What a sweet time. The day started cold and snowy, and ended up cool and windy. It was so beautiful Maria and I abandoned our work in the late afternoon and set out – me with a camera and she with a sketch pad – to just soak up this beautiful place. What a gift to me to be able to do that, to share a life with someone. We drove up Bunker Hill Road looking for shadows,  and she would pull over and I got out with the camera and prowled around stone walls and barns and took some photos, and she sketched hills and trees.

It was so beautiful, and I treasured the unhurried time on this glorious afternoon to look for my odd kind of shots – holes in walls, shadows on barns.  I stood in the wind and looked up at the sun, and gave thanks for the opportunity to be alive and use my time well.

We got home, and I made dinner – crab claws and potatoes – and then we sat with the dogs and read.

My day was not as lucky. I worked hard for two days on a short story that just didn’t work, and I abandoned it. Short stories are hard. I am doing new kinds of writing and it is challenging. Good for me. I loved my story today. Tomorrow, my daughter Emma arrives and Friday we will hit the Red Fox Bookstore for a joint reading. Special time for me. Em is nervous that Frieda will eat Pearl.  I told her Frieda only eats things that annoy her or move quickly.