Downtown Columbia City Tuesday 12/20/2005

Mom and I walked around downtown CC before meeting up with my sister for dinner. We found 3 or 4 little shops open and poked around in them.

Each of Indiana’s county seats has a wonderful courthouse. This one really anchors the town of about 8,000 people. My sister’s house is just a few blocks away.The building on the right used to house Flox’s Department Store. I remember going in there to shop for school clothes and shoes. You walked down a sloped hallway to get to the area where the shoes were sold. Now it’s an office building.

I can’t help but find it sad that most real commerce has moved to the outskirts of town. I used to come here with Mom on Saturdays when I was a kid and we’d split up for an hour or two before meeting at the ice cream fountain at the back of the hardware store, or for Coney dogs at The Nook. The Nook and Murphey’s jewelry store are the only two businesses that are still there from when I was little, I think. I liked to hang out at Garden Gifts and pick out a magazine to buy.

I know things are meant to change. This little downtown has actually survived the arrival of Walmart as well as can be expected. I wish the downtown well. I hope that the influx of people ends up meaning that they will one day want to walk the courthouse and have a couple more restaurant choices, and it will revive a bit as a gathering place.

Don't get me wrong. They hold a lovely Christmas event on the courthouse lawn every year, with local people forming tableaux and narrators telling the Christmas story. And the annual Old Settler's Days fair is held downtown, with entertainment all around the courthouse and in the blocked off streets. There's still a lot going on here. Just not so much the daily commerce that small towns used to enjoy and are beginning to see again, here and there.

It's so cold! Monday 12/19/2005

Mom and I walked down to the creek and back today. Stopped to take photos of the barn and fields until our fingers were painfully cold.

Love the color of these cornstalks in the snow.

It was 6 degrees when we got up this morning, 19 when we came back into the house after the walk, but Mom pointed out that the thermostat is in the sun. The wind was not strong, but added to the chilling effect.

My cheeks! Now I know what Jefferson feels like at Mount Rushmore.

See more progress on: Take a photo every day

Barn in Decay Monday 12/19/2005

This barn. I remember being in here as a kid. The neighbor girl’s dad nailed the tails of squirrels he’d shot to on of the beams. There were old horse stalls along one side and some abandoned equipment in the main area… Things I couldn’t quite identify that probably had to do with separating the wheat from the chaff or something similar.

I went in here a few years ago, before the roof gave way and walked around on the decaying floor boards. In the summer, vines climb in and out of the gaps in the walls.

My mom’s been photographing and drawing and painting this place for years. I want to see all her work on this place gathered together. It seems a very artful and fascinating project that she’s done because of the beauty in the old wood.

See more progress on: Take a photo every day

Clementines Sunday 12/18/2005

On Mom’s table, before everyone else arrived. I took lots of shots today, but I like these colors.

The family got together for a Christmas lunch. We do a little talent show. Very informal, sitting around the living room taking turns singing, playing an instrument, reading a poem, doing a cat’s cradle, telling a story. My sis and I did a jazzy version of Sentimental Journey that we probably should have practiced, but hey, it’s not Carnegie Hall!

See more progress on: Take a photo every day

Green Gables Saturday 12/17/2005

On the way home, we stopped at the country store at Big Lake. This is the cottage my mom’s family rented at the lake for summer vacations. She met my dad, a local boy, when she was staying here. It turned out to be the first place they lived when they got married.

I could have sworn it was a quarter mile walk from the store to the water, but it’s hardly any distance at all. The old store has been replaced, but I remember my wet footprints soaking into the worn grey wooden floorboards inside, and dipping into the cold water of an old fashioned cooler for an Orange Crush.

I’m loving all the pale pastels of winter.

See more progress on: Take a photo every day

Train platform Friday 12/16/2005

Thought I’d better get to this early since I’m going to be in transit most of today!

This was taken at the train station near my house (four miles.) It’s a little pool of light in a dark rural area. We can hear the train whistle from our house, and the coyotes usually answer back.

D dropped me off at 5:10 this morning and I waited in the 32 degree dark. The train came on time at 5:30. Not so bad when you’re bundled up and there’s no wind. It’s 31 in Indianapolis, where I’ll be landing around 11:40 pm local time. It’ll be colder there by then.

Nice gentle ride in, which I take as a good omen for today. I have a four hour layover here at work. Thank goodness my in-box was empty this morning. I guess yesterday was the last-minute panic.

I decided not to bring my laptop with me in spite of the 8+ hours of travel time when I could use it. Just too heavy. I secured a table on the train and wrote notes about my fellow passengers and just had a good time. I do have writing materials and my USB drive with me, but taking a sanctioned break is going to feel good.

My mom & sister will already be in a hotel in Indy when I get there. We’ll stay the night and drive back early in the morning. I’m looking forward to this SO MUCH!

In the Spirit Thursday 12/15/2005

Even the gas station is in the spirit. They decorated the weird little topiary-esque plants. Sweet.

Gassing up for D, because he’ll use the car while I’m gone. Off to snowy Indiana tomorrow afternoon. If I don’t have the patience to upload photos from there, I’ll save ‘em up for my return.

On Pass Avenue Wed. 12/14/2005

It was a beautiful day yesterday when we walked down to the Smoke House restaurant for our Christmas lunch at work. Food and company were very good. It’s an old-Hollywood feeling place with big red booths and lots of dark wood. Decorated for Christmas within an inch of its life.

On the walk back… I dunno, I just wanted a couple of shots. My coworkers were nice enough to wait while I took them. This is outside Warner Brothers Studios.

D's Guitar Tuesday 12/13/2005

The beautiful Martin D45. D’s pride and joy. Sitting on a stand in the living room.

There’s something about the sound of a guitar. Flattens out my brainwaves and heartbeats in a most pleasant way.

When I first met him, he didn’t have a TV. Just a guitar and an aquarium. I was very impressed. His music has brought us a whole world of friends and helped us get into camping with them.

I love to sing, but can’t play. Maybe one day.

M's Tree Enjoys the Videorocker Mon 12/12/2005

You really can’t tell from the photo, but this little Christmas tree my coworker brought in is really cute. We tried putting it against various backgrounds, and this showed the decorations the best…while not showing off our tacky office.

I could have cropped it down, but I think the tree looks expectant and comfortable on this chair.

Excuse me while I anthropomorphize everything in my life.

Materialistic much? Sunday 12/11/2005

Yeah, these are the new boots I bought. Silly, fun, comfy. I think I’ll be comfy in them on my flight to the frozen Midwest later this week.

Also, I was fooling around in this shot with my new camera’s self portrait mode. Portrait of the artist as a consumer.

Shopping - Saturday 12/10/2005

Okay, I admit it. I spent a lot of the day Saturday Christmas shopping. Thought I’d better grab a shot before I forgot. This is in a dressing room. I bought the berry-colored hoodie for myself!

On the way home, I pulled over by the side of Tierra Subida to take this shot of the clouds moving over the mountains.

Moving again

Physically and mentally. D gets off at 2:30 and I worked at home this afternoon, so we were able to go out for a hike in daylight. I ran some ideas about the novel past him, and we kept hammering at the idea of finding a better reason for my central character to stay in Indiana for the summer. We came up with something that feels much better than any of my previous solutions to this question. AND it seems to mean that I have to throw away a whole lot less of what I’ve already done than I thought.

I came back inside and wrote out my ideas longhand and they expanded and I could see how to weave them into existing scenes. I’ll need to do some more research, but I think I’ve found a very good source or two.

Photo: My novel isn’t really about these people; it’s about the land they farmed. But I hope it honors their determination and hard work. This is my great-grandfather Matthew, his wife Sarah and my great-aunts and uncles. Matthew came from Germany in the late 1800s. We think Sarah was pregnant with my grandpa David when this was taken, which would make it something like 1897. (See the mule in the background on the left? I love that.)

See more progress on: work on my novel rewrite steadily until it's done

Woofer and Tweeter Friday 12/9/2005

Ha ha. I crack myself up sometimes.

I may be laughing alone, but I’m laughing loud.

First Snow Friday 12/9/2005

Admittedly, this is a few miles north and a few thousand feet up from where I live, but I was thrilled to see snow on the ridge on my drive home tonight. I think this is Mount Emma, but I need to check this for sure.

See more progress on: Take a photo every day

See what I have to put up with? Thursday, 12/8/2005

All I want to do is hang my towel on the hook, but some one has taken it over and is playing monkey. "Ooh ooh ooh."

Lights at Night Wednesday 12/7/2005

Worked late last night. It was dark when I arrived home. So nice to see the lights D put up on the house and garage. It was cozy and warm inside, and there was carry-out soup waiting for me.

The View from Papoo's Tuesday 12/6/2005

Met with my friend Megs for writing and catching up. We went to this little diner, which has been there since 1949. It’s quieter in the afternoon and early evening than the nearby coffee house, and they serve amazing french fries.

We were writing when Megs said, “Look at the mountains.” That’s Mount Wilson back there, all bathed in pink. Somedays in L.A. you feel like they’ve dropped a big backdrop down about three blocks away with great scenary painted on it.

Megs spent weeks this summer bringing in the hay on her great uncle’s farm back east, then went to a writer’s retreat for several more weeks. The break from L.A. has done her good. She’s grounded in her work and making good progress, in spite of last night’s struggle.

We both had a hard time with the words last night. After reading to each other, we both expressed amazement that the other wasn’t satisfied with the work. The puzzle is to figure out why the pretty words don’t add up to what we want them to.

I like writing dates. It’s good to have friends to pace you every so often.

Crows Across the Street Monday 12/5/2005

Every so often dozens of crows gather in the trees across the street from where I work. This morning they were out in force, cawing and honking and flying back and forth.

Crows and ravens may just haunt the sacred places of the earth, even if those places have been overtaken by humans.

Sunday Morning Fire 12/4/2005

I love building a fire in the fireplace on a chilly Sunday morning. It's conducive to reading...the newspaper, a book of poetry, a novel.

Burnt some of the wood that we cut from our own trees earlier this fall. It gives me great pleasure to use things we grow in our yard. We harvest a few apricots, peaches and apples, as well as a variety of herbs. It makes me feel connected to the earth and to other people who do this same thing.