I met with my mentor yesterday.
The good news is, she loved what I did with the opening scene.
Bad news, I continued to make some of the same mistakes
she’d pointed out after the first read.
I’m going to share her insights with you next week.
For now, I just want to say I’m looking forward
to when all that sad, dead-looking foliage
outside my window comes back to life.
In the meanwhile, here’s a clematis from my patio last summer:
Wishing everyone a lovely weekend.
Five days ago I posted this photo of our brand-new yet lonely birdbath:
This morning, Carolyn asked via Facebook if we’d had any visitors yet.
I didn’t have time to respond in the negative since I had an appointment,
but when I got home I went to the window and checked out the situation.
The bird bath was empty.
Or was it?
Feathers!
I got my camera and was photographing the feathers
as proof of avian visitation,
when suddenly . . .
a bird appeared in the bath!
And here she is:
Our back yard is now officially a happenin’ place in the bird world!
Thanks for asking, Carolyn. I think you’re magic!
Brand new bird bath.
Me, at window, with camera at the ready.
Alas,
so far, only this:
I used to smoke.
I know, I know.
Dumb.
And even though it’s been a looong time
since I stuck one of those in my mouth,
I’ve realized I haven’t completely lost my oral fixation.
The whole time I’ve been working on revisions,
I’ve had my trusty pack of gum next to me: 
And every time I reach for a new piece
(full disclosure, I chew a half-stick at a time),
I have an overwhelming sense of deja vu.
See, I used to buy cigarettes in the hard pack.
Back in the day, my desktop would’ve contained this:
But now, I’ve got this:
Old habits die hard, I guess.
Last February I proclaimed to the world (um, my little Live Journal circle of friends)
that I wanted to focus on flexibility in 2009.
I hoped to touch my head to my knees by the end of the year.
I’m not quite there.
But as you can see by these photos, I’m definitely making progress:
February 2009 January 2010
Most every morning I start my day with my litte Kundalini Yoga workout dvd.
I love it and not only because it’s helped me become more flexible.
I love it because during the hardest-for-me pose, the "narrator" says PREVAIL!
Earlier this week I shared our bird seed experiment.
Well, today it’s official:
our neighborhood birds did NOT like the hot meats bird seed.
With the possible exception of this Black-capped Chickadee:
(photo by Zippy)
This morning Zippy cleaned out the feeders
(the hot meats are in a pie tin on the patio table
in case that chickadee comes back for more),
and filled the feeders with "boring" old safflower seeds.
The House Finches are very, very happy.
And we’re thrilled to have them back.
Not sure if the perched bird is cheering on the flier
or shrieking "Mayday! Mayday!"
I know…
more anthropomorphism.
But convinced me it was okay.
Northern Flicker
camped out in the feeder
filled with seeds he can’t eat.
Is he confused?
Wasting time?
Or is it maybe that he needs
to take a load off?
Catch his breath
and look around.
Maybe that bird appreciates what’s there
rather than bemoaning what’s not.
Then again,
maybe this is just another
ugly case of anthropomorphism.
Cleaning off desk.
Again.
This time I’m determined
to act on every single piece of paper.
The neighborhood Red-tailed Hawk is here to make sure I follow through.
Two little Starlings
in an atypical moment of rest.
Two busy Starlings
flapping near suet feeder
while one little Starling
and one regal Flicker
observe.
Three little Starlings:
one calm,
one in motion,
and one calling dibs on feeder.
(Photos one and two by Zippy)
I’m bird-rich right now:
Robins
Starlings
Flickers
Finches
Sparrows
But only the Finches and Sparrows are cooperating with the camera and lighting…
Even though it’s snowy and cold right now
these little guys make me feel warm inside.
wrote about her run today
and inspired me to get off my butt
so I could also enjoy the relatively balmy December temps.
She included a fun post-run pic so I’m doing the same.
And if any of you are experiencing the almost-winter blahs,
I highly recommend a brisk run around the neighborhood.
You, too, could experience this kind of high! 
(And WTF with LJ formatting?!)
I’m plotting today.
What are you doing?
Yesterday I had big plans for my revision work
and except for using 12-pt font and choosing the counter over the hair-covered floor,
I stuck to my plan.
Here is my original ending in all its glory.
And here, after hours of agonizing and brain-sweating,
is the cut and paste version of my revised ending.
I don’t think I could’ve slogged through all that without
a huge visual aid.
Word processors are grand
but nothing beats paper and scissors.
Not even rock
(sorry, couldn’t resist).
I’m reworking my ending.
I’ve realized it reads like GROUNDHOG DAY.
Similar things happen over and over.
Diluting the action.
But I’ve got so many characters and so many plot lines
I’m not sure how to figure it all out.
It’s a bit intimidating.
I’d like a hovercraft that allows me a bird’s eye view
of everything that happens in those twenty pages.
But I don’t have such a thing so I’m going to settle for
printing out those pages
in larger font
and spreading them out on my floor.
Note to self: vacuum up dog/cat hair, first.
I just got home and found an email in my inbox from Muffin & John.
I thought to myself, "Do I know a Muffin & John?"
I opened the email and found this photo.
I’ve never seen this kid in my life.
And I’ve decided I don’t know Muffin & John.
You might be thinking to yourself
"What’s the big deal? Stray email, is all."
Oh, yeah?
Stray email doesn’t explain last week’s text message to my phone
with an attached photo of a baby and the caption: My new nephew.
Is it time for me to start freaking out?
I’m working hard on revisions.
Rewriting the ending.
I know some of you are working hard today, also.
My writer buddies.
We’re all in this together.
I just went into my backyard with a camera hoping to capture a colorful birthday shot
for Melodye ( ) and Laura ( ).
There’s not much color out there.
Then I found this pincushion flower (scabiosa)
that a couple weeks ago was buried beneath about three feet of snow.
I realized this little flower-that-could perfectly symbolized two of the strongest and most vibrant women I know.
Melodye and Laura, here are my wishes for a happy day
and a coming year full of love and laughter. . . . .
Not sure if
and noticed
but today while they were busy revising,
I snuck away.
Not because I wanted to avoid my revisions
but because I was in a tangled situation
and had gone as far as I could go.
I needed word from afar.
So I went outside and tackled my garden-run-amok.
Tore out some stuff that needed to go.
Two and one-half hours later when I went inside,
there was a shift.
I’d received word.
And now my tangle is one step closer to resolution.
All hail the Implements of Destruction!
Both literary and garden-ary.
But tomorrow I’ll be back for more.
Last night was the Zombie Crawl along the 16th Street Mall in Denver.
Wildebeest has a love/hate thing for zombies.
When I read about this event, I was positive he’d want to go
and I was excited spectators were invited to wear duct-tape Xs on their
chests to signal a willingness to be attacked.
I thought Wildebeest would want an X so he could practice skills learned
from The Zombie Survival Guide.
But when I told him, his response was more along the lines of
"Are you out of your freakin’ mind?!"
The teen knew better than his mom, that’s for sure.
BucketHead zombie didn’t scare me but was convincing in a droll kind of way.
This group was very convincing with its stiff gait and vacant eyes.
These two showed us a sheep’s head. No biggie. As long as I didn’t look too closely.
This bride was with a zombie groom and no-nonsense in her pursuit of brains.
Here’s a mob preying on an Xed victim who screamed and screamed.
Truly scary. My heart raced every time they converged on another victim.
Wildebeest watching from a safe distance.
Wildebeest’s favorite action shot: spewing blood. (Note: all photos by Wildebeest)
Wildebeest and I considered this year a recon mission, and have decided
we’d like to participate next year.
We want a group, though.
The people in groups seemed to stay in character better than the singles
and couples who sometimes strolled along in their bloody and torn clothing
as if they were out on lunch hour.
I have a whole year to work on my walk.
Outside it’s cold, gray, and wet.
I’m not ready for gloomy weather.
I’d much rather be following my writing buddies,
Laurie and Lorraine,
across the sands of Oceanside Beach.
Beneath the wide-open Oregon sky,
wearing blue raincoats, all.
I took these photos in September but today’s cold misty gray
feels like perfect weather for attracting another swarm of grackles and starlings.
Here birdie, birdie.
Here birdie…
Hey, aren’t you supposed to be working right now?
Writing? Revising? Plotting?
That’s what I thought.
So get to it.
![[info]](https://i0.wp.com/l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Tracy Abell 