Hanging On

 My little Pacific Sunset maple tree is hanging onto its leaves even through the big winds we've had the last couple nights. I opened the patio drapes this morning to find my neighbor's big red patio umbrella tangled up with my birdseed crooks. It was a challenge to untangle them and I didn't get a picture, darn it.

But I did manage to get a picture of tonight's sunset--at 4:30PM. *sigh* That's so early! But I looked out to see the little string of clouds I could see out the patio door had turned soft pink so I took a chance that there was something to see out the front and I was right.

Dad's rose is hanging on too. You can see that the petals are a little frost-kissed on the edges but the flower is still up there looking beautiful and there's a bud right next to it. I hear that the temps this week are supposed to be around 60 but then crash into the 40s on Friday. I don't think that the bud will get the chance to blossom.

The cat is back. I was washing a sink full of dishes this afternoon and there it came, tippy-toeing across the retaining wall. Of course, there wasn't any sunshine for it to bask in or any plants for it to shelter in so it just moseyed across. I watched it pause at the end and stare into the clump of weeds that surround the neighbor's phone box. There must have been something rustling around in there. I figure that the cat is the reason I don't see chipmunks in the backyard anymore.

The next page in Sketching was all about teeth. I drew a page of teeth with faces, one Tooth Fairy, and one Tooth Pirate but they aren't very interesting. What I think is more interesting is the Seuss-ian creature I drew next. It's kind of bird-like but it has people feet.

Writing went pretty well today. It kind of took a detour from where I thought it would go but since this is a first draft I just went with it and kept typing. Another 1858 words in the bag. I'm still listening to Save the Cat! Writes a Novel but I'm not letting it govern where my novel is going. It isn't hard since I have no earthly clue where it's going myself and I'm the one writing it. Every day is a surprise.

Today was the monthly St. Agnes Class of '65 lunch. Nine of us showed up and we met at Applebee's. I ordered a turkey club sandwich and it was enormous, so enormous that I skipped supper because I was still full from lunch. Next time I'll order from the appetizers menu.

Tomorrow my cleaning lady is coming back and I can't wait! I really am not a very enthusiastic house cleaner, I just do the minimum to keep the Health Department off the porch, so having someone come once a month to dust and vacuum is a godsend.

Don't forget to VOTE!

--Barbara