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Sunday Confessional: thirsty edition

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

I’m working away on my manuscript, making progress and feeling a distinct sense of accomplishment. However, I’m also looking forward to when I punch out for the day and can enjoy this parting gift from my brother-in-law:

Two of my favorite things — hooping and hoppy beer. Thank you again, Bob, for the Palisade Brewing Company’s Hula Hoppie Session IPA. This beer is already making me smile.

Safe travels on your drive back east!

 

 

 

Snowy day

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

I’ve seen a fair amount of snow in my life. I grew up in Wisconsin, lived in Alaska for six years, and now live in Colorado. Snow is a known quantity. That said, I can’t remember another time I looked out the window and saw individual flakes.

This snowfall is magical.

 

Emma-versary

/ Tracy Abell

Exactly one year and one day ago Emma came to stay. Not a whole lot has changed since then, except that we still haven’t mastered not-blurry photos of her AND elder-dog Zoey now has one more “damn millennial” to shake her head at AND cat-brothers Loki and Marcel have mostly put aside their differences to join forces against the high-energy pupster AND strangers now stop Zippy and me on the street to inform us that Emma is so very cute.

As if we hadn’t noticed.

 

Sunday Confessional

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

Today is one of those days I’d prefer to interact with plants and animals rather than contemplate the mind-boggling awfulness of some human beings. I can’t think of one instance in which a clematis bloom caused me a moment’s pain or anxiety.

Until they flower again, I’m basking in the memory of their quiet beauty.

The eyes have it

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

This morning, these frames were merely cracked and tape held them together. This afternoon, the bow broke off completely. Lucky for me, I recently got a pair of “computer glasses” which allow me to comfortably see the screen, plus focus on things up to about five feet away. So, until my new glasses arrive next week, I’m confined to a world that consists of my computer screen and anything within a five foot radius, or the far-away distance provided by my prescription sunglasses.

Eye strain is my new middle name.

 

What do you see?

/ Tracy Abell / 5 Comments

It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.
~ Henry David Thoreau

Today I choose to see an insect that inspires awe and a little bit of fear every time I look into its bulgy eyes as it slowly and hypnotically waves its front legs.

Is there anything trippier than a praying mantis?

My aim is true

/ Tracy Abell

Today as I work on my novel, I am thinking ahead, hoping ahead, to the day when a reader reaches for my story. Last May, I photographed this man perusing a “Book Exchange” in Stockholm and am posting it as a motivator. I aim to create the most compelling, reader-enticing story I can write, dammit.

Snowpocalypse Now

/ Tracy Abell / 1 Comment

We’re finally getting much-needed snow! The recent warm temperatures and freakishly dry landscape felt slightly apocalyptic, so it’s a huge relief to receive moisture. Plus, the white provides a nice, clean blanket over all that drab brown.

However, it’s possible that not everyone shares my enthusiasm for the snowstorm.

Sticky feelings

/ Tracy Abell / 2 Comments

I took this photo in October 2015 and never looked at it closely (I recommend clicking on the image for full efffect). After deciding to highlight it here today, I went in search of a fitting quotation.

The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place:
from the sky,
from the earth,
from a scrap of paper,
from a passing shape,
from a spider’s web.
~ Pablo Picasso

That quote feels particularly apt because today has been emotion-filled. SO.MANY.FEELINGS. coming at me from every direction. It was like being surrounded by a sticky web trapping every single one of them.

It’s cool, though. I’d much rather feel it all than be numb to it all.