Monday Morning Musings
Posted on January 19, 2015 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet
Note the huge tree hanging over the street at the top of the hill
Walking the hilly streets of San Francisco a few weeks ago brought back vivid memories of the 1968 Steve McQueen movie, “Bullitt.” It was filmed in San Fran and was memorable for some of the most amazing chase scenes. If you have a couple of minutes, take a peek at this YouTube clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31JgMAHVeg0
So, Betty decided to abandon me this weekend. Imagine, choosing a grandchild over a spouse. Unthinkable, really ! After getting over the shock of being alone and forced to watch hockey games and a couple of football games , I decided to buckle down and get some things done.
The big trip is over and I decided that if I was going to do a major story, this might just be the best time, while it’s fresh in my mind and while I have no one home. As you might imagine, I kept a daily log of the trip that I updated at the end of each day… just odds and ends and things that caught my attention. While I have a reasonably good memory, It’s not possible to remember everything I saw in the 17 days that we were on the road.
I started writing Saturday morning at 7:00 and decided that I would need a healthy dose of discipline if I was going to get it done in one weekend. I went to the stove and set the timer for 45 minutes and got started. When the timer went off, I stopped and gave myself a 15 minute break. I repeated this until noon and then took an hour lunch break. Two more hours and I was making too many mistakes , so I shut it down for the day. I got up Sunday and three hours later, it was completed. The final word count will be around 5200 words. Considering that most of my stories are in the 500 word range, this was by far my biggest project to date. It will take quite a while to edit and then I plan to release it in its entirety. I am hoping to include several of Peter’s awesome photos. “ Transcontinental Travel Tips – A Journey With My Son.” Stay tuned. You might need two cups of coffee to get through this one.
I am starting to formulate a story about aging. In many ways, those of us in our sixties ( and beyond ) , are probably as confident as we’re ever going to get. We’ve seen a lot, done a lot and made a lot of mistakes…. at least I have. We are, by and large, comfortable in our own skin.
But there are other parts that sometimes leave us wondering. We’re not as sure on our feet, especially in the winter time. Our vision is not as sharp and many of us dread night time driving. And our hearing is not as acute as it once was. Some of our spouses would argue that our hearing hasn’t been sharp for a long time! Anyway, think I’ll take a stab at this topic in the next week or so.
Oh yes, some of you were wondering why Peter has decided to spend the winter months in Victoria. The last three days around here pretty well sums it up. – 30 on Saturday and + 9 and rain forecast for today. Say no more.
Have a great week.
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