Monday, February 5, 2024
Waylon’s first birthday party was on Saturday. The theme was My First Rodeo. Ray and I had a quick and wonderful Texas visit.
Matt left this morning for Columbia. He’s traveling with a Columbian family doing mission work and sightseeing.
The weather’s been pretty nice for February.
Tuesday, February 6, 2024
News coverage of flood-ravaged California with mudslides and home-slides affected my dreams. I dreamed a big truck crashed into my Jeep in raging rapids from swollen waterways. It’s probably good that my California trip with Stephanie was canceled. The downpour would have impacted our travel arrangements.
Monday, February 12, 2024
The Kansa City Chiefs won the Superbowl yesterday. The game was very exciting and went into overtime.
It snowed here most of the day. We got around five inches, I think. The sun is shining now, and it’s forty degrees.
I finished The Dragon’s Foot manuscript a few minutes ago. I’ve done all I know to do so it’s ready for professional editing. Now I’ll return to working on my screenplay, The Enclosure, and work on completing it. It’s exciting to have something behind me and a fresh project to focus on. I hope 2024 will be my year to get a contract!
Monday, February 19, 2024
I’m writing from Hot Springs, AR today. I feel blessed to live in these beautiful hills and for the opportunity to drive around northern Arkansas and southern Missouri. The trees, hills, ridges, and hollows are becoming familiar, and I have memories of them in all four seasons. This is a spectacular place.
Steph has this afternoon off and we’re going running around. It usually rains when I’m here, but the weather’s supposed to be sunny and nice this week. I leave for home on Friday morning.
Thursday, February 22, 2024
Phone service for AT&T customers was down across the US for a few hours today. Local (AR) TV news said it was likely due to solar flares. I was a little concerned about waking up to my phone saying SOS when I tried to call Ray. Yesterday in the hotel parking lot, I heard the emergency siren test. In Texas, we called them tornado warning sirens. In Hot Springs—maybe most cities have increased their tech—they said audibly that it was only a test, not an actual emergency. In the old days, the test was a tone heard over the radio. Now it’s through the air, and not on the air. Little surprises me after 2020.
I’ve had a great time here with Steph. We go our separate ways tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 27, 2024
We’re having a heat wave with today’s high of 82. But a cool front is on the way and tomorrow’s high is 52.
You never know what you’ll see on the ridge. Yesterday, I saw a pot-bellied pig rooting through a bag of garbage. It made me chuckle. When I told Ray about it, he said he’d seen it a few times. Classy.