We got a later start than I'd hoped, leaving at 8:30 a.m. to return from my parent's home in Arkansas to Texas. We spent our 4 1/2 hour drive watching for hawks. We saw dozens, perched on trees, on telephone poles, and flying in mid-air. Some looked obese, readied for leaner pickings in winter. One sparrow hawk looked roughly sparrow-size. I just love hawks--I don't know why.
We also saw buzzrds circling everywhere, but they do not spark the same affection in me.
We listened to Yes' Fragile album, and the long-version of "Roundabout" still seemed campy and wonderful to me. We stopped at a truck stop for a rest and sodas break, and the man in the cowboy hat next to me in line quizzed the counter clerk about the different price levels of "scratcher" lottery tickets. We listened to Springsteen sing "Rosalita", and as always, I sang along as best as I could when we got to the part about how it was time to make a fine romance, because the record company has just given me a big advance. We passed Villa Maria, the giant mansion just off the interstate, which has some Christmas decorations up already. A sign at one home advertised "wolf pups for sale", while Soul Man's Barbecue assured us in mass billboard advertising that it now served breakfast. We stopped by my office and picked up my car, and then each got home by one. I began to read a novel someone had e mailed me, which I enjoyed so much that I was half-finished when I took a break to watch Audrey Hepburn in "Wait Until Dark". This is a movie I see in fragments regularly--I believe I have seen it all, but I have never seen it all in one sitting. It's such a nice film--the choreography is fascinating, as the actors must make it obvious to the audience that a scam is in place while theoretically fooling the heroine. It's not believable at all, in real world terms, but sometimes a movie will create its own world in which pumpkins can indeed turn into coaches.
I took a walk in the little pocket park next to our home. Neighbors were all putting up holiday lights and decorations. I thought at first an uninflated inflatable Santa was a parody of a Santa in a grave, but I suppose that only shows that I have not yet left Halloween entirely behind. I saw a killdeer running by the little pond. When I came close, it called to a mate, and both ran from me, in separate directions, until both flew away in unison. I could not see mosquito fish in the pond; the chilly weather must have sent them deeper than usual. Our winter is not as severe as most places, but we do get some real chill. Today felt much more like December 1, while two weeks ago could have passed for May 15.
I did a first revision on the bit of creative writing I did last month, and e mailed a draft off to someone. I also made two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I am pleased I did not fully gorge myself this weekend, but I did over-eat slightly. It was nice to settle into something simple for lunch.
I wish December to be a productive month. I want to produce work,
mail out holiday cards, get dozens of hobby loose ends tied, and exercise vigorously. I really have gotten my New Year's resolutions in gear well before New Year's.
Thanks to the immense kindness of my wife, I got to watch a tape of last Tuesday's Buffy over the weekend. Now that I have this season's Buffy plot in focus, I feel that nothing can stand in my way.