I can see a new horizon, underneath a blazing sky

So, that was 2020.

Moving on. . .

Here at the Cat Farm and Confusion Factory on this snowy second day of January 2021, we’re settling down to work.  The cats have taken up their work stations — Trooper in the ustabe manuscript box on my desk, Sprite in the copilot’s chair next to me; Steve’s back in his office, Belle on lap.

Winter has officially arrived.  We expect to see about 7 inches of (thankfully fluffy) new snow on the ground today, then more snow Monday and Tuesday.  This will catch us up to the Proper Seasonal Look — after a modest start, the weather had turned warm, a nor’easter dropped a couple inches of rain, instead of snow, and there was grass and mud and downed sticks for as far as the eye could see.  Snow is prettier, especially if you don’t have to shovel it.

In and around Everything, I lost 20 pounds last year (per doctors’ orders; the theory is that less thick people have a reduced chance of cancer recurrence).  I guess I ought to lose another 10, just to show the doctors that I’m in the game, but I really don’t think I want to go any lower than 160 lbs/11 stone, and maybe not that low.

As previously mentioned, I’m working on an Archers Beach story.  I hope that today will reveal if it’s a novel or something shorter.  If it’s a novel, I’m about to be in hot water, but — we’ll see.

I did have a Bad Moment yesterday, when I discovered that I had thrown away my maps and other notes for the first three Carousel books, in a Fit of Despond.  I do try not to throw stuff away when I’m in the grips of a Fit, but it doesn’t always work.  Happily, I did NOT throw out the year 2000 edition of the Arrow Street Atlas of 133 Maine Cities and Towns, including!  Old Orchard Beach.  Also the OOB Chamber of Commerce has one of those silly little promotional maps on the web, pinpointing the location of various “attractions.”  Work!  can go forward with many less FIND THIS’s in the text.  Also, in Balance for the Bad Moment, an Exhilarating One, when I found via the map that the street name I had pulled out of my head (at random) — Burdette Street — was actually the correct street, and yes, there was a small wood at the bottom of the street, where it intersects with Foote Street.

I have not forgotten about the Authors’ Spoiler Discussion of Trader’s Leap.  This will not be a daily thing, but I’m shooting for once a week.  In the meantime, if you have questions, you can ask them here.

Hope every one of you is having a reasonably pleasant day.

Stay safe.

Today’s blog title brought to you by John Parr, “St. Elmo’s Fire.”