Dog Days winding down...I hope

This August has been less than stellar.  Not enough writing.  Sick twice!  I am not good with sick.  I realize that the first illness where I took antibiotics was sort of the wake up call that my immune system wasn't operating at 100% but geeze a cold?  What can you do for a cold but whine?  *bleah*  I never have been a good patient.  It goes back to my mom's rule of only allowing us kids to be sick 3 days.  I kid you not.  By day 3 unless in hospital we'd be dragging our sorry little butts around the house getting our own soup and tissues.  Complaining was always met with a flat stare and a comment about someone we knew who was ill or dead.  Just saying. 

Not writing is starting to take its toll on my sleep patterns to a markedly dark side.  The Building will be very dramatic and blood soaked by the end of summer from all my dreams.  Poor Celina Holston won't be a honey-drawling vampire who gets rescued - just a slight spoiler but come on who didn't see that one coming? Okay, maybe Celina.

Still have pictures left in camera to share.  Until then here's one from the archives.  Canal with fish making ripples rolling out in the hazy hot summer air.

Kind of Blue

Not me!  Miles Davis on trumpet with John Coltrane on sax.  Suits my muse today.  Damn shoe dream!

Sweet Irene?

Not actually the sunrise this morning.  Took a cloud shot I'll try to get uploaded soon. 

So no clue if hurricane will hit Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas or further north.  The storm trackers and weather models have swerved from hitting us directly but as locals report more than one storm has done the unthinkable and taken a hard left despite all the 'models'.  It was lightning and thundering this morning before dawn.  I think I was up by 4:45 am.  I really don't want to start doing that insomnia thing again but the barometric pressure fluctuations cause me to wake up abruptly well, that and the dreams.  Yeah, not writing enough so wicked dreamscapes.  Last night strange dream where I was in California talking to someone who was arguing with me about my footwear.  Said I should wear more heels (I don't even own a pair of heels anymore).  The person evolved into a few men I know casually.  Like one is the guy who manages the local CVS (a New Yorker who wears gold chains and talks very Bronxish) - so I pull out a pair of heels I magically have that string over my feet then look like 'Come-and-Get-Me' pumps (aka F'Me pumps).  And I get into a car and start driving up a hill which then disappears after a weird restaurant scene ala Quentin Tarintino esque and then I am fall off the cliff thinking  'Damn that's so totally going to mess up my heels when I hit the bottom'.  And I do and wake up with a snap sitting upright checking for my shoes. 

I need to write more!

Blowing in the Wind

Time will tell what happens this week.  I have actual plans for the coming weekend that may not come to fruition.  Last month my friends hosted "Christmas in July" and now this coming Saturday "New Years" - actually Jewish New Years for our one friend.  We are wearing blue, white and silver...like Hanukkah colors.  I planned on making potato latkes and cheese blintzes.  All sounds great right?  Well, as of this morning the chances of a Cat 2 Hurricane named Irene hitting me is on all the forecast models locally.  It may well change by tomorrow or get stronger by Thursday (the expected beginning of the 'event' according to all reports).  My complex has a 15,000 btu generator that runs on gasoline.  I mentioned to my one neighbor we need to get a few gallons of gas each on Wednesday to run the generator.  That was when I found out this sweet woman didn't have a clue what a hurricane entailed locally.  She just moved from Wisconsin and thought it just meant lots of rain and winds.  To be called a hurricane the winds must sustain 75 mph winds.  Sustain as it....blowing hard non-stop.  She flipped a hand and basically thought I was exaggerating.  Then she got the call from a friend of hers saying that she wasn't sure if they'd be visiting her (supposed to come tomorrow) because of the hurricane warnings.  She listened to her friend and came out wide eyed and asked if she should go get the gas now!

I had to laugh and explain no that Wednesday would be soon enough.  I've never personally been through a hurricane.  I've been through numerous natural and man made disasters to know fact from fiction.  And yes, I did clean up my camera's card so I can snap pictures to my little heart's content.  I still am not sure if the hurricane will hit but am preparing myself for it as best I can.  The unexpected is just that, unexpected.  There's only so much one can do. 

So keep and eye on the sky and we will see.  Naturally I plan on shooting Sand two more episodes before the weekend - just in case.  *grin*  Isn't that what all writer's do? 

Still lightning skies

Just a shot to show how the sky can fascinate me.  Okay here's another

That's lightning back lighting the sky.

The speck above the clouds was a bird.  Just love how the clouds roll and move around my area.

Okay back to working on The Building. 

Sky bright

I'll have to add the pictures later.  It doesn't like linking here.  *sigh*  Okay there ya go...dawn.

Okay so I am nearly feeling human again after being wickedly sick last week.  I began writing again on The Building after a few weeks off (nearly two!).  Yes, those of you who know me realize that means I've been doing the insomnia nightmare dreamscape for two weeks.  My muse gets far too hungry at times.  Sea Turtles in a pool with anger issues at being speared  - imagery of prehistoric lands and the voracious appetites of omnivores were inside that dream.  The turtles are protected on the local beaches and the cities have low to no lights to encourage crime..I mean procreation...yeah that's it.  I need to wander down to the beach this weekend if there aren't any morning storms and see if there are any nests around.  The wild life groups are good about roping them off and monitoring for eggs and turtles. 

Lightning hit three so far this week.  One idiot was in a crane during a massive storm.  Yes, they were all men.  Proving once again that more men get struck by lightning than men.  I don't have the stats on how many of them are golfers wanting to finish their rounds but I have a suspicion. 

Hurricanes and Tornado weather

Right now it's pretty much the same as this picture but not as crisp.  Had one of my old directors in town and got to see him and his family on Saturday after my insane landlady came over and screamed obscenities at me for no apparent reason and later she wrote a lovely letter somewhat saying she was wrong.  It was nice to catch up with Chris.  He's one of the first guys I met from one of my old company's take overs and made me laugh.  He was the inspiration for my Dough of the Dead series West Virginia location. 

Last night blurred into today with no sleep and a visit to the ER at a bit after 4 am.  Nasty lymph node infection that got treated immediately with a shot in my tush and two pills - I knew that meant I was pretty dang sick.  Sent home with a ZPack of antibiotics and painkillers.  That I was given painkillers meant the doctor actually listened.  I still need to catch up with two days of missing sleep and was told to take two days off work.  The doctor wrote it up giving me the flexibility to take off Wednesday too if I still wasn't 100%.  There's no way I can see that happening but definitely staying home tomorrow if for no other reason than sleeping. Maybe some more writing!

August Dog Days



Okay so I have been remiss in writing here this week.  Let's start the list.  Landlady going back and forth with her usual insanity.  I answer her politely then do my documentation.  She has no legal legs and I am not ready to move right this second.  But that said mother nature may do her own relocating of stuff in South Florida this weekend.  The tornado missed me by two towns.  That's okay I saw a few of those up close and personal when I lived in Michigan.  I haven't seen a hurricane so this may be my chance.  I filled gas tank this morning and began to download pics from my camera so I can clear my memory card :)  Yeah, I'll be snapping pictures. A few of you may recall my photos from the fires I was evacuated from my house about four years ago October in Southern California that I took. 

This past weekend was filled with laughter and sorrow.  One of my friends here had to do another intervention for her 19 year old daughter.  We still had "Christmas in July" but Sunday instead of Saturday like planned because she'd been crying all morning after getting her daughter to commit to a month in a program.  Drugs, alcohol, stupid choice in men coupled with possibly anorexia meant her once stunning daughter is little more than a battered, bruised shell.  Less than 100 pounds and dying by inches.  With the death of Amy Winehouse my friend decided she didn't want to be burying her daughter in a few years and her ex hubby and his wife helped. 

Also the other friend who I spend most of my weekends reading my tales to pool side got in a car accident on Friday night.  She was the victim of a hit and run.  She's sore and her car's in the shop but she's alive.  Her car jumped the curb and went into traffic in the opposite direction and lived to tell the tale.  She also joined us with our Christmas in July party.  It ended up being funny and silly and just what we all needed.  Facebook has the pictures from that jaunt.  My two friends dressed like Christmas Ho Ho Hosssss.....you'll see!  I went for the more conservative support of my Jewish friends and went with silver, white and light blue!  We had turkey and all the trimmings.

Walked into a buzz saw at work on Monday.  One of my co-workers unfortunately had her sister die from a heart attack on Friday and hasn't been into work since.  I had to close month end and do her job.  It's been brutal.  Now the proper programs didn't work closing the month so we are behind in work.  *sigh* it's all good right?

I did my Spam piece today at lunch.  I figured I wasn't sure when I'll be able to get online if the weather turns ugly.  The lightning storms have been spectacular but I've not perfected snapping those shots...yet.