I had a dream the other night that I was writing a story about a tower, a wooden tower like you find in national parks at scenic outlooks, but every step on it was a day. If you came down the stairs too quickly you’d find yourself back in time.
When I woke up I held onto it, tweaked it, made it more logical. I’ve started on a first draft, because a gift in a dream is still a gift.
The tower had three hundred and sixty-five steps, but one of them—it was never clear to me which one—was about 25% higher than the rest. My best friend Riley, who went missing for a week and a half in the summertime and then showed up claiming he’d tripped on the way back down from the top, told me over pie and black coffee in the Chicken Chef that I should always watch my step.
Then I noodled around town for a bit, and out into the countryside, where I took photos of a tree…
ah, Lensbaby
…and some hydro lines.
power to the people
Then back into town, where I saw—
Look, I know some of you can’t wait for Pumpkin Spice Cable-Knit Sweater time, but I’m not ready to let go of summer yet. So this little cluster of yellow leaves felt particularly cruel, at least to me.
I’m not ready
Ah well. So it goes, as Kurt Vonnegut[2]Full circle. would say.
Yesterday’s big thing was a 20-km bike ride. I took my camera along and snapped a couple photos; the bison up above and the signposts below, which reminded me of the Watson Lake signposts we saw on our trip, decades ago, to Yukon.
Interesting selection of locations
I also finished reading “The Metamorphosis”, and it was, well, Kafkaesque[1]As you’d expect..
Today’s plan: writing some sections of one of my stories; reading some Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut (I’m about 5 chapters in and he’s got some interesting things to say about art; I also wonder if Michael Swanwick lifted a few names[2]Like “Mintouchian” and “Gregorian”. from the book for characters in his novel Stations of the Tide), and probably another bike ride, since the weather seems similar to yesterday. I need to inflate my bike’s rear tire, though, before I go.
And if it’s clear tonight, as the forecast suggests it should be, I think I’ll gather up my cameras and tripods and go find a big, open sky with a Milky Way or other nighttime delights.
a hope that the forecast is incorrect and at least one night will be cloud-free
And now I’m about to start cooking supper, finishing off the quite bitter[1]At least it’s got cool can art, by GMB Chomichuk.A Necessary Evil (which is definitely an IPA), and planning out tonight’s writing. (Ghosts? You bet. Starships? Absolutely.)
This morning, on the radio, the very first news story I heard was about how the provincial English exam got postponed[1]Or canceled, who knows. because they had, to use Manitoba Education’s words, “an issue regarding necessary permissions to use materials.” And I laughed.
Well. I didn’t really keep up with posting about my retreat, did I now.
I was at the cabin for a week, Friday to Friday, with a couple days off in Winnipeg for my mom’s birthday. The weather was generally pretty grey, though it warmed up on Thursday enough for me to take my one and only kayak ride. (It was lovely, but windy, so the lake was a bit choppy.)
Thursday night, finally, the sky was mostly clear. There was a thunderstorm far, far off to the north; I could see the flashes, but I couldn’t hear the thunder at all.
I also snapped photos of Jupiter and all four Galilean moons, and Saturn (I think I even caught a bit of the ring).
I moved in to the cabin Friday evening—laptop, sleeping bag, cameras, bike, and food—and got settled in. I read for a bit[1]Current read: Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, which is pretty trippy so far. and checked the forecast. The evenings this week look pretty cloudy, so I’m not sure how much astrophotography I’ll get to do. Last night was clear, though, so I decided to head on out about 10pm.
I got set up at the Wasagaming dock just before 11 and snapped about 30 minutes’ of star trails. I discovered later that the camera wasn’t quite as level as I’d hoped, so I ended up cropping out the thin line of the lake, but the tree on the left made a nice foreground. (See the photo above.)
After that I headed to Spruces, and set up one camera for another round of star trails…
…while the other one was designated for Milky Way photos.
It was a good start to the week, I think.
Goals
What I’d like to do with my week:
write (aiming for 10,000 words, let’s say, in two projects: Praise the Torch When ‘Tis Burned[2]aka “Derelict starship + ghosts” and The Slow Apocalypse[3]aka “Wizard v. Warhead”.
photography
read a bunch
bike rides (aiming for 5–10km a day, weather permitting)
kayaking (at least twice, again, weather permitting)
I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year, sort of. Instead of pushing hard for 50,000 words in a brand-new project, I’m going to use the month to try and finish the first draft of Dried Flowers. My aim is at least 300 words each and every day. So far today I’m at 307 words, and I think I’m going to do a bit more after I finish this post.
I’ll try to make sure to post update here every so often (let’s say weekly, so I’m not boring you).
