Ahhhhh...The sound of silence...

Just got back from walking the boy up to school.  Sweet Willow is curled up by the blue chair in my office and I am relishing the sound of absolutely nothing drifting down to me from upstairs.

With the kids back at school, it is time for me to get back to work.  On the agenda today?  A little story about the limits of humanity, the fragility and strength of dignity, the value of compromise and mutual accommodation,   the power of despair, trust and hope...oh, and a farmer and a vampire...

But first, a steaming cup of strong coffee and a little more of that intoxicating silence.

A change in the air...

The lazy days of summer are winding down.  Today promises to be the last scorcher as thunderstorms and cooler weather roll in from the west.  It's been a marvelous summer, but September is more than welcome.

The last few weeks have been spent in a mixture of frenzied activity and late summer sloth.  There was the In-law's 50th wedding anniversary.  That had the potential to be frenzied and stressful - and I'm certain it was for some - but the Beynon family came through the celebrations with nothing but fond memories and good times.

We spent some time in the canoe.  And yes, that is the tip of a fishing rod and a container of worms there in the bow.

The kids loved working against the current of a stream filled with beaver dams and speckled trout.

We spent some time on the In-law's farm.  Many cows, lots of cats, long country road walks with the dog at 4 am with suspicious (and large animal type) sounds of movement from the woods beside us and the lofts of a barn with spectacular lighting.

Speaking of mysterious large animals, my nephew found this on a tract of property near my In-law's farm.

I think it might be a bear skull (impressive canines, flat molars for grinding, sagittal crest to support massive jaw muscles).

Closer to home we had a skull mystery of our own on a much smaller scale.  The boy found this specimen in our cedar hedge.

Obviously a bird, but I've no idea what type.

But - summer time draws to a close and a host of back to school and back to work activities await.

Back to School

Wow. The house is quiet. Beyond the tapping of the keyboard keys all I can hear is the dog lapping water from her bowl. There's no "Hey! Giveitback! That's mine!" or "I get the back room computer! Called it!"...not even a whispered "Hey, you know what'll drive dad nuts this morning?"

Today is the first day of school. We saw my daughter off at the bus stop this morning for her new adventures in enrichment and then I walked the wee lad up the hill for his first day of Grade 2. Maybe it has to do with the crummy weather we had this summer, but each and every kid I saw today was excited about back to school. There was not a single long face in the crowd, not a teary eye in sight.

What's on my plate for this first, glorious day of the school year? First of all a coffee as I bask in the silence of an empty house. Then I'm going to make a list of what needs to be done, personally and professionally. One of those list items will be this:

I have signed up for the 3 Day Novel contest which commences Friday at mid-night. I have a clear idea of my story, a few main events to push the plot along and some of the characters. I have the setting all mapped out in my head, right down to the creaky plank on the deck of a cabin in the woods. There are some details that I won't snatch out of the air until Friday night, of course. Like the main character's name. I haven't given that any thought at all. With the 3 Day Novel I find that it flows much better if I make it up on the fly. That's worked for me on my previous 2 attempts. I'll be able to let you know on Monday if it holds true this time.

Last time I did this I threw a few blog posts up over the course weekend and I imagine I'll do it again this time, but any time I spend writing blog posts is time I don't spend on the story. For the most part on Labour Day weekend it'll be: