Friday, August 15, 2008

Every Cloud holds a Bucket

Famous words from my sister, Tammy, referring to the mystery of our rain-filled summer. I laugh every time I see one of those cotton batten-like clouds hovering, knowing full well that it will, given some time, drop some big rain.
It did last night. Enough to sound the sirens in Baddeck, Nova Scotia and to make the power go off during the Olympic gymnastic AA coverage. I won't say anything else...

Tate had his follow up visit with his surgeon yesterday in Halifax (the bone is healing wonderfully) so we decided to play tourist and hop aboard the Halifax version of the amphibious water boat, the Harbour Hopper. The kids and I got a great historical tour of Halifax, some cool facts about the Halifax explosion that could be felt as far away as PEI. Even my grandmother had memories of this experience.
Yesterday we drove to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Never been around the famous Cabot Trail and can't wait to embark on our driving adventure today. The beauty of the topography is unrivaled. In many ways, it feels quite similar to Scotland. Rolling, dark green hills, deep blue lakes and winding roadways. Really lovely.
Today we'll start the journey in historic Fort Louisburg. Tate gets a wheelchair. Must keep him away from big brother.

Oh...did I mention that I won back the coveted Coral Jacket in the Rice Point Invitational Golf Tournament? Hee! Hee! I lucked out Meredith. You're still the best golfer in my eyes!

Greenwood Girls has been rewritten. Between caring for Tate and numerous house guests, I've found time to dig deeper into my story. Still need to do a final run through, but I'm proud of this accomplishment. After this, it's going to an agent who requested to see more, plus an editor or two. Finally.

My wonderful FarFlung Writers group has not heard from me in over a month. I have a lot of terrific stories to catch up on and I'm eager to do it. Reflecting on my past 5 months with this group, I think I've experienced my biggest leap in writing ability. I can't say enough about the power of critiques. Receiving them is great but it's the giving that's been the most valuable to me. Really considering what works and what doesn't work in a story is quite an effective lesson. So to my group...don't write me off...I will be back!

Life will get back to normal on Monday. Have to say this is the first summer that I'm more than eager to get back to a routine. Can't wait to settle in with my writing group, writing class (thanks Val for starting up again!) and coffee talks with Maggie.

7 comments:

  1. This FarFlung writer misses you! Can't wait for you to get back into the real world!
    And I couldn't agree more with you on the values of learning to critique!

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  2. Hey Patty!

    We DO miss you. And don't worry about back critiques. Just jump back in as soon as you can.

    I'm glad your son is healing well and that you got some great work done. I am SO sad you missed the Olympics last night. It was really good (though Shawn got robbed on a couple of events; Nastia too, even though she won.)

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  3. Glad to know you'll be back Patty - we've missed your input!

    I'm glad your son's leg is healing well.

    And you can see all the Olympic stuff on the web. (That's what I did this morning, it was midnight when I turned it off last night partway through the gymnastics)

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  4. Dear Patty--I have already reserved a corner at Starbucks! Can't wait to welcome you back and catch up.

    Maggie

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  5. Way to go! So happy for you that you won back the Coral Jacket:) And good luck with those submissions amiga.

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  6. Noticed you didn't publish the golf scores!! Thank you for that.
    xo Mere

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  7. Thanks everyone! It's great to be back. I love September's and starting fresh.

    Meredith...you know I couldn't!

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