November

The NaNo project is being wrapped up and filed away for safe keeping until after the holidays.

Hubby's photo art is being packed away to await another show.
The outdoor work has been completed for this year.
Our bikes have been loaded into the trailer for winter storage.

November draws to a close.

NaNoWriMo is done.  

The art show is done. 

And it would seem that bike-riding is finally done.

November is done for another year.

...

So how did it go?

Was it a good one?

Successful?

...

NaNo was a success again this year in that I wrote 55 thousand words of new material.  

Is it a jumble?  For sure.

Is it usable?  I think so. I hope so.  I feel pretty good about this year’s project and rather hopeful about its potential. In fact, I have even noticed a sense of urgency and timeliness in getting it ready to publish in some form as soon as possible. 

The art show was a success in many ways.  

It was fun.

It was well-received by the cafe crowd.

And it was profitable in terms of sales.

An all-around success.

             Thank you, Good Beans Cafe.

And bike-riding...?

Well, we never expected that we'd be able to ride in November so every excursion was bonus.

So November is done.

Our focus shifts...

To the Christmas season and to the winter beyond.

There is much anticipation for both.  

New adventures await.

Farewell, sweet November.

You’ve been good to us.

You have created a whole new bunch of memories for us.

You have even surprised us with some bike riding weather.

You have introduced us to new friends and invited us to new discoveries. 

We are grateful.

Halfway there!

I just crossed the halfway point in my NaNoWriMo* project. This is my eighth year to participate in NaNo and the writing has been flowing pretty well. I have been sticking to my word count goal of 2000 words/day in order to make it to the 50,000 word goal for the month of November.

It is always interesting to see what direction the writing will go.  

A couple times I had a pretty defined plan or outline for the writing.

Many years I have gone into the month without much direction.

This year I had a plan - or at least I thought I did.  I wrote along that plan for the first few days and then got stuck.  As I attempted to keep cranking out the words, it seemed that I had changed directions.  I have since had to admit that I might have two very different books here.  And that’s okay. I’ll just keep typing and try to label things enough that I can separate them upon completion.

…

The original plan was to write about my new city - to share first impressions of Flint and our first few months living here.  I’m still excited about that project and moving forward with it. Working on that theme has pushed me to do research and to keep checking out more of what is around here.  I keep reading, I keep talking to people and mostly I keep listening - all of which help me to keep learning about this fascinating city.  

For example, in just the last few weeks we have checked out Applewood and Sloan Museum and taken in the first of hopefully many concerts at Flint Institute of Music.  

Flint ArtWalk takes places on the second Friday of every month and we’ve just participated for our second time - sort of.  More about that later...

The Holiday Walk over in the College Cultural Area sounds pretty cool so we will go with our students.  

On my walk yesterday I stopped at the U of M library - which has been on my list for awhile - but I had been nudged a bit by a picture one of our students posted recently.  Sure enough I found the spot where he shot it - overlooking the river and several prominent buildings that have become important to us and our life here.

Not surprisingly the library has dozens of little reading and writing nooks.  I LOVE finding spots like that and look forward to hanging out there from time to time.  They even had a sign near the door about NaNoWriMo and I learned that the guy at the information desk is a fellow Wrimo - so that was fun.

Possibly the biggest task in learning our surroundings is the food scene.  I was told that I would always be an outsider until trying a Flint Coney dog - so I have taken steps to rectify that while checking off one more restaurant from the list of places we want to try.  That list is really long and we are not making very fast progress because once we find a place we like, we want to go back there again and again.  But we will force ourselves to keep working through that list.  What a happy chore!

The list gets rearranged from time to time - as we listen and learn.  This week, I discovered that the son of one of our new friends is a chef downtown and we’ve heard rave reviews so I guess Churchill’s has just been bumped up a little higher on the list.

In fact we decided to tackle the list today - to see what we can learn about Chinese take-out.  Success - 1.5 miles from our house!  Yay! Sure enough, it’s a tough task.

…

Meanwhile National Novel Writers Month continues and I keep typing toward the goal of 50,000 words during the month of November.

I’m feeling good about being halfway there with a few days to spare.

And I’m enjoying the process - of writing AND of getting to know my city better.

...

*NaNoWriMo = National Novel Writing Month

Thousands of participants around the world commit to write at least 50,000 words during the month of November.  And then the editing process begins in December and beyond.

Amazing Day #31: Much to learn

I probably should not have taken on this challenge this year.

I was already over-committed.

WHAT was I thinking?

I guess I thought it seemed like a good thing.

A noble thing even.

To challenge myself to look for the amazing.

And yes, it has been a most excellent exercise.

It has been good for me - to force myself to take notice.

To discipline myself to articulate the thoughts.

And I did it.

I succeeded.

I finished.

’Twas an accomplishment.

…

I guess I can admit that it was a good thing and still admit that it was probably not a wise choice.

Once again I’ve been reminded that I cannot do all the good things.

Duh.
I'm still learning - or at least I hope I am - because I still have much to learn.

Maybe some day I’ll get to the point where I recognize this kind of wisdom BEFORE I take on something else.  

Now THAT would be amazing.

Amazing Day #30: Awesome

I keep thinking of that word.
Awesome.

During this month of amazing days...
Of watching for the amazing...
The word "awesome" often comes to mind.
That which inspires awe.
Or expresses awe.

Some think we over-use this word.

That we use it flippantly.

I suppose that could be true, but it’s a good word.

An important word.

There are lots of things in this life that inspire awe.

That evoke appreciation and gratitude.

That cause us to stop and notice.

I do not take this thing or this word lightly, but I do wish to notice the awesome.

I choose to watch for it.  

Sometimes even to search for it.

I think it is a worthwhile quest.
…

There is also much in this life that is not good or great.

There is much that is wrong.

Oppression and injustice are rampant.

It is easy for me to focus on the bad or the downright awful.

Yes, I’ve written about that before because the struggle is real.

Pessimism comes quite naturally for me.  Perhaps for most of us.

Worry, frustration, fear, and even panic can settle over us too quickly.

...

So which will I look for?

As much as I can manage to do so, I will think on the good things.

The things that are noble and true and right.

The pure.

The lovely.

The admirable.

The excellent and praiseworthy.

I will think on such things.

Amazing Day #29: the world in my kitchen

Plans change.

A trip to an apple orchard was scheduled.

Weather forecast called for rain.

Alternate plan: homemade pizza.

Hubby offers to teach students how to make pizza.

Three students say they can come and later cancel.

Will there be enough people to make it worthwhile?

Word spreads. 

More people sign up.

Will the house be too crowded?

Who knows what will happen?

Pizza time comes and so do the students - one, two or five at a time. They barely fit in our kitchen - from at least five countries.

They watch and listen. The brave ones make their own pizza.

We eat pizza.

And salad.

And chocolate zucchini cake.

The pizza mess is cleared off the kitchen table to accommodate a world map jigsaw puzzle - and discussion about Hinduism, Judaism and Christianity.

Chess players draw the heirloom rocking chairs close as they concentrate on the chess board perched on my old piano stool between them. 

Meanwhile peals of laughter come from the studio where others play Uno.  I shake my head in amazement and delight to hear the lively discussions flowing between English and Mandarin.

I find myself marveling about this amazing privilege.

I am SO grateful that we can live in this house and can host the world in our kitchen.