What do you think? Is it time for me to get a boat? Nah. The rain will end, so I’ll just keep whining — er, I mean, writing about it.
That’s my “driveway” right outside my gate. Considering it’s been puddly in that spot for weeks now, there’s gotta be a good six inches of mud at the bottom. A couple of days ago I hiked out a mile to where the worst of the mud usually is. I found a stretch of about 200 feet of water. The soggy, silty soil underneath that little lake is probably mucky for more than a foot. Unsurprisingly, that’s the spot where I’ve gotten stuck most often over the years.
Also a great spot for photos. In the one below (taken the other day) I was standing at about the middle of the length of the lake.
Then I turned to the right and got this photo (below)that I posted on social media yesterday.
You might ask why I don’t just drive parallel to the road where water hasn’t accumulated. Haha, I’ve gotten stuck doing that, too. All that beautiful, flat grazing allotment is a drainage basin for about a ten square mile area upstream. When there’s this much water in the road, that means that the grassy area is saturated.
So, no. I don’t drive off the road.
I was scheduled for my second covid booster this afternoon but even if I didn’t get stuck it would be a heart-poundin’, 4-wheelin’ adventure trying to make it home. It’s raining steadily now with heavy rain forecast for later this afternoon — right during the time I’d be headed home from town. Yeah, getting stuck in the mud would be a real likelihood and having done it before I don’t have any desire whatsoever to slog through rain and mud again. So you’ll understand that I’m really, really glad I’m staying home today. It’s possible I’m too cautious but of course, being a hermit, I don’t mind staying home at all — so it’s hard to feel annoyed by any of this.
Whoa – a big blast of thunder overhead. My dog Bubz came running right over to shove his head under my arm. I’m glad I’m here for him. He’s now in the hidey-hole bed I’ve made for him under my desk.
And that’s my weather report for today.
Now for a writing update on my mystery novel, Dark Green: WAAAAHHHH!!!
Phew! Got that out of my system.
I got the second edit back from my editor, Joel, a week ago. I skimmed through the 9 pages of notes plus glanced at the manuscript for all the comments there, then put it aside. Because, well, honestly — I just couldn’t face it.
So instead I sent Joel’s notes off to two of my beta readers, chosen because their takes on what’s going on with my writing are so different. I thought maybe they’d say “oh, come on — Joel’s totally off his rocker”. But no.
Okay, I didn’t really think they’d say that. I guess I was just looking for a reason to delay tackling more edits, since after my first skim through those notes I came away feeling like I absolutely was not good enough of a writer to make my manuscript better.
But you know what? After what my two darling betas said — Joel had made some good points and after all, wasn’t he the expert? — I went back and read his notes again. I mean, really read them. Didn’t skim. And you know what?
I can do this!