I went about 22km on my bike today with my camera.
Scenes from today’s ride
I went about 22km on my bike today with my camera.
bike ride
Storm damage, sunflowers
…and a bunny.
I went for a bike ride on Friday and another one today, Saturday.
Friday I snapped a photo of a rabbit on BU campus.
Today, I went on a longer ride, and got photos of some of the branches downed in the storm earlier this week.
Branch down on the dike path 
One of the trees down at the ball diamond 
A tree down on the backstop 
Diamond 1 probably needs some work 
The pine trees along 18th Street North
As I snapped photos, a tractor came along and started to drag the top of the pine tree off of 18th Street North. I tried to get a picture but it turned out too dark.
I found a colourful combo just off Kirkcaldy, too, that reminded me that blue + yellow = green.
And then, in the south end of town, I decided to get a couple shots of the sunflowers (and the dill) growing in the community gardens.
Sunflowers 
Dill 
Sunflowers 
One solo sunflower
And then, I went home, content after a 26-km, 2‑hour bike ride.
Writing Retreat 2020: The Numbers
My goals for this past week’s writing retreat were:
- Finish the last scene in “The Slow Apocalypse”, first draft
- 1,500−2,000 words a day in either Translations or “Dried Flowers”
- Photos of the Milky Way (possibly a video) and Comet NEOWISE
- Photos of the countryside
- Daily bike ride
- Some kayaking
Let’s see how I did.
- I finished “The Slow Apocalypse” on my first evening
- I wrote 13,000 words between Translations, aka Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, and “Dried Flowers”
- I got all kinds of photos of the Milky Way and the comet—even on the nights where clouds were forecast, there was usually at least some time where the stars were visible
- I also took all kinds of photos in the daytime
- I rode my bike every day, for a total of over 60 km (which surprised me)
- And I went out in the kayak three times, covering about 10 km in the lake
So, on balance, that was a good week.
Continue reading “Writing Retreat 2020: The Numbers”Writing Retreat 2020, Day 7
Friday:
- I lay awake from about 4 am till about 5:30 am thanks to a couple of thunderstorms passing through.
- In the morning, I biked about 6 km before it got overly hot.
- While I was out on my bike, I took photos for a couple of panoramas (one of which turned out as I’d hoped).
- I wrote 500 words in Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, did some preliminary editing of “The Slow Apocalypse” (though it might still be too early for me to work on this), and wrote 300 word in “Dried Flowers”.
- I read a few more chapters in The Wizard—as I approach the end, I’m torn between savouring it and finding out what happens next.
- I tried to come up with a coherent ending for Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, because while I know the final scene, I don’t have the story’s ending fully fleshed out yet. It’s a bit frustrating, frankly; I’m the kind of writer that needs a solid ending before I start a project. I thought I had it, but the characters are going their own ways.
- I noticed the sky had got quite colourful about 9:15 pm, and stepped outside in time to snap a photo of a lovely sunset. I only got bitten by 22 mosquitoes in the 5 minutes I was outside, too, so that’s a victory.
- About 11:45 I went and got some photos of Comet NEOWISE and the northern lights. (And another couple dozen bug bites.)
- And I managed to catch the International Space Station as it went overhead, even though it tried to hide behind a cloud.
All in all, a good Friday, even if it was a bit too hot to even think straight. (No sweeter sin than air conditioning, I tell you.)
These things happen
And then I got home, and made some notes, and it turns out that the “brilliant story suggestions” introduce some more conflict, at the cost of moving a few scenes around.
No spoilers for the short story, but it a) makes my antagonist a more interesting character, b) makes my protagonist have to make a very difficult decision, and c) allows me to illuminate how the protagonist plays games with the truth.
And now, to actually finish this draft.
Rideau Park
The Brandon one.
14 images in a panorama, each 24mm f/2.8.
The river is high
But I guess 155mm of rain in a single day—honestly, in about 6 hours—and then another, what, 30mm in about half an hour a couple days later will do that.
Taken on a 20km bike ride on Canada Day.
I’m glad that’s not my truck 
A bug sunning itself on the bridge 
The storm knocked down some trees
[twenty20 img1=“4036” img2=“4037”]
The white lines in the image above show roughly where the water should be.
More Brenizers
Before it got too hot today (34°C again, with a humidex of 38), I hopped on my bike. I took it easy—it was already about 25°C at 9:30 in the morning—and I took some photos of BU.
I also took a few more Brenizer-style panoramas, as practice. One didn’t turn out, but three seemed all right. (There’s some weirdness to the pole behind the deer statue, but I’m posting it anyways.)
As always: if you want prints of any of the photos, here or elsewhere on my site, let me know.
Back lane flowers
I spotted some lovely flowers in a back lane on today’s bike ride. Since I had my camera, I stopped and snapped some photos. Enjoy!
Lilies 
A poppy, perhaps 
Daisies 
So many daisies 
Some lovely flowers
A pop of colour
Another weekend, another 27 km on the bike, another smattering of photos.
Bend of the river 
Hammer Time
Got a preference on this one? Near, or far?
[twenty20 img1=“3977” img2=“3978” before=“Near” after=“Far”]