Winners

So JJ won again - and at Bristol, of all tracks - a place where he's never been good. He's won three of the last six races? Something like that...which leads one to believe he's going to take his fifth championship barring tsunamis, volcanoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. What's the sense in getting ticked off about it?

The point is that we're seeing history. One day we'll look back and say, "golly, I saw the champ in his heyday" and it'll be cool. Whenever someone is at the top of his or her craft/profession, from Nora Roberts to George Strait, we should be proud to be around when their game is on and the players are winning. Even if it gets a bit boring, LOL, to see the same names over and over in front of the fireworks.

Speaking of being in the game, the weather has turned and the garden sings its siren song. Can't wait for the azaleas. Forsythia and daffodils are just out.

So what's normal?

Our whey-faced weatherman tells me we're barely three-quarters of an inch over the average rainfall for this year. He lies. Ditches and runoff rage, the river runs at flood stage, and this is our new norm. I feel as if I've moved to Seattle, not a pleasant prospect. Give me sun and heat, a steady dose of humidity, and I'm happy as a clam. Clam-like, I am definitely not.

By the way, I just read an article in which the phrase 'baited breath' was prominent. Please, it's "bated," not baited. Every hook that's been baited in this house is used to try for a fish, not breath.

No racing this weekend. One the one hand, it means Brad K didn't get his chance for payback on Crazy Carl. On the other hand, it means Bad Brad has had two weeks to stoke the fires, something he's doing quite well. When he says he's not backing down, I believe the lad. The true upside of all this is the fans have another topic to discuss, other than Jimmie Johnson's dominance.

Daylight savings time drives me nuts. Why do they do this to us? The animals have no idea why they aren't being fed at their usual hour, so I just keep them on their schedules, not the government's. My mini-forms of rebellion are so tame, it's embarrassing.

The Artist's Way

I'm re-reading Julia Cameron's book, THE ARTIST'S WAY. Haven't looked at it for years, so it's coming thru as new. Really loving how spiritual it is. Some of my favorite quotes so far:

"Creative work is play. It is free speculation using the materials of one's chosen form." Stephen Nachmanovitch

"In a dark time, the eye begins to see." Theodore Roethke (one of my fav poets)

"It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult." Seneca

Being daring, seeing in a dark time, allowing one's self the permission to play with the work, drive the process for me and are the hardest to allow myself to do. Note to self: quite blithering about and just DO IT!

Dick Francis

One of my author heroes has gone to the great writers conference of eternity. Part of me is devastated that I won't have a new Dick Francis book every December, the other part is grateful he left the racetrack to become a writer in the first place. I have a copy of every single one of his books, and I'm going to start re-reading them. Living a long and honorable life is eulogy enough, and Dick Francis deserves every accolade he ever achieved.

Sharon Sala gave a talk years ago about writing the perfect hero, and used romance (her genre) heros as examples. Immediately, Dick Francis' men of good heart, decent manners, and honorable actions came to my mind. So when I got home, I picked up a few Francis books randomly, and listed the characteristic that made me want to marry one of his heroes. (My husband is very like many of the Francis men, so I'm one lucky woman.) Each and every Francis hero strives to do the right thing no matter what the personal cost, including losing a hand. (Sid, you're one tough dude.) Though Francis wrote mysteries, anyone can learn from his body of work. Pacing, dialogue, tension, plotting - he did it all very well indeed. Rumor has it that his wife, Mary, was a silent co-author, and if so, good for them. Whatever it takes to write a great book, is my motto.

Dick Francis wrote great books that hold up well. Years from now, I bet writing conferences and degree programs will be holding seminars on his body of work.

I'll still miss him.

And Daytona is in the books...

Jamie McMurray deserves every bit of joy he earned with the title of Daytona champion last Sunday. Brutal is the only way to describe that race. Seven hours and counting. . . if I'd been in the stands, I would have gone home long before the final green/white checkered flag. Still, everyone did the best they could with an unrepentant pot hole, and tempers were unusually checked. All in all, a good race. Now we can get down to the long season and see if JJ can keep it together. I'm all for the underdog - the Bobby Labontes in underfunded cars, Tommy Baldwin Racing, etc., but that flash of brilliance from someone coming out of Chip Ganassi's stable is cool.

Despite snow clinging to the ground, I'm thinking Spring! It's my only hope of sanity, LOL. If I can finish the first draft of SIGNS before the gardening gets going in earnest, it'll be a fitting reward for a long, hard winter of cold and icky weather.

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day. My honey and I were headed for a Daytona party, and on the way, encountered a gentleman who'd fallen on hard times. Buying him a burger was our privilege. As a country we can do more for those who need help, and it starts with us. We can't wait for the government to do the job, and shouldn't. "The Blind Side" taught some relevant lessons about caring for others, and I recommend it to everyone. Yes, we are our brothers' keepers.

Will it ever stop snowing?

Enough is enough. It's time to shut down the winter weather and do some serious drying out. Saw dump trucks tipping loads of snow over the bridge railing, into the river this afternoon, a sight I have NEVER SEEN in this city. I'm worried about my azaleas and gardenia bushes - they've never had this much snow piled on them before. The back yard is a total loss - it's a given that we have to start over when it finally warms up.

Enough of the complaining, right? Time to do some work. Back to the book, SIGNS, now that the Super Bowl is over. Great game! The Bud Shootout was fun, the ARCA race fascinating because of the number of women running it (7), including the peripatetic Danica. Alli Owens gets my attention. You go, girl!

With Daytona less than a week away, I'm feeling like there's light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Racing will happen, the snow will melt, and someday we'll see grass again, leaves on the trees, and get to complain about the heat.

And the snows came. . .

You'd think we live in Minnesota or Wisconsin. A place where people love snow. Where white-outs are the norm. But the South? Today is just nuts - the snow is falling so fast, I can't see the street in front of the house. We never have this weather, but guess what? It's hammering us now with a vengeance. Fortunately, the dog thinks this white stuff was invented for her amusement, and going outside isn't the nightmare I thought it would be. Now if I enjoyed it half as much as our Jack Russell Terrorist. . . .

I should tackle another house project, but I think I'll curl up in front of the fireplace with James Lee Burke's TIN ROOF BLOWDOWN. So far it's tough reading - his description of what happened in New Orleans with Katrina chills me to the bone. I'm afraid I'm not brave enough to read this book, but I'll give it a good try. Snowy days are made for pots of hot tea, scones with honey, a good book, and the cat on my lap. The book shelf can wait for a clear-out for another day. Besides, I really don't want to weed out any of my 'keepers.'

Oh, the oddest and most interesting thing happened. I was researching WW II stories for a character in SIGNS, who is an old soldier, and quite by accident found a Stars and Stripes article from 1945 that mentioned my grandfather in an account of the 11th
Armored in Europe. As another way to avoid writing (my list could fill a barn), I decided to put my grandfather's name into Bing. Lo and behold, I saw a nine year old posting from a lady who was looking for information on my gf for her family tree. Talk about surprises! Her email addy was current, and we've been exchanging what information we have. The power of the Internet is astounding.