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Crickets and Other Outdoorsy Stuff
May. 18th, 2009 02:20 pmThe Red Wing gig was much as expected. Four people attended (although technically only three, since one of them was the manager/owner.) Weirdly, I had one of my best EVER readings (though if you want to hear me read the first chapter of Dead If I Do, it's also on-line at Vampires, Witches & Geeks: Tate Hallaway Reads (Out Loud!).) Driving back into town, I saw one deer on the side of the road who was watching the passing traffic almost as alertly as we were all watching her. Hopefully, she got to the other side (and not the OTHERSIDE) okay.
This weekend was kind of... well, both intense and deeply relaxing. First of all, we planned to go visit our friends' cabin in Siren, Wisconsin. About an hour before we were leaving, I powered down the window and it stuck. In the open position. I drove it to my usual mechanic, hoping against hope that they would be able to do something quickly to just pull up the damn power window and leave it until I could deal with the stupid thing on Monday. No luck. Every solution seemed to require removing the door and there were a lot of other cars in the queue ahead of me. In a flash of inspiration, I called a nearby Ford dealership. They could take me, but I had to come now, as their mechanics quit for the day at three in the afternoon. I sat there for about two hours and it cost an entire surprise royality check that came for the MANY BLOODY RETURNS short story, but they got the job done in time for us to leave before the horrible rush-hour traffic hit. More importantly, since I knew I'd be driving back Saturday night for the gig at Eye of Horus, I didn't want to have to deal with a car window wide open parked on Lyndale Avenue in Uptown, you know?
The weather in Wisconsin was... chilly. We woke up on Saturday morning to 35 degrees F (2 degrees C). My friends' cabin is on the point of Crooked Lake and it was windy as all get out. Mason and I valiently tried to play near the beach, but the cold wind kept driving us inside. I made a fire and we played a lot of board games, but it was tough on Mason (who had been planning on boating and building sand castles).
That night I drove the hour and a half back into Minneapolis for the Eye gig. It wasn't badly attended. No crickets, at least. For a fourth book in the series, it drew an impressive dozen or so. The very best part, however, was that *I* got a free book. Corrine Kenner, the author of TAROT FOR WRITERS is a fan of mine, and came to the reading bearing a gift copy of her book (which I'm planning to review on my Tate site.) Plus my friends (and former students) Mel and Shawn both came, which is always fun.
On Sunday I woke up cranky. I didn't sleep well -- probably thanks to that tall mocha I got at that biker cafe that's just down the block from Eye of Horus to help me with the drive home. I also think I was feeling bummed because the weather had totally turned around. It was GORGEOUS and I didn't want to go home yet. I didn't feel like I'd really gotten a chance to relax -- even though hanging out with Ger and Barb is the farthest thing from stressful. Shawn and I debated back and forth about staying an extra day. She had work today, of course, but maybe she could go in late? Take a vacation day? Mason and I went down to the shore while Shawn stayed up at the cabin to pack and try to decide how anxious she was about work. As we sat in the sun and played at burying each other in the loamy sand, a purple martin came and perched on the dock post just inches over our heads. It sang and sang so joyfully that I knew when I saw Shawn coming down the beach that she was going to say, "We're staying!!"
I'm so glad we did.
Mason and I spent several hours just playing lazily on the beach. We dug holes in the sand, buried various body parts, and generally just did that stuff kids are supposed to do on summer days when there are no plans. We even took the little rubber, inflatable boat out for a row along the shore (oh, any you can really tell how improved the water quality is near where Ger and Barb put in restored natural shoreline, versus all the artifically clear docks. The wildlife increases exponentally.) When we weren't near/on the lake, we sat in the sun reading (all three of us!) That night we ordered a pizza and Mason passed out early (he'd been staying up to read late both Friday and Saturday nights.) Shawn and I watched a little satalite TV... except we ended up on a show about the possible end of the world and the whole global warming section depressed us both so much we had to turn it off. Then we went to bed early and got up and left this morning.
We were back at home by noon, after making the usual stops at a cheese factory and the Espresso Cabin. Wisconsin cheese, btw, is unsurpassed in the world, so don't mock... although I did buy a type of cheese I haven't seen since I was a kid: salami colby. Yum!!!
Plus until you've had squeaky cheese (aka cheese curds) for breakfast you haven't lived.
The weather today has been astounding. I got my proposals delivered finally, and am now hoping to continue work on Mouse as well as get started on Tate's YA series.
How was your weekend? I suppose most of you are getting ready for WisCON. I'll be in LaCrosse over Memorial Day weekend instead, so have fun without me.
This weekend was kind of... well, both intense and deeply relaxing. First of all, we planned to go visit our friends' cabin in Siren, Wisconsin. About an hour before we were leaving, I powered down the window and it stuck. In the open position. I drove it to my usual mechanic, hoping against hope that they would be able to do something quickly to just pull up the damn power window and leave it until I could deal with the stupid thing on Monday. No luck. Every solution seemed to require removing the door and there were a lot of other cars in the queue ahead of me. In a flash of inspiration, I called a nearby Ford dealership. They could take me, but I had to come now, as their mechanics quit for the day at three in the afternoon. I sat there for about two hours and it cost an entire surprise royality check that came for the MANY BLOODY RETURNS short story, but they got the job done in time for us to leave before the horrible rush-hour traffic hit. More importantly, since I knew I'd be driving back Saturday night for the gig at Eye of Horus, I didn't want to have to deal with a car window wide open parked on Lyndale Avenue in Uptown, you know?
The weather in Wisconsin was... chilly. We woke up on Saturday morning to 35 degrees F (2 degrees C). My friends' cabin is on the point of Crooked Lake and it was windy as all get out. Mason and I valiently tried to play near the beach, but the cold wind kept driving us inside. I made a fire and we played a lot of board games, but it was tough on Mason (who had been planning on boating and building sand castles).
That night I drove the hour and a half back into Minneapolis for the Eye gig. It wasn't badly attended. No crickets, at least. For a fourth book in the series, it drew an impressive dozen or so. The very best part, however, was that *I* got a free book. Corrine Kenner, the author of TAROT FOR WRITERS is a fan of mine, and came to the reading bearing a gift copy of her book (which I'm planning to review on my Tate site.) Plus my friends (and former students) Mel and Shawn both came, which is always fun.
On Sunday I woke up cranky. I didn't sleep well -- probably thanks to that tall mocha I got at that biker cafe that's just down the block from Eye of Horus to help me with the drive home. I also think I was feeling bummed because the weather had totally turned around. It was GORGEOUS and I didn't want to go home yet. I didn't feel like I'd really gotten a chance to relax -- even though hanging out with Ger and Barb is the farthest thing from stressful. Shawn and I debated back and forth about staying an extra day. She had work today, of course, but maybe she could go in late? Take a vacation day? Mason and I went down to the shore while Shawn stayed up at the cabin to pack and try to decide how anxious she was about work. As we sat in the sun and played at burying each other in the loamy sand, a purple martin came and perched on the dock post just inches over our heads. It sang and sang so joyfully that I knew when I saw Shawn coming down the beach that she was going to say, "We're staying!!"
I'm so glad we did.
Mason and I spent several hours just playing lazily on the beach. We dug holes in the sand, buried various body parts, and generally just did that stuff kids are supposed to do on summer days when there are no plans. We even took the little rubber, inflatable boat out for a row along the shore (oh, any you can really tell how improved the water quality is near where Ger and Barb put in restored natural shoreline, versus all the artifically clear docks. The wildlife increases exponentally.) When we weren't near/on the lake, we sat in the sun reading (all three of us!) That night we ordered a pizza and Mason passed out early (he'd been staying up to read late both Friday and Saturday nights.) Shawn and I watched a little satalite TV... except we ended up on a show about the possible end of the world and the whole global warming section depressed us both so much we had to turn it off. Then we went to bed early and got up and left this morning.
We were back at home by noon, after making the usual stops at a cheese factory and the Espresso Cabin. Wisconsin cheese, btw, is unsurpassed in the world, so don't mock... although I did buy a type of cheese I haven't seen since I was a kid: salami colby. Yum!!!
Plus until you've had squeaky cheese (aka cheese curds) for breakfast you haven't lived.
The weather today has been astounding. I got my proposals delivered finally, and am now hoping to continue work on Mouse as well as get started on Tate's YA series.
How was your weekend? I suppose most of you are getting ready for WisCON. I'll be in LaCrosse over Memorial Day weekend instead, so have fun without me.
