Wonderland of Lights

A week ago Saturday, we took the kids out to see Christmas lights in a couple of neighborhoods known around the Inland Empire for putting up spectacular displays. I took some truly terrible pictures along the way, so, I'll only share the ones that aren't absolutely awful 😀

You won't like how it ends....

(This post is part of the A Shadow in Doubt, ten years later, read along...)

As we near the end of reliving (via reading) Sam's 2006, there's something I have to tell you. See, when Mom was halfway through her initial read of ASID, I told her she wouldn't like the end. Magic Yoda 8-ball was right. Like it, she did not. 

Despite agreeing with my assessment, to my surprise she said she enjoyed ASID more than TSW. My warning allowed her time to prepare herself, so, she said it was okay I left it that way.  Still, I wondered what other readers - those without the benefit of my warnings - might think....

To Sum It Up....

It's over. Finally. And, while the outcome may not be what many of us expected, I know we must look forward.

This quote from Cast Away came to mind today, and I thought it particularly appropriate. It sums up my feelings in the wee hours this morning pretty well. Honestly, it sums up my feelings from day one of this election cycle.

Marking the Milestone

Before Sam Met The Shadow Watcher....

(This post is part of The Shadow Watcher, ten years later, read along...)

Monday marks ten years since the day Sam and her Shadow Watcher first met. For those who wish to join me, I'll be re-reading chapters from The Shadow Watcher and A Shadow in Doubt on their corresponding tenth anniversaries, and posting along the way. 

To set the mood, I'm sharing the original Prologue from The Shadow Watcher, since it's since been taken out. It's some of Sam's backstory, and I wound up working most of it in to the first chapters instead. Still, it gives a hint of what her mindset was, before everything changes....   

Escape....

Just a few pics from our trip to the beach, one of my favorite escapes. Was that almost two weeks ago???? This summer's going by too fast!

Happy Mother's Day!

Once upon a time, motherhood inspired me to start writing Mother's Day poetry. (Shocking, I know!) But, my muse has been on vacation much longer than I had planned, so, (please accept my apologies, Mom,) I have nothing new this year. Instead, I'll share two of her favorites, written for Mother's Days past....

In My Mother's Garden

In my Mother’s garden I watched many things grow,

How she made it happen, I never thought I’d know.

But as I watched her work, I learned to tend the plants,

Sometimes even helping, until distracted by some marching ants.

In my Mother’s garden it seemed everything came alive,

The world will never be as green as it was when I was five!

A new creature would be revealed with every stone unturned,

Each with a new (and sometimes painful!) lesson to be learned.

For the Love of Thor

It's been just over a week now since our mighty Thor moved on to Valhalla. This big guy was starting to show signs of hip trouble, and last Thursday he was suddenly paralyzed. Somehow, he injured his spine. I can't even begin to explain how much my heart hurt for him. (Oh, that face!) Yet, he remained our brave, strong Beastie Boy right up to the end.

Happy Groundhog Day! (Thank you, Phil. We'll take an early Spring, happily....)

It's been quiet in my little corner of the webiverse lately. Okay, more like silent. Except for the choir of crickets singing. Do you hear them? Oh, and the wind from this last storm system howling like a rabid pack of wolves for the last three days - that was exciting.

Snow blew in with the pack for about forty-five minutes Sunday. It wasn't cold enough to stick, but just enough to run around in and have fun with the kids. It also brought a mountain of tumbleweeds to our backyard, which was not as much fun. (Picture this multiplied by ten.)

Society (in the Shadow of Civilization) Talk

I've been on a break from the Society since A Shadow in Doubt. Mostly. The timelines, the hopping, the Fore Shadows, and the events unfolding were making my head spin. I have scenes, little bits and pieces, scattered about all over six hundred and seventy some-odd years now. Sometimes the best way for me to stitch the pieces together is to step away and come back later, with a fresh perspective.

So, I wrote something else for NaNoWriMo again this year, then let my brain turn into jelly for most of December. Now, it's eight days into January. Time to get it back together!