out to a dark country road. It was a moonless night: perfect for astrophotography.
Last weekend, Kathleen and I were in the city. We caught one of Julian’s* baseball games.
* Along with his team, the Bonvital Gold Sox.
I shot this photo from my deck, on a chilly night at the end of March 2018. Then I went inside and ordered Michael Swanwick’s chapbook/objet d’art Blue Moon, helping to ensure it would sell out instead of being burned.
I posted these to Facebook but not everyone’s on Facebook. (Hi, Mom!) So here are a few photos I got of my oldest nephew playing in the Collège Louis Riel band at the 2018 Brandon Jazz Festival.
