Ice Storm 1

I starting to sort through the many pictures I took of the ice storm. Here's a few. More will follow. 

 

crabapple

rose

 

maple (I think)

Warm and Wonderful

Due to an ice storm, we lost power for three days. The electricity came back last night, and the house is now up to normal temperatures. I took pictures of the ice but haven't looked at them yet because I was conserving my laptop battery. For the same reason, I haven't yet responded to comments on blog posts.

I gained a lot of experience in pioneer living. Maybe my next project will be historical fiction.

I wish you a warm and wonderful holiday.

Overheard #269

"Put down the semicolon, and nobody gets hurt."

Postcard from Santa

First of all, thank you, Gina and Juliet, for featuring one of my pictures on City Muse Country Muse.

Yesterday’s mail included a postcard that read “That thing you are writing is awesome!” The return address was SANTA, handwritten in block letters. For a second, I thought one of my writing friends had sent some much-needed encouragement. Then I realized the postcard was an advertisement from a tutoring service in Ann Arbor. 

The experience made me realize two things. 

1. Everybody needs a boost. People (myself included) don’t acknowledge friends’ talents and accomplishments often enough.
2. Faint praise and vague criticism are not helpful. People (myself included) should be as specific as possible in both praise and writing critiques.  

"Baby, It's Cold Outside"

hoarfrost 

(I might need a different lens to get a better picture.)

Canada geese

(I definitely need a different lens to get a better picture.)

Sunday

maple leaf under ice

The ice formation on the left looks like a hummingbird to me.

Confession: I adjusted the contrast on this one.

I wore what I call grocery-store-gloves, the little knit one-size-fits-all gloves, under my mittens, then removed the mittens to use the camera. I was able to adjust the settings on my camera while wearing the thin gloves, and my fingers were only a little chilled. Some of my artist friends wear silk glove liners when sketching in the cold. I may try those as well.

Overheard #268

"We'd rather get used to something we like."

I'm on Wordless Wednesday Again

Click on over to City Muse Country Muse. Juliet and Gina featured one of my pictures yesterday for their Wordless Wednesday feature.

Overheard #268

"You know as well as I do that I don't know what I want."

Writing Days

Today I’m off to the café of a local independent bookstore to have a writing day with at least one member of my critique group. These writing days are invariably productive. Sitting across from hard-working people tends to keep my brain on task. Also, going to a different writing location not only removes household distractions but somehow inspires new ideas. 

I’m currently working on a hard-copy revision. I print my novel then correct it with a red pen. Some problems are more obvious on the printed page than on the screen. I hope to get through the last third of the manuscript today.

The Red Cedar River

We hiked every day over the Thanksgiving weekend and watched the river freeze and thaw.