There are flowers in this window. That’s what made me stop and take the photo. But I liked the long shot better.
This is probably actually an apartment building, but it made me think of the wonderful song “Little Yellow House” by Susan Werner.
This little yellow house
Has too many rooms
Too many rooms, too many rooms
This little yellow house
Has too many rooms
And I sit all alone and cry
I took a different route home yesterday because I stopped for a haircut and to pick up dinner from Pinochio’s (lasagna for D, penne with sausage and peppers for me). Something about these two people, probably strangers, talking on this bench struck me. That’s the thing you miss when you drive…connnecting with people you don't know.
I've been driving most of the time again since work is slow and I can sometimes leave early. I miss the train, but I can't leave early because it doesn't run all the way to Acton earlier in the afternoon.
We took Dodger and Rocky outside in their cages for the first time on this trip, too. They’d both been pretty spooked before about being in the trailer at all. But now they’re getting to be old hands, and they both seemed to be thrilled to be outside.
Friends stopped by to chat and sing along with D’s playing. Dodger tooted along and laughed a lot.
It rained yesterday morning, but the sky was so blue in the afternoon, it was truly exhilerating.
Big Boy seems to agree.
The weather was really fabulous. Not too hot, not too cool. Sat outside and read a bit and wrote a few pages about the things I observed.
I sometimes wish there were a market for my musings, but they please me, so I keep taking note. Recently read Timothy: Notes of an Abject Reptile. Lovely book that encourages you to look around at what’s happening with the creatures and plants in your environment.
I had a very difficult day on Wednesday. I wrote for about 4 hours, struggling to keep my concentration and not always winning. Only got a few decent paragraphs, but it was some progress. Then I managed somehow to save an old version over everything I’d done and wiped out all of the day’s writing. Gave me a stomach ache.
So on Thursday I had my morning telephone chat with my mother, and then took myself off to Panera to write. Worked there for an hour and a half, then ran an errand, then had a wonderful Mexican lunch while reading a novel. Barnes and Noble was closed due to a power outtage, so I went to Starbucks, where I could actually plug in my laptop, whose battery was getting depleted. Worked there for another 2 hours.
Yes, on Day 6 of my 9 day vacation, I hit my stride. Had a good day of consolidating and moving things around. I have realized that when I get stuck in writing it’s often because I don’t know which choice to make for the characters or the plot. What I have to do is decide to chose one and move on it, and be willing to scrap it. Better to write something that you can’t use than not to write at all.
Please remind me of this the next time you see me gnashing my teeth in frustration.
So, after all that. This photo is of my office on Thursday. The Starbucks in Palmdale.
Any birders out there? Can you confirm my call that this is a gnatcatcher??
When we bought this silly little log cabin bird house a few years ago and put it on the front porch, I never thought we’d actually get somebirdy to live in it. I suspected we had a tenant yesterday, because there’re sticks and stuff inside. Today: confirmation!
I think this is a gnatcatcher. She’’s very small and cute, and was enjoying picking the leftover ants off the trellis where the hummingbird feeder is. (She shares the same porch post with the trellis, a star jasmine, and the hummer feeder. Not a bad neighborhood.)
We seem to be having uncommonly good bird-luck this year.
I hung this yesterday, but had to re-hang it today. The hummingbirds haven’t found it yet, but the ants did. They were climbing from a leaf onto the base of it! Ugh. Had to use the drill and everything to rehang it.
That’s the Granny Smith apple tree in the background. It’s blooming right now, and smells wonderful.
In my defense, we don’t have a lawn mower. We have a pretty small yard. This was the last part I mowed with the weed whacker, and the brownish stripes where I’d cut too close began to develop by the time I got to show it off to D, who usually does this job. Ah, well. It looks trim from the road, anyway.
D built this wall and steps a few years ago on his vacation. Opens up the yard so much. Impressive work, I think.
