birds
Thankful Thursday: Peanuts
© Tracy Abell 2011
© Tracy Abell 2011
© Tracy Abell 2011
Bird on a Wire
It's a whole new week filled with possibility.
I've got blue sky and sunshine outside, and a manuscript to revise.
Time to get to it.
How about you?
© Tracy Abell 2009
Wishing everyone a fabulous week!
Wordless Wednesday: The Snowy Day Edition
© Tracy Abell 2011
Autumnal Glory
Two little finches sitting in a tree . . .
© Tracy Abell 2011
Friday Five: The Time-for-a-New-Plan Edition
1) Last weekend I read I the first draft of my latest middle-grade novel after letting it sit awhile.
2) All week I've jotted notes and zeroed in on characters' motivations and reconfigured the plot.
3) I followed editor Kendra Levin's Five-Step Revision Plan, and created a
"one paragraph summary" that inexplicably mushroomed into multiple paragraphs.
4) I swing between moods of exhilaration and freak-outs about my chances of pulling this one off.
5) And then today I realized that, despite the first draft being written in first-person,
the story needs to be told in third-person.
Here, Tracy, gaze upon the starling to calm your nerves:
© Tracy Abell 2009
I wish everyone a wonderful weekend filled with epiphanies and maybe a few feathered friends!
Blue Jay Day
I've been gone from LJ much too long
and that makes me feel
bad
bad
bad.
Here's a feathered gift for all my friends . . .
© Tracy Abell 2011
PSA: Use Paper!
As mentioned here and here, I've been using Scrivener to write a first draft
and while I love the program for many reasons,
I got caught up in my chapters being (easily accessible) separate files
and so never printed out anything.
As a result, I got a wee bit confused on plot issues
and came to a screeching halt when I felt overwhelmed by the whole process.
This past weekend I printed out all I'd written and read it again.
Wow.
Hard copies are awesome.
And helpful.
And absolutely vital to the writing process.
So, friends, don't scrimp on your paper usage just because it's better for the planet.
The planet does need our love and care, but so does our mental health. 
© Tracy Abell 2009
Bwak!
What she said!
Defining Friendship
AGNES by Tony Cochran
Sometimes we need to establish boundaries so that our friendships may continue.
That said, I’m confident my friends here in LJ-Land who are all exceedingly supportive (tolerant?)
of my bird mania would varnish my nose if I asked nicely.
Isn’t that right, friends?
Hellooooo? Anyone out there?
The Bird-Bar Connection
What does this remind you of?
© Tracy Abell 2011
Being in one of those bars where you drop the peanut shells on the floor, right?
All this finch needs is a bottle of beer and some twangy, heartbreak song on the jukebox.
Moist Monday
Yes, I used the "m" word despite the fact many, many people cannot stand that word.
I like it.
Moist.
It’s fun to say.
Try it.
Moist.
It rained all night and it’s still raining.
This Mourning Dove is on the backboard, preening in the rain.
© Tracy Abell 2011
You know, rain? The moist stuff that falls from the clouds?
I hope your day is filled with the weather of your choice,
and contains only words that bring you great joy.
Friday Five: The All-in-the-Family Edition
1) On Tuesday morning I crowed about my runner’s high and feeling so good
© Zippy 2011
2) but by that evening all euphoria was gone due to a Wildebeest implosion,
3) and we were forced to sort through the rubble.
4) The dust has settled and tomorrow we focus on Zebu’s 15th birthday.
5) Today, though, I will focus on this Western Tanager captured by Zippy:
© Zippy 2011
Wishing everyone a rubble-free weekend!
Runner’s High
This morning I ran the trails
and now I’m feeling so darn good.
I was serenaded by a Western Meadowlark,
scolded by magpies,
and raced by bunnies.
I was not attacked by any off-leash dogs,
did not stumble and fall,
and ran the entire way without stopping
(except for the 30 secs I always take at the turn-around point).
I realize there are few things more obnoxious than a runner on a high,
but I just had to document my feelings right here and now.
image from morguefile.com
I hope you all have an awesome day!
Singing My Own Song
A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song.
~ Chinese Proverb
image from morguefile.com
There are so many things we could learn from the birds.
If only we cared to listen.
Seeking Out the Unremarked
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.
© Tracy Abell 2011
Szent-Gyorgyi was a physiologist credited with discovering Vitamin C,
but this quotation gets to the heart of what it means to be a writer, too.
In fact, when reading it I immediately thought of something Marilynne Robinson told me (paraphrased):
Most experiences are unremarked. The tendency in writing is to focus on the already evaluated
and already delineated. Instead, as a writer, aspire to bring to the forefront the unobserved.
Every story has already been told; it’s the telling that makes each different.
Wordless Wednesday: The Ghost Edition
© Tracy Abell 2011
Splash of Color
I hope you love birds too. It is economical. It saves going to heaven.
~ Emily Dickinson
© Tracy Abell 2011
It’s a gray day but these male House Finches are ablaze in their wooing finery.
Maybe I’ll go put on something bright and chase those clouds away . . .
Then and Now
A couple weeks ago I was hiking in a tropical forest, scanning the ocean bay with my binoculars:
© Zippy 2011
Today I’m at the kitchen window, photographing a Mourning Dove hunkered down in the snow:
© Tracy Abell 2011
What a wonderfully diverse home we have on this big, blue spinning ball.
Sound Effects
Have you ever felt insecure about the way you depict a sound in your writing?
The other day I struggled to come up with onomatopoeic words for an action in my story,
and ended up using "plonk" and "kerplonk."
Not genius, by any means, but usable words.
Except now I’m questioning how I hear things.
I’ve always used "creaky" to describe the sound of a Mourning Dove taking flight,
but just did research that indicates most, if not all, people would describe that sound
as "whistling."
Say what?!
Deep Thoughts
© Tracy Abell 2011
Marriage should be a duet – when one sings, the other claps.
~ Joe Murray
Hope is the thing with feathers
© Tracy Abell 2011
Nature Nurtures
When I start to panic and worry, I look to Nature for my calm.
Saturday I ran on the trails with Zippy while a Red-tailed Hawk soared above.
Today, I return to last week’s Starling visit for solace.
As long as there are birds in my life, I can find the courage to carry on.
As long as there are birds in my life, I can find the courage to carry on.
© Tracy Abell 2011
And because I’ve been reading THE ANNOTATED CHARLOTTE’S WEB:
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.
~ E. B. White
Signs of Spring
Yesterday was cold with a dusting of snow,
and this American Robin had to puff out its feathers to stay warm.
Today is sunny and the temperature will be in the high 50s.
Such are the joys of Colorado.
Sending and other cold-weather friends
a blast of warm air and sunshiny thoughts . . .
Protected: Friday Five: The Synchronicity Edition
Friday Five: The Mourning Dove Edition
Five Mourning Doves!
Count ’em!
Five!
Is this Friday Five stuff easy, or what?
© Tracy Abell 2011
Here’s hoping this weekend doesn’t require puffing out your feathers to stay warm.
Have a good one, all!
Tracy Abell 