Breaking News

The low-budget news team reports on a disturbance at the home of Aspiring Author.

Yes, it’s true. This round of revisions is done. But, you say, how is that possible? You were on vacation! Indeed I was, but it turns out sunshine and sand and family time and good books are all fine fuel for revising. Who knew? And now, the manuscript is off to my trusty crit partner and then should be winging its way to Brilliant Agent’s desk sometime next week (eek!) (um, unless trusty crit partner has devastating news for me after reading the manuscript… time will tell).

(Vacation pics under the cut.)

That’s entertainment

Last night DH, Son3, and I picked up a drink at Sbux and sat down by the marina to watch the boats coming and going. I love the smell of the marina – sea air and fish and creosote and boat gas. (Okay, listing it out like that doesn’t make it sound that appealing, but man, the combination is so awesome. Aromatherapy extraordinaire!)

Some massive yachts were moored there for the night — one called Reward, another At Ease – and we couldn’t help speculating on who might own such boats, and what it might be like to live on one (one had a sundeck that I’m sure was larger than the one on our house). (Gee, maybe I should write a story about a yacht-dweller… surely I’d have to go cruising — I mean, do research — right? )

The boats were interesting and all, but sea-life trumps boats any day. Minnows were jumping, or rather, they were flinging themselves well clear of the water in a hilarious display of bug-catching. I’ve no idea how they can propel themselves like that, but it was a fine show. We also saw an otter swim by, apparently unfazed by the power boats zipping past. I only caught a couple glimpses of the otter, but then, the coolest thing: a Great Blue Heron flew to the wharf and settled on the edge very near our vantage point. With slow, delicate movements, stepping carefully with his funny backward-bending knees and peering into the water, he stalked his dinner. Step. Step. Freeze…. Gotcha! He grabbed a fish in his bill, manoeuvred it into the right position, then swallowed it whole. Yummy. We watched a while longer as he poised on the edge of the wharf waiting for his second course to swim into range, but then a speedboat docked nearby, and the heron flew to another fishing spot out of our view.

The ferry had come and gone from the neighbouring island and was on its way back again by the time we were ready to go. On our way home, we stopped to pick up a movie, but IMHO, nothing in that video store could beat the entertainment value of an hour at the marina. It was a good evening.

Peace….

Life is good

Cooked supper over a beachfire last night, then spent a couple hours exploring the reef with my daughter today. Life is good.

(Posted a few new reef pics on my flickr page if you want to see.)

A surprise on the beach

This morning I saw something unusual on the beach — a critter not often found in the intertidal zone:

Yup! A deer — a young buck, very much like the one in this not-taken-at-the-beach photo. I’ve no idea why he wandered down to the beach, but I sure hope he manages to find his way safely back across town to the forest.

Bliss

I had to go to the bank today – not likely what you expected to find in a post titled “bliss”, is it? – so I headed into town. I was wearing flip-flops (bliss point 1, because flip-flops mean summer is comin’). Flip-flops maybe aren’t the best idea when driving a standard, but it was no problem cuz I’m just that talented.

I took the ocean-side route so I could get a great view of the water sparkling in the sunshine (bliss point 2). The sea breeze was rushing through the open windows of my car (bliss point 3), and cherry blossom petals were swirling along the road like confetti (bliss point 4). And to top it all off, Cheap Trick was blasting from my car stereo (bliss point 5 – hey, what can I say? I’m a 70’s girl). So yeah, a five-pointer! W00t!

ETA: Rats. The video doesn’t wish to be embedded. Check it out HERE.

Oh, and also ETA: if you don’t think you know Cheap Trick – y’know, like if for some bizarre reason you’re not into classic rock or have been off the planet since the mid-70’s – check this out:

See? You do know Cheap Trick!

Wishing you bliss….

A good day on the island

My background music as I write this:  foghorns, and the occasional cry of a gull. Very nice music, indeed!

I’m just back from my run. It’s not foggy here at the house, but once you get to the beach, it’s totally socked in. I love the way the ocean just disappears into the sky — or maybe it’s the other way around. Pretty hard to tell. Either way, the mainland seems to have disappeared. For all I know, the island could’ve drifted out to sea while I slept, which is actually kinda cool to imagine. Drifting south toward some warmth might be nice….

Today is catch-up-on-housework day and critique-chapters-for-writing-group day. Then, if the rain holds off, DH and sons and I will cook supper over a beach fire. Sounds like a fine day to me.

Peace….

The beach, good books, and detox time

Les cinq choses de vendredi… Hmm, un peu de French there. My brain is fried. French fried, apparently. Regardless, here’s another Friday Five for you….

1. I’ve had a great start to the day – earlier, a run in the misty rain, and now, chai latté and writing time. Yay!
2. And speaking of writing time (okay, not a very original segue, but a segue nonetheless, and y’all know how I like my Friday Fives to sparkle with segueness)… where was I? Speaking of writing time, I don’t work my day job again until Tuesday, so I’ve got writing time galore, during which I shall be sending my novel out into the world in search of a home. Send good vibes, people.
3. When I was at the beach this morning, I saw a salmon that was definitely not sending out good vibes (oh, I have to stop this! hello, my name is Shari and I’m a segue-a-holic… sigh). The fish in question was not sending out any vibes at all. It was dead. A decent size – three running-shoe lengths – but dead. The funny thing was, there were no birds dining upon it. I often see remnants of ocean critters that have become lunch for gulls or eagles, but not today. It seemed a little strange. Less disgusting that way, but strange.
4. Hmmm… my tea is gone. I may have to make some more. Of course, what I really want is diet Coke, but I unfortunately remember that I said I was going to do a diet Coke detox when I finished revising my novel. So, um, that would be now. Rats.
5. It’s supposed to rain forty days and nights. Or all weekend, at least. But I have books! And tea! So I shall read…. Up first, Getting the Girl, by Susan Juby, then My One Hundred Adventures, by Polly Horvath. I also have an abundance of hockey games to attend because it’s tournament weekend. Should be good! I hope your weekend is great, too.

Peace…. (à bientôt)

The last bit of summer…

My parents have a cabin-in-progress on a tiny lake in the middle of nowhere. It’s a really wonderful middle of nowhere. I’ve been going there all my life, and I love it, but somehow a bunch of years passed without me getting there. So last week I went! A ferry to the mainland, several hours driving on highway, an hour on logging roads, and then this:

Yup, that’s the sign that signals the start of “our” road. 4×4’s only from this point on.

Oh, but it is so worth it! Here’s the view from our deck:

It was sooo relaxing. Visiting family, canoeing on the lake, staring at the myriad stars at night, listening to the creek gurgling and the loons calling… awesome!

After a few days chillin’ in the backwoods, we headed to Shuswap Lake for a family reunion (hubby’s mom’s side). Hubby has great relatives. Lots of laughing and eating and story-telling all weekend. Then it was on to my brother’s place for a quick visit (and more laughing and eating and story-telling) before heading home.

Now I have a few days left of my holiday time to read and hang with the kids and do the back-to-school prep stuff. Then it’s back to work at both the day job and the writing — revisions are waiting for me!

Hope the last bit of summer is wonderful for you.

Peace….

Stranger things have happened… seriously.

I didn’t want to do it. Every part of my being screamed that it was wrong. But I had no choice. I turned on the heat in mid-June! *gasp* I’m wearing a hoodie and jeans and slippers, and I’m cold. So I did it. But it’s so not right. I mean, summer officially starts tomorrow! But our weather has been so crazy, I wouldn’t be surprised to see snow one of these days. Hey, stranger things have happened….

You know when people say that? When they say stranger things have happened? This is what they’re talking about (NOTE: not for the faint of heart… or stomach). Our province’s most bizarre news story even made international headlines. I’m not even gonna speculate on this one. Very creepy.

I came across another less creepy but equally bizarre foot story from my part of the world. This one is just sad, really. Weird, but sad.

Hmmm. I don’t suppose I’m helping promote my lovely province with this post. Hey, let’s go to BC — it’s freezing there, and they have a foot fetish. Oops. There goes my future with BC Tourism. Seriously, though. You should come. It’s gorgeous here! And we’re very polite here in Canada. (Oops again. Sorry tourism people.)

Come to BC this summer. I’ll lend you a sweater.

Willow Point Reef

My daughter and I spent two wonderful hours exploring the reef this afternoon. Wanna see some pictures?