Good together

Latest writing news...
I never got a printout from Office Depot for assorted silly reasons, but I finally printed my manuscript to PDF Friday and started reading it that way. I could NOT leave stuff alone otherwise. The result is I had only made it through about 80 pages in about two weeks. My original plan was to read it straight through after making a few big fixes, just to get a gut reaction to the whole story now that it's fermented for a while. But no, the editor part of me just goes a little crazy given the opportunity.

On PDF, I have the ability to highlight passages that bug me, and I can use the commenting tool here and there if I want to, but it sure is less tempting. So, we'll see what happens this week. I ought to be able to get through the whole thing before Friday, I'd think, although I did take on a little contract editing work this week just for kicks. (Yeah, the money's nice, too.) That should only take me a few hours, maybe four at the most.

So, to those of you who have asked lately about the book--
First, thanks for asking. Really. It means a lot to me. And ... that's the status. Not much to report, but it's going well, little by little.

Moving on to my beauties. Seems like in Spring, everything and everyone wants to pair up. As I've driven or walked in the neighborhood the last few days, the things that have jumped out at me are all the things in twos. I guess the beautiful weather (between storms, anyway) and optimism that come with Spring just make us want to get together with others and celebrate it. Like ...

1) The trees whose branches meet above my head in the street, touching leafy fingers and noses and ears as they gossip about what's going on below.

2) The older couple out for their daily constitutional, dressed in their matching sweatsuits and walking a pair of matched poodles.

3) Two carloads of teenaged boys, stopped at an intersection with their windows down, hollering about where they're headed.

4) A father and preschool son, pulling weeds together in a yard, the dad with an overflowing sack, the boy with enough pride on his face to make up for his mostly flat one.

5) A girl and boy, about five years old, taking synchronized scooter rides down a driveway, over and over. Each time, yelling "Bombs away!"--a tiny, but welcome speck of innocence in our war-weary world.

How about you? When it's Spring, who do you want to hang out with?

(Hey, April's nearly half over. If you're sick of the beauties, we're halfway there! But I still challenge you to pay attention to what's around you, every single day.)

I know you're good for me

You change me like the weather

You change me for the better

We're good together

(David Wilcox/Good Together)