Giant Toads and Shooting Stars
Jul. 12th, 2004 09:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorse...also a surprise rainbow, some decent lightning, some good horse time, much siesta, and a sufficient amount of Pages.
That was Sunday and part of Saturday, post-lesson neep. Saturday afternoon we had rain--.15 inch, no less; the inch of toad-strangler hit west of us again. However it cleared up enough by evening that I was able to get in a ride on da Pook, and it was a most excellent ride. Riding after lessons is turning out to be a good idea. I have the lesson fresh in my mind, we've discussed Pooka even while working with someone else, and I'm primed to relax and let him show me how to do it. The rein problem is fading fast (thank god) and his trot work is getting more balanced and less panicky. We actually managed some trot circles, which look simple but are very difficult to do correctly. He's starting to allow as how I can, like, help him balance. And his trot under saddle is getting less freaky and easier to stay with--I don't boing onto his neck as much in the transitions.
Sunday was Very hot--104 in town, humidity to match. Evaporative coolers have trouble with this. They do not evaporate, therefore do not cool well. Every year someone says I should get a window a/c, but I have those narrow vertical windows and vertical units are pricey. There's always something else to spend the money on. So I end up flopped on the couch in front of a large fan, ice water near at hand, taking a siesta when the temp in the house hits 85.
I still managed to get quite a lot of writing done. In response to a previous query, my page quota for the day is 5--about 1000 words. I aim for 10 but don't usually hit it. Yesterday I got over 10. Go Me. A blitz day is 15-20 and I'll be flattened the following day. I'm not a blindingly fast writer, but the draft that goes on the page is pretty clean--I don't rewrite a lot as a rule. Exception would be the start of a book when I'm still figuring out the best way to get into it--then I might tweak it quite a bit before I go on. Past about page 100 however, what goes down is for the most part what stays.
In the evening, the sun was shining brightly and I expected to go out into very hot humidity and try to get in a small longe with Capria. I discovered on heading out the door that it was sprinkling lightly out of a mostly clear sky, and there was a lovely bright full bow of rainbow in front of the Rincons. The lightning held off enough for a longe, though as I was feeding the troops, it was fairly ambitious to the south.
It never did cool off after sundown--usually the temperature drops 10 or even 20 degrees, but last night, it didn't. When I let the dogs in at bedtime, one of the Colorado River toads--I have at least three living under the house--was right outside. Huge thing, about eight inches long and about eight inches wide, kind of olive green in color and rather beautiful if you're a toad. You know it's monsoons when the giant toads come out.
Last thing before bed was bed check for the horses--opening up stalls so everyone could have the paddock, and feeding overnight hay. As I was heading down to the barn, I looked up and a shooting star fell like an ember--visible even through clouds. Lovely end to a monsoon day.
I do hope we get rain today. This heat needs to break.
That was Sunday and part of Saturday, post-lesson neep. Saturday afternoon we had rain--.15 inch, no less; the inch of toad-strangler hit west of us again. However it cleared up enough by evening that I was able to get in a ride on da Pook, and it was a most excellent ride. Riding after lessons is turning out to be a good idea. I have the lesson fresh in my mind, we've discussed Pooka even while working with someone else, and I'm primed to relax and let him show me how to do it. The rein problem is fading fast (thank god) and his trot work is getting more balanced and less panicky. We actually managed some trot circles, which look simple but are very difficult to do correctly. He's starting to allow as how I can, like, help him balance. And his trot under saddle is getting less freaky and easier to stay with--I don't boing onto his neck as much in the transitions.
Sunday was Very hot--104 in town, humidity to match. Evaporative coolers have trouble with this. They do not evaporate, therefore do not cool well. Every year someone says I should get a window a/c, but I have those narrow vertical windows and vertical units are pricey. There's always something else to spend the money on. So I end up flopped on the couch in front of a large fan, ice water near at hand, taking a siesta when the temp in the house hits 85.
I still managed to get quite a lot of writing done. In response to a previous query, my page quota for the day is 5--about 1000 words. I aim for 10 but don't usually hit it. Yesterday I got over 10. Go Me. A blitz day is 15-20 and I'll be flattened the following day. I'm not a blindingly fast writer, but the draft that goes on the page is pretty clean--I don't rewrite a lot as a rule. Exception would be the start of a book when I'm still figuring out the best way to get into it--then I might tweak it quite a bit before I go on. Past about page 100 however, what goes down is for the most part what stays.
In the evening, the sun was shining brightly and I expected to go out into very hot humidity and try to get in a small longe with Capria. I discovered on heading out the door that it was sprinkling lightly out of a mostly clear sky, and there was a lovely bright full bow of rainbow in front of the Rincons. The lightning held off enough for a longe, though as I was feeding the troops, it was fairly ambitious to the south.
It never did cool off after sundown--usually the temperature drops 10 or even 20 degrees, but last night, it didn't. When I let the dogs in at bedtime, one of the Colorado River toads--I have at least three living under the house--was right outside. Huge thing, about eight inches long and about eight inches wide, kind of olive green in color and rather beautiful if you're a toad. You know it's monsoons when the giant toads come out.
Last thing before bed was bed check for the horses--opening up stalls so everyone could have the paddock, and feeding overnight hay. As I was heading down to the barn, I looked up and a shooting star fell like an ember--visible even through clouds. Lovely end to a monsoon day.
I do hope we get rain today. This heat needs to break.
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no subject
Date: 2004-07-12 09:32 am (UTC)I have a favor to ask -- could you do a post describing all the horses and their relationships to one another and their professions (breeding, showing, etc.)? I sometimes forget who Pook is, for instance.
no subject
Date: 2004-07-12 09:37 am (UTC)Since you mention it here... OK, what do you do on those days that you just can't get yourself motivated? There are two other published authors I know, on my f-list, and I see that you all just write SO much, and every day, which I know id critical - keeping the flow going - but how do you do it on those days when you can't even pull a word out of your brain?
(*waves to Judith* Hiya, yeah, it's Lynn M., Favory Ilka's mom, here. Came across your journal searching in LJ for different things. This is my home, these days, as I've given up on Yahoo Groups in general. Was surprised to see you had this journal, but happy to have found it. Hope you don't mind I've friended you.)
no subject
Date: 2004-07-12 10:11 am (UTC)As for your question--what does it for me is, "I have horses to feed and bills to pay and if I don't get those pages written, neither of those things will happen." If I didn't make a living at it I'd be a much more sporadic writer. I'd still do it obsessively but I wouldn't produce as much per day--there wouldn't be the pressure to get those deadlines met and those payments in.
When I have an Attack Project it's great. I can't stop. But most of the time it's a daily slog. Line by line, page by page. Every book I write is a project I care about, and every one of them is fun in some way--I've only ever hated a couple of books I've done, and those started off with excitement and anticipation before they dribbled away into "Oh lord I hate this thing." (No, I won't tell you which--nobody has ever pegged 'em, either. That's the professional writer's job. Even when you hate it, you make it look as if you're loving it--and get your readers to love it, too.)(I will refrain from drawing certain analogies to another very old profession.)
Epon
Date: 2004-07-14 08:01 pm (UTC)Hi. You'll have to excuse me. I'm not up to date on my computer etiquett so I wasn't real sure if it was proper to butt in on your journal but I did it anyway.
Thank you for the epona series. I think I have now read all three at least three times now. (I live in a small town so our library has nothing exciting in it.) I wish you would write more. I finally ordered the Shepherd Kings and was so relieved to have fresh readings and better readings than what oprah picks (the only new books our library does have). So are there going to be any more prehistorics?? It all makes me want to go back to college and take more history courses.
Thank you, also, for the updates that help remind me that there is still life outside. I am so horse crazy and someday... Someday I will have my horses. Mom and Dad said it was all just a phase. I'm 25, when is the horse phase supposed to pass?
Anyway, I will let you get back to everything. Thanks again.
Re: Epon
Date: 2004-07-14 09:08 pm (UTC)I hate to tell you this, but if you haven't been cured of the horse bug by age 25, there is no hope for you. Give up. Accept it. It's terminal.