Gray Wolf

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  • Window Sill Gardens

    Well – it’s day 8 and I am again writing. I think that’s a good record for me. It hasn’t been all eight days, but it’s been more than 2!! And that’s better than the none record that I have had of late….

    I did have my usual post-heat-wave-reactions over the past two days and I didn’t feel like writing very much or even thinking very much except for about an hour this morning, so I fiddled around online looking for a topic in which I have some interest and which the world at large said is one where people actually buy books.

    I settled on growing herbs and veggies on your window sill.

    Of course I now have to sit down and write about it. I’ve given it some thought because it’s something I keep thinking I’m going to do but in actuality I really have only done once or twice in my very long life. I grow stuff outdoors, and I rarely bring it in in the winter – so this year I’m not only going to write the book, I’m growing veggies now and will bring some in for the winter or even start some new from seeds in a few months and have them grow all winter.

    And that does assume that the cats won’t knock them over which is usually one of the reasons why I don’t try growing too many things indoors – my cats knock my plants over. I’ve never had a cat that did not do this! I do have some special plants that I have been tending to for decades and I’ve managed to keep cats away from those, but those are very large plants.

    Herbs and vegetables in smaller pots seem to be much more interesting to cats.

    One plant I’ve never tried to do indoors [and I will try this year] is a tomato plant. I have several growing in my garden, but I know a few people up in the New York area, who actually grow tomatoes in their apartments, and I thought OK, I can do that this year and I’ll write about how to do it – and then come back and let every one know how it went!!

    I now have ideas for the next challenge which hasn’t even been announced yet.

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  • July Thunks

    brain and neurons

    What a month – and it’s only the 7th day of it.

    I said in one of my earlier posts that I had planned on doing a lot of writing this month in lead up to redoing older books with new additions, breaking some of them down into a series, and writing up ideas that I’ve had in my head for years, but have never done anything much with except to make lots of notes!

    Those were great plans.

    Then the heat wave came and stayed. I don’t do well when it’s over 85 and it was near 100 for most of the week. I was inside in air conditioning which gave me some time to think but one day when I had my dog out I managed to touch something that somehow my body didn’t like. I have no idea what it was I touched, but I didn’t have gardening gloves on because it was too hot. I developed a contact rash, hives, etc. so I took a Benadryl, which I hate doing, but it made the itch go away – and also left me feeling foggy.

    I got over that only to be facing more days near 100 and when I was out with my dog again, something bit me. I have no idea what it was at 7 o’clock in the morning but something I couldn’t see bit me. I came in, sat down, and I saw hives or swellings, traveling along veins on my arms and legs. and itching like crazy. So what did I do? I took another Benadryl. The itching and swelling stopped, but my brain went foggy again.

    One would think this might give me time to sit around and think but all I could think of that was how much I hate taking Benadryl and how much I hate how hot it is. That’s not conducive to getting book writing done.

    I did play around with some ideas because my accountability buddy was around and we plugged away at this, even though I was foggy, and I discovered something that I’ve probably known before, but didn’t verbalize.

    Often when I pick a topic to write on, it’s because I’m interested in it and very few people buy those books – and in my foggy brained state, I finally said I am going to do it the way everybody suggests which is find a topic that I’m interested in but is a topic or take where people actually buy the books!!

    So – I’ve been doing some research on topics that people actually spend money on. But I’ve also decided I have to semi-like the topic – it has to bring me some amount of joy. The joy can be the challenge of writing on something that doesn’t interest me all that much, but I have to work that one out myself.

    I realized I had done that before, but I was getting paid for it. One of the things I recounted to my friend was when I worked for a major consulting firm in the Boston area where we bid on government contracts, we very often were writing proposals on topics that none of us knew very much about. This was before the Internet so you had to do some quick research and write quickly – we won a lot of those contracts so I know I can write and write quickly on topics where I’m kind of semi interested…..

    That is my goal and my big thunk for July. I can actually pick a topic I don’t love. I just have to like it and know that other people want to read about it – and make it a fun challenge for myself to write a book, an interesting book, on that topic – that is a successful breakthrough for me and that is what I am going to do during the rest of July.

    AND – the heat wave is gone for now!!

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  • Happy HOT Saturday

    It’s been hot – very hot- record-breaking hot!

    I am in an air-conditioned space but do go out to do things – and it’s brutal out there – or it was until a major storm went through!!

    I’m trying to stick with this challenge. I actually got some book ideas done sitting in a coffee shop yesterday and today was a day of fun with friends who came over – but we had to spend the day inside.

    Tomorrow I am meeting with my friend/accountability partner again, and we are going to start the books that we spent time talking about at the coffee shop.

    I also figured out what the major problems was with my website and it’s one of the theme plug-ins that I use – a paid one – and I am really miffed at the changes that have happened since the guy who developed it sold it – so I’m not using all of it right now and I probably will cancel my subscription – I’m at the point where I don’t feel like playing with the technology part.

    I wanna get the writing done.

    To be continued……

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  • February Has Been A Challenge

    February Has Been A Challenge

  • Snow, Ice, Electricity, and Internet

    ice on tree limbs
  • My Neighborhood

    My Neighborhood

    I live in a floating home, in a moorage, in a city. It’s the one place I have lived the longest since I left New York City, where I was born and raised. I fell in love with it because it met my desires to be in the country and in a city – and here I can do both at the same time. Being on the river has a very country feel to it. I often compare it to camping but with indoor plumbing. And heat. And Internet. And every store I need within quick driving distance. 

    But I am also in a city and I can be in the downtown area in a short time period.

    MY NEIGHBORHOOD

    My House

    My house is what I call a 2-part home. The main structure and what is known as a tenderhouse.

    My Moorage

    This is a summer evening looking out at what I call my backyard.

    Part of My Garden

    Everything I grow has to be in pots. These are my nasturtiums and some of my other plants in the back with the dog sniffing them.

    My Dog

    No part of my life here can be presented without a picture of Tova. She loves living here, playing tennis, and being able to walk along the levee.

    But as with most places in my life,  I move on. The pandemic has shown me that I don’t want to live here anymore. Which surprised me. I want a backyard. I want a big garden. I want a different kind of lifestyle and neighborhood. And that will happen.

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