Daily Archives: August 15, 2012

Dogs, Politics

Grrr. Ruffff.

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Lugnasa                                                                   Hiroshima Moon

The Hiroshima Moon has begun to fade.  Next up will be the Garlic Planting Moon.  The Hiroshima Moon made me aware, the whole month, of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The insanity of nuclear weapons.  Then, the insanity of using them.  Then, the insanity of stockpiling them.  Now, the proliferation of nuclear states.  I think I’ll keep the Hiroshima Moon in my naming list, just for the reminder.  Never forget.

Vega and Rigel have a new hobby, digging under the orchard fence.  There are now six such attempts, two have achieved break through.  At one point this kind of thing amused me.  Me against the dog.  Human mind against canine.  Now it frustrates me.  A lot.

These two, sisters never separated since birth, act in unison.  Rigel digs, then she rests and Vega digs.  A hundred pound plus dog can move a hell of a lot of sand.  A lot.  Grrrr.  Ruffff.

 

Art and Culture, Asia, Bees, Feelings, Writing

A Peat Bog

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Lugnasa                                                        Hiroshima Moon

This has been a down August for me.  Still slogging through molasses.  Only bursts of energy, clarity.  Don’t like it.  Doesn’t seem to be much I can do about it.  One foot in front of the other.

Worked all morning on Missing.  Right now I’m summarizing chapters, creating character bios and defining scenes.  The result will be an outline with chapter summaries and a read through, quick, yes, but still a read through.  Once the read through is done and all chapters summarized, I’ll be ready to start working on Loki’s Children.

When that comes, my days will be Missing revision, writing Loki’s children, translating Latin and the occasional tour.  Hoping that I will get assigned to the terracotta warrior show since I’m prepared already for Qin Shi Huang-Di and the rise of the Qin dynasty.

Right now all this sounds too much, but a hold over from the days of salaried work is a good work ethic once I’m clear on where I’m going.  That means I’ll keep going.

The bees.  Dejected, yes.  Defeated, no.  Last year I decided I would buy packages, build up the colonies and take the honey they produced, all of it, including their winter stores, then start over again the next year.  This was partly a response to difficulty over-wintering bees, partly to mite loads.  Fail.

So.  I have to look at this a first year project, in which case I have one colony, the aggressive one, that will have plenty of honey and brood for the upcoming winter.  The other, the less active one, had, today, brood.  Surprise!  They must have swarmed earlier and created a new queen.  Not sure right now how to encourage them through the winter, but I’ll find out.  If the strong colony produces any extra honey, I’ll give it to the weak one.