September Sweeps - Day 231

I'm not sure where today went.  I guess I had catch-up work to do, then I ran over to the grocery store with my mom, and afterward hit the library before I had to go south for my nephew's tenth birthday party.  I wrote about a thousand words on the story today--the one that *has* to be good--and I gotta say: it just isn't.

There may be irony there, I don't know.  

The thing is, I'm still going to write it out to the end, and if it sucks, we'll it'll make for an interesting Patreon address where I have to explain to my supporters what I did with my One Big Chance.  I'll have a devil of a time living down this failure, if it turns out to be a failure . . . but at least I finished another story.

Sit-ups Today: 150
Sit-ups In September: 2812

Push-ups Today: 42
Push-ups In September: 675

The sit-ups things never don't suck.  I usually do fine for the first twenty or so, but after that, it becomes a okay-today's-the-day-I'm-gonna-quit-doing-these-right kind of thing.  My uncle would tell me that it's not that I'm doing too many, it's that I'm not doing them often enough.  I imagine.  If I asked him, he'd probably just show me how many he can do.

It was my nephew's birthday party this afternoon.  He had it at his grandpa's farm again, and I stupidly hoped that pretty college girl would be there again today.  She was not, since she's not also ten (they all went there last weekend to celebrate the grandfather's eighty-sixth birthday, and I didn't go . . . but I bet she was there then).  The kids had fun running around and screaming and seeing the animals.  I spent a good twenty minutes pulling up vegetation and feeding it to horses, big and small.

I've talked about my brother-in-law's farm before, but I'm sure I never mentioned that my grandparents lived in the next town over, and used to take me to the same farm when I was a little boy, pre-kindergarten.  I only vaguely remember that, and even then, after my mom told me this was the same place.

There are no neighbors, and there's something like time travel there, even though they recently installed a cellphone tower in the town, so you can call and text, despite it looking like Hoover is President when you look outside.

We didn't spend a lot of time there, because my mom was eager to get going (my uncle brought his children too, and I could tell he wanted to take off just as soon, but wasn't able because his monsters were enjoying themselves too much.  

Afterward, my mom and I drove past what used to be our house (we sold it about a year ago exactly), and it looked exactly the same as it had for these many years, except there was a black hose out in front instead of a green one, as God intended.  It was strange to drive past it and know that some other family was living there, but it hasn't really felt like home for a long, long time.*

We left town, and drove through the city where my cousin lives.  The sunset was super orange and creepy tonight, beautiful but also indicative of what our air is full of.  I was driving, but saw it in my rear view mirror and had to snap a picture (I pulled the car over first).  It turned out pretty good.

I did intend to record tonight, and set the microphone up and everything . . . but then I forgot about it for a few minutes, and when I remembered again, it was after one am, and I knew it just wouldn't be worth trying (my performances are always either mediocre or downright unusable when I'm struggling with falling asleep).  I'd apologize, if I thought that it would make a difference, or make you listen.

Words Today: 1050
Words In September: 20,637

A lot of people say that Facebook is bad, and I know a bunch of people who have deleted their accounts.  I quite enjoy Facebook, and waste a few minutes on it nearly every single day.  However, amid all the ads, identity mining, and political diatribes, there has been something negative lately with Facebook, namely people uploading pictures of cats.

It's really damaging to young people, and it has to stop.

In order to combat this epidemic, just a little, I posted this today:

We all do our part, no matter how small.

R.B.O.

*It was a couple of years ago, when I'd have to drive down every Tuesday to mow the lawns, that I came up with the Ben Parks story I now call "A Sidekick's Errand."  I remember being so excited about it that I actually stopped the lawnmower and ran into the house so I could jot down the idea.  And here we are in 2020, and I finished that story just this year, in Plague Year 2020.  If only 2017 me could see me now.

HIM: What?  It took you three years to finish it?  A short story?
ME: It might have been four years.  I don't know if it was 2018 or 2016 that you got the idea.

HIM: Well, you got it done at least.  What did people think of it?
ME: Oh, I haven't shared it with anybody.

HIM: Some things never change.

ME: But I will.

HIM: I'll believe it when I see it.

ME: I'm trying, though.  That's the important thing.

HIM: I suppose so.  And what's this about Plague Year 2020?  Is that a joke?

ME: Yes.  Sort of.
HIM: Sort of?
ME: Exactly.  Just wear your mask, okay?
HIM: What the fu--