Found a box of my old Star Wars books in the storage building while having to reorganize, so I’ve put them up on the shelves! I’ve missed having these guys on display and available to read. One day, I’ll get my collection back to the point it was before I started bouncing around the country. I have some 30-40 books left to find or buy.
I may be wary of birds, especially while out delivering mail, but sometimes they’re just too pretty or impressively deadly for me to ignore.
This big guy, either a large Louisiana brown hawk or a young golden eagle, swooped nearby and took over a shade tree. I promptly walked away, as it was staring at me as if considering (which has happened before, and why I’m good at the duck-and-roll bit), but I had to get a few shots of it.
My iPhone doesn’t do it justice. Gorgeous raptor. Keeping an eye on the trees, now.
When I was learning how to drive, I started on an old truck that was a manual transmission. When I was learning, I was told that it was pretty much like driving a tractor.
Welp, it took about 20 years, but thanks to my father-in-law, I can make the comparison.
Gotta say, it’s a bit more difficult than driving a truck, but similar enough for muscle memory to kick in. Now, learning how to drive the tractor and work the bush hog at the same time? That was a challenge.
Still working on getting all of my writing projects done, but now I have a proper priority list, so I can go down the line and get the work finished.
In the meantime, managed to catch a decent sunset moment, so enjoy the pretty!
In what I can only assume is my way of processing grief, I was moved by a statement from my wife while she and the kids were looking at the animals in the pet store (needed litter box cleaning supplies): “Oh look, this hamster is old! She’s probably already at her halfway point.”
I looked at the thing, decided it was cute, and my daughter needed a pet to take care of. That third part is my rationalizing so I don’t have to think that I’m taking in an old critter so I can process the grief of my grandfather’s death.
So, meet the newest thing to take on my surname: Daisy.
My 5yr has been getting up between 4-5AM and wants to talk to me. This means I’m being woken up a couple hours before my usual alarm.
We have a 45-minute drive to town after my son is dropped off, so she usually naps in the car while I, in my sleep-deprived state, am scowling at the highway traffic.
Little did she know that she got some of her smartassery from her father, who likes to plan ahead.
She was wide awake for morning drop-off today!
*cackle*
It was during one of the harsher storms a couple years ago, when the power was out and we were on the waiting list to get it restored. I had turned on the generator to keep the fridge powered, but there was a second plug and it was just me and the boy in the house for the day.
He asked me if he could watch Star Wars. He knows I love that universe but hadn’t seen anything of it at this point. I knew he’d watch Episode I, because the young Anakin looks so much like himself and his old man, and it was this moment that I knew he’d be watching with intent.
It’s a lot of fun, being a nerdy father and getting your kids to enjoy the nerdy things you do.
Happy late night Father’s Day, folks.
It’s a bitter irony that the reason I keep forgetting to do a daily blog writing is because I keep working on other writings meant to be posted here. But hopefully, I’ll start paying attention to the notification this thing sends me to sit down and put together some ramblings of what I’ve seen through the day.
That said, there’s been progress! Four new players have reached out to me with wanting to join in the Star Wars campaigns and I am deliriously excited to see what kind of stories they’ll bring to the overall timeline.
That and they probably knew I wouldn’t say “no”. They’re willing to not buck the Expanded Universe timeline so it can still be a resource for everyone, so I’m willing to add them to my list of “Things to write about”.
The story-writings have been slow, but they have been growing! Hit a rough snag while outlining the novella, but I went back to my old creative-writing notes and figured out the problem: writing fundamentals. The chapter that had the snags was meant to be one where the protagonist proved his trustworthiness while still being very mercenary. Took a bit before I figured it out: add more punches instead of dialogue. Hopefully I can start writing it out in full by Sunday.
The Sidewinder story is in dire need of attention, so after I’ve gotten a start on the novella (at least the first chapter) I’ll put everything else down until I finish Adventure 1 and post it.
With those updates, have a look at the turtle who fell out of a tree yesterday and smacked me in the head while out on the route. I have no idea how he got up there, but I do know, now, just how much pain a turtle kamikaze can cause.
With that, it’s back to the mail, readers. Hoping you all have a good weekend.
-Swift
So, we’ve had a kitten show up on our back porch. Little girl was starved, flea-infested, and terrified of everything that breathed. It’s been two weeks and she’s flea-free, a healthy weight, and now comfortable with me picking her up. But she’s been wary of the dogs, and I suspect for good reason. But my dogs are all old and patient, so I’m letting the feral kitten (named Lyssa for her rage) sit with the old dogs and get used to them.
Update: she’s sleepy and mad that she can’t unleash her fury when comfortable in the little cat stand we have.
We have a vet visit today, and we’re hoping for better news than last time. Sometimes, Casey forgets that he’s not a puppy anymore and thinks he can still sit everywhere he used to, if he tries hard enough. He’s too adorable for me to tell him otherwise, though he does not approve of the seat belt.
Swift's Corner 