An author's collection of thoughts and stories
Someone broke into our car (which wasn’t hard, the windows were down), rummaged through the center console, damaged the cassette player, and dumped a bucket of weeds in the drivers seat.
Whoever it was must have been really hopped up on drugs to think that we had any valuables to steal.
I mean, c’mon
Our car still has a cassette player.
Nothing was taken, but the weeds were a weird touch.
It’s the 4th of July, and this morning I realized that I totally spaced on planning out any celebrations, lol.
Which would mainly be food.
At the very least, we are armed with an enormous number of pop-its, so things will not be quiet around here.
Is it ever?
I’m running into mental fatigue with my fiction writing, and now that it’s July and the weather is HOT HOT HOT, I’d say that it’s time for a little vay-cay.
I’ve settled on getting Alice and the Warden fully polished and published by the end of summer. Since I’m a finicky sort and I don’t handle deadlines very well — and I’m having dreams about an impending storm — I’m not announcing any set dates until later.
In other news, our favorite Mom&Pop restaurant that we’ve been going to every Saturday for the last four (or so) years is now closed forever, so … I don’t know what to do with the family today. It’s not exactly like there’s a multitude of other small restaurants to explore …
Even I like to leave the house occasionally.
And there was a rather amusing bit where everything went wrong with trying to go out on my mile walk the other day, and I still haven’t gotten a new bicycle pump to fix the flat tire on the stroller.
The height of summer isn’t all that great for doin’ stuff.
Short Fiction
Lartmann and Hambert Are Dead (humor) (Don’t worry if you don’t think it’s funny, I was just being absurdist)
Quotes
The Scion Suit Multiverse
TSS – Not Worth Helping
About Writing
Whining
Carol
Carol, again
Exploring What ifs
Photos
Spider Bro
Sometimes…
Bumblebee
Dragonfly
Glitter
The Predicament
Clouds
Sunset
Misc
Things about being creative…
Introvert mom vs Extrovert mom
10 Years Ago
Low Immersion Dye
Homespun Yarn
The Broken View – Something Better
…
A Rant About Adult Conversation
Tamagotchi
Chickens
Dub Tee Eff
Exercise
Nextdoor
My husband signed me up for “Nextdoor,” which is basically Facebook, only everyone posting lives in the area. He was all, “It’s a good idea to know what’s going on around here,” then promptly put in my e-mail address. -_-;;
It’s mostly people telling other people how they should be living their lives, with some lost pets and classifieds thrown in.
I have a pretty strong perverse streak, so when someone posted, “Grasshoppers travel from yard to yard, so if you have them you better treat them,” it filled me with a strong, overwhelming desire to cultivate ours. Feed them. Baby them. Make sure they grow up big, strong, and plentiful.
Then unleash them on the neighborhood.
My own personal plague of locusts.
Because nobody tells me what to do.
I had to scrap my plans to write in the morning, and start exercising instead. Frankly, it’s a lot easier to take the kids out on a long walk than it is to do aerobics in the living room — go figure — so I need to get out early enough to “beat the heat.”
Aaaand I’m not remotely an early riser. LAWL.
The good news is that our local swimming pool has finally reopened, and water is great for circulatory problems. I’ll definitely be adding that to the routine.
I *know* that my health suffers when I become inactive, so I’m kicking myself over this.
Anyway
I like to get the stroller loaded up with drinking water and outdoor toys, then walk a mile to the park with the children. There are usually a few other kids on the playground, as well as a tennis group on the courts, so it feels community-like without having to do anything other than smile.
I’ve noticed a brand new trend this year:
People aren’t using their phones anymore.
At all.
I guess they have gotten sick of it.
Some woman sat down two feet away from me and coughed, so I was like, “Is that a challenge?!”
I won.
I opened up my laptop, saw that image, and thought, “WTF am I up to?”
Actually, it’s just my amazing ability to hit pause at awkward moments.
This got out of its cage, and stubbornly refused to leave my shoulder.
While this chased me around, begging me to let it play with the colorful flying thing.
Last year, someone living in the area got some chickens, then told me all about how good they are for gardens. I suspect that she imagined they’d carefully pick their way through the plant rows, eating pesky bugs and leaving fertilizing poop, so I burst her bubble by saying, “They will eat your vegetables.”
Come to think of it, that woman hasn’t spoken to me since, lol.
Actually, they don’t stop with vegetables. When you set up a chicken run, expect *everything* to die inside of it. And if you want to use the poop as fertilizer, then you need to compost it first — otherwise it will burn the plants and kill them.
Chickens aren’t a romantic pet in the slightest.
On that note: chickens are mean.
Really mean.
Our flock has taken to bullying one in particular, and I’ve had to separate her from the rest. This is actually a really common problem, and if left unchecked they won’t stop until the poor chicken is dead. Our little dear had a bloody comb when I pulled her from the coop, and was absolutely terrified of the others.
Interestingly enough, having a rooster prevents bullying, because he will manage the hens and keep them on their best behavior. Unfortunately, we aren’t allowed to keep roosters in our area because of the noise. Personally, I don’t think that they are any worse than dogs, but that’s how it is.
Chickens are fun, though. They’re definitely worth it if you can put up with everything. Just don’t expect them to maintain your garden for you.
By Autumn Rain 