Field trip

Maybe this is doing things backwards, but maybe not.

Yesterday, I took a trip down to Waco with Heather and the kids. Waco is the setting for the story I've been working on for most of this year, and while I have driven through Waco and ventured about half a block off I-35 for McDonald's and potty breaks on the way to other places, I have never spent a significant amount of time there. Perhaps it seems strange, then, that I'm setting an entire story there.

Yeah, a little. But, on the other hand, it just works. I needed a smallish city within a fairly short distance of Austin, preferably a college town. I would have used Abilene, because I am far too intimately acquainted with that city, having gone to college there, but the location and proximity to Austin wasn't quite right. I did figure, however, that the feel of Waco would be similar to Abilene. Guess what? I was right. And it works for my story.

We drove around all afternoon with a one- and three-year-old entertained by their portable DVD screens playing Baby Einstein over ... and over ... and over again. Heather drove so I could keep my digital camera handy, and it was satisfying to find several locations that looked (pretty much) exactly as I had pictured them for my story. I was also able to get a good feel for the "lay of the land," which helps with small details as my characters travel here and there in the story.

A huge flock of birds had descended on the small shopping area where we made a quick stop before heading out of town to come home. One-year-old Darcy and I stood in the parking lot at one point and just gazed up, amazed as the flock flew back and forth over our heads. The birds were almost a solid black cloud above us. (Fortunately, Darcy does not have the same associations with "The Birds" most people my age do. She was more entertained than scared.) Alas, the odds of getting pooped on suddenly occurred to me, so we ran under an overhang to watch for a few more minutes while Heather lugged the stroller and Ian out of the car.

We figured out the town was trying to move the birds because the noise of shotguns startled us as we watched. I guess the mess and nuisance of such a large flock of birds is bothersome in downtown areas, so they hire people to frighten the birds with shotguns, which eventually moves them along. (To another city? Heh.) I'd be scared, too.

Anyway, it was a good trip, and a day of work for the story that was different and fun. Mixing things up a bit is usually a good way to pick up steam.