Category Archives: Writing

Family, Minnesota, Park County, Travel, Writing

Jackhammer Day

September 14, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Lugnasa Harvest Moon

compressor_and_jackhammer_for_drilling_rock_preparatory_to_shooting_explosives_lassen_national_forest_california_3226898238 — compressor and jackhammer for drilling rock preparatory to shooting explosives lassen national forest california OSU archives

Yesterday was jackhammer day. Gonzalez and Eduardo deconstructed our downstairs bathroom, leaving the studs, drains and electrical. Looks very small. In addition to removing the former tile, the jackhammer work also prepares the way for an adequate slope for shower drainage. The drainage will be achieved by a fixture all along the far side of the shower, a tiny metal ditch that slopes toward the drain.

20160914_090641 Kate had Bailey Patchworkers for most of the day and I spent the day up in the loft with the dogs, so the jackhammering didn’t bother us. This will be worth it, but remodeling is never easy since by definition it has to take place where you live.

I rented my car yesterday. Now I have to find a reasonably priced place to stay. There are plenty of options, though most of them are not located where I want to be. A task for today. Later, a trip to the library for audio books, one of the fun parts of a long drive.

Still hitting my marks for Superior Wolf. I’m at right at 40,000 words, almost half way. I’m feeling very good about it so far. I’ll continue working on it on the road.

Aging, Art and Culture, Family, Friends, Jefferson County, Shadow Mountain, Third Phase, Woolly Mammoths, Writing

Acts of Creation

August 17, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Lugnasa Superior Wolf Moon

Just to let you know that the Superior Wolf Moon daily reminder has been working. I’m over 17,000 words into this new novel. It feels like some of the best work I’ve done. Of course, I always think that at the beginning of a project.

Kate’s birthday is tomorrow. 72. She works as hard now as she did when I first met her though she may not be able to sustain the work as long as she could. Neither can I. She’s remarkable and I’ll have a birthday post for her later today.

On Friday, buddy Mark Odegard has his “Bridges of the Mississippi” opening. He’s been working for the last year or so on this wonderful print series. It’s a contemporary, jazzy look at these important connectors. We think of crossing the Mississippi every day as a non-event, usually. And that’s because of these bridges that he has memorialized. They’re the often ignored civil engineering projects that make the Twin Cities possible. He’s made a unique contribution to our seeing them, an artist’s true task, sharpening and nuancing our perceptions of the world around us.

On a similar note, Jon Olson, step-son and art teacher, has developed a unique print making style that utilizes found, crushed metal objects. He picks them up from the sides of highways and streets, brings them here or to his art classroom in Aurora, inks them up and runs them through a press. In this way he’s printing directly from the object, like Mark, sharpening and nuancing our perceptions of the world around us.

Art and Culture, Family, Writing

Art

August 13, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Lugnasa Superior Wolf Moon

Ruth’s paint your own elephant arrived on Wednesday. In this new world Ruth and I sat talking about the parade of elephants in Singapore several years ago. She looked at the peace and love elephant my sister Mary bought for me.

She clearly wanted one, so I looked them up on the internet. No longer sold in Singapore at the Botanical Garden gift shop, I found them at the company that makes them for elephants parades held around the world, a place in Denmark. A couple of clicks later the folks in Denmark had my order for a blank elephant, one Ruth could decorate in her own way. An elephant from Singapore, seen on Shadow Mountain, inspired a ten year old, so her grandpop ordered one from Denmark. And it got here 5 days later. She’ll be working on it today, I imagine. Amazing.

Superior Wolf has begun to emerge from the many notes, stops and starts I’ve had on this novel. I began writing it in 1999. Now the whole feels available to me for the first time in 17 years. No idea why. Just enjoying the ride.

That work plus the to do list that sits by my computer has gotten the cotton out of my life and replaced it with energy. The Latin will return one of these days, too, I’m sure of it.

Most of the issue seems to be with rhythm. I need unobstructed morning time to work and I’ve been giving that away for the last several months. The work I do requires everday labor, requires attentiveness and the accretion of small tasks into a larger whole. In my psyche peace is most important and peace comes in part from having large blocks of time without additional pressure.

Art continues to nag at me, but I’ve still not figured out how to include it in my life as well as I did when I was a docent at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Perhaps Jon and Ruth, both active artists, will help in some way.

Family, Feelings, Our Land and Home, Writing

Blunted

August 11, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Lugnasa Superior Wolf Moon

A soft cotton buffer lies between me and the world right now. My edge, drive is blunted. Why? Don’t know. Might be attention to the emotional demands of the divorce. Could be too many projects in a row. Could be that THC I use at night. Could be I’m still not rejiggered from the move and prostate cancer. Could be that my circle of friends is in Minnesota and I’ve not made new friends here. Just not sure. It has been cool here the last week or so, so it might be that occasional fall melancholy sneaking in early, stimulated by the chill. Frustrating and I’m not sure what to do about it.

Life works best for me when I’m pressing into it, leaning in as Sheryl Sandberg said. Right now I’m leaning away or to the side or up against a wall. Not pushing forward, nor looking backward, sort of caught in stasis.

On the other hand I’m still exercising and the knee feels good. I’ve hit my mark on words per day on Superior Wolf. Kate and I are in a very good place, working together to help our little Colorado family as it careens through the dissolution of Jon and Jen’s marriage. The dogs are healthy.

The garage is much better organized. The garage, shed and decks have solid weather protection and the new green doors look great. The kitchen is officially finished with all the cabinets painted and Kate’s splash of green above the cabinets. Kate’s bathroom is set for a remodel that will make it safer and more beautiful. Jon’s very near finishing the loft. The walnut is planed and ready for staining. The art cart top is smooth and mostly dry.

Our finances are sound. We’re producing our own electricity and have our generator for emergencies.

Of course, there is Trump. Encouraging Second Amendment people to stop Hillary’s court picks. I. Mean. OMG!

Holidays, Writing

Sunday Flow

August 8, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Lugnasa Superior Wolf Moon

Murakami, the novelist, says time flows differently on Sundays. Yes. After that powerful acculturation of Sundays at church with Mom and Dad, then weekends off from work followed by weekends in which I worked on Sunday, the day has accretions of unusual moments, moments when the ambition and the struggle of the day to day evaporated for a few hours: that picnic, a moving worship service, reading the Sunday paper over breakfast, movies, ham, scalloped potatoes and spinach.

Yesterday I took advantage of that different flow to get myself past a difficult place in my work on Superior Wolf. The deep background of the story begins at the very beginning when Chaos and Chronos merge to bring some order to the new, emerging universe. I have a very specific reason for wanting the story rooted in the mythology of early Greek gods and goddesses, but I’m mindful of a critique I read about research. This novelist, I’m paraphrasing, obviously did a lot of research and she insists on using all of it. Ouch.

Even with that caveat I decided the story had to be told, so I spent Sunday finishing the section in which the key elements get laid out. This is a rough draft so I may not use much of this work, but I’m now past the somewhat didactic writing and back to the flow of the novel itself. A logjam broken up with a pike and spiked shoes.

Dogs, Family, Politics, Writing

You’re Weird, Grandpop

August 7, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Lugnasa Superior Wolf Moon

Ruth came up to the loft yesterday, sat in the leather chair and we talked while I worked. She’s such a sweet kid and very curious. Very bright. We talked about painted elephants, Hokusai and his famous print of the wave. Taking out a large book I have of Hokusai’s work, we paged through it and I explained the floating world of late 19th century Japan.

When I used chopsticks to eat beans and wieners for lunch, she said, “You’re weird, Grandpop.” I said, “Thanks. I take that as a compliment. Don’t you?” She nodded shyly.

Right now I’m trying to tell the story of the primordial Greek gods and the wars that occurred among the gods that followed them, the Titans and the Olympians. Tough to do without getting didactic, deadly to the flow of the narrative. Realized last night that I just have to get it down right now. This is a rough draft, not even a first draft.

Brother Mark asked about the dogs the other day. Gertie has recovered from the most recent rending of her flesh by Kepler. She bounces around, her right arthritic leg slightly splayed, not holding her back very much. Rigel continues on in her healthy, happy way. She has first rights on the couch now that Vega is dead. Kepler has gone from the still puppy like dog that he was when we got him two years ago to a mature dog with a distinct personality. He loves his life, getting excited, opening and closing his mouth, lifting himself slightly off the ground by hopping whenever food or something else that pleases him happens.

And then there’s Trump. Aaaccch. But, thank the powers of the universe for offering him to us when another candidate would have given Hillary a much more difficult time.

Minnesota, Translating Metamorphoses, Writing

Superior Wolf

August 4, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Lugnasa Superior Wolf Moon

Luna in snow (International Wolf Center)

So, you might ask, why Superior Wolf Moon? Well, I’m in the Superior Wolf world now and plan to stay in it until I have a new first draft. I conceived this story idea back in 1999, have picked it up and put it down several times. Now though I’ve got traction, I’m having fun and I’m finally going to finish it, probably around this time next year, maybe a bit sooner. Every one’s a little different. Superior Wolf Moon is a device to remind me of that commitment every day for the the duration of this moon cycle.

Family, Latin, Our Land and Home, Translating Metamorphoses, Writing

Journal July 30, 2016

July 31, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Last Day of Summer Park County Fair Moon

We’re glad to be doing this, having Jon here, seeing the grandkids more often as they come to be with him. It’s important, as important as anything we could be doing right now. It does remind me, however, that we’re used to a somewhat more, ok a lot more, sedate style of daily life. The change is good for us though, keeping us engaged. And, a bit tired.

Yesterday we hit 90+ here. Even with the lower humidity it was downright unpleasant. Ruth was sick, Gabe, too, so we didn’t go to the Denver County Fair. This morning instead.

Jon worked on the walnut top shelf for the three lower sections of shelving in the loft. With the staining process he’s chosen, the walnut will show off its dark, close to black color and create a strong contrast with the birch bookshelving that now lines the loft. He’s also preparing the final coat on the art cart’s distressed oak table top, the oak that came from the bed of a junked tractor-trailer. Once both of these are done, I plan to spend a good bit of time rearranging my library, putting up or placing art, getting this wonderful space Kate found for me into its final (for now) configuration.

I am back at work on Superior Wolf. After I reimagined the story, taking it back to its deep origins in the primordial gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, things seemed to fall into place. I have two novels that I’ve been using as models, the sort of big thing I’d like to produce: The Historian and Jonathan Strange and Dr. Morrel. They both took a quirky, but deeply researched approach to, on the hand, vampirism, and on the other, black magic. They were original within an often cliched genre, surprising in their treatment. That’s what I want for Superior Wolf and Jennie’s Dead.

Still nothing on the Latin. I won’t leave all those years of work on the side, I know it, but I’m finding the discipline difficult right now.

Garden, Great Work, Jefferson County, Latin, Mountains, Our Land and Home, Plants, Science, Shadow Mountain, Translating Metamorphoses, Writing

Getting Back To Work

July 10, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Summer Park County Fair Moon

Summer has come in full glory and I’m still not back to work. Getting frustrated with myself, need to get a discipline underway. Back to the work in the morning pattern that has seen me through several novels and lots of Ovid.

It is now a year and a day since my cancer surgery, a real spade turner in the soil of my psyche. Are my old goals still appropriate? Does the divorce and the engagement with Jon and the grandkids override them? Doesn’t feel that way. My ability to give correlates with the care I take of myself. Taking care of myself means continuing creative and scholarly tasks. That work plus exercise are central to my life and cannot be avoided without damaging my Self.

Right now the days float by. This meeting with Jon. That power washing of the solar array. Mow the fuel. Reorganize the loft. Work in the garage. Read the NYT. Keep up with the presidential campaign. All of these things are important, even necessary, but I’m doing them and not creating the daily discipline that longer projects require. I know how to do it. I have done it. But not now.

This morning I have my first class in a Native Plant class that focuses on the montane ecosystem, the one in which we live. It’s a start in the discipline. What I need is to protect my mornings again. Get up here in the loft, write a thousand words a day, translate at 5 verses of Ovid.

I need encouragement to get this routine started again.

Cooking, Our Land and Home, Reimagine. Reconstruct. Reenchant., Shadow Mountain, Writing

Old habits, rejuvenated

June 15, 2016 Charles Leave a comment

Beltane Moon of the Summer Solstice

crow hill cafe — Home cooking in Park County, near Bailey

Slowly getting back into cooking using NYT recipes. A tomato and pomegranate salad I made Sunday received an encore performance for Kate’s quilting group. The eight women that showed up left only a spoonful to take home. The best kind of praise.

Today I’m marinating leg of lamb to make Jerusalem shawarma. This one required some herbs and spices we didn’t have so I had to go to a spice shop. A fun place.

I used to cook a lot and enjoyed it; but, after Kate’s retirement, we slipped into a habit of her cooking. Rectifying that requires some rearrangement of my day since I normally work out around 4 p.m., a good time to cook supper.

Learned last night that Seth and Hannah will not be taking the logs from the backyard. Seth’s done a lot of fire mitigation, too, and has plenty. That means I’ve got to figure out something to do with a hell a lot of wood. It’s work I would have had to do if they hadn’t been in the picture, but I’d hoped they would relieve me of a lot of it. Not gonna happen. Still noodling this one.

freshman year — Still this guy, 55 years later

The flow of work, Latin and novels and reimagining, has slowed to a trickle since late March: Asia, Vega, iconetectomy on Ancientrails, then wildfire mitigation. This week or next, probably next, I’ll start up again.

Like restarting workouts I’ve found it’s best for me if I start slowly, build toward a full morning of work. I’m excited to return to intellectual work though I’ve enjoyed the hiatus.

Physical labor has its own rewards, not least among them a mindfulness required when using sharp objects and lifting heavy weights.