Musings & Thoughts for Monday, August 21, 2023, or: Weekend Update, Part the Third – Wrap-up Edition

Late Morning, Monday, August 21, 2023, Lithia, Florida

Hi, everyone.

Well, it’s another torrid late summer day here in the Tampa Bay area. Outside, the temperature is 85°F/29°C under sunny skies. With an east-northeasterly breeze of 9 MPH/14 KMH and humidity at a sticky 66%, the heat index is 93°F/35°C.

That’s bad enough, but as the day progresses, it’s going to be hotter. Not hot-as-Texas bad, but the forecast calls for clear, sunny skies, a high of 93°F/33°C, and only a 3% chance of rain. That, of course, means the feels-like temperature will be in the low 100s/mid-30s.

And, to make matters worse, out in the Atlantic Ocean, there are three tropical cyclones churning over the warm waters: Emily (which is already beginning to turn north and doesn’t pose a threat to the United States), Franklin (which is out in the eastern Caribbean south of Hispaniola), and Gert (which is spinning over the sea east-southeast of the Leeward Islands).

Oh, and there’s a strong tropical wave out in the Gulf of Mexico. Oh, joy.

Until last week, the Atlantic was relatively quiet. Now it looks like it’s Hurricane Grand Central Station out there.   

I hope that none of those storms hits Florida. Yet, due to its geographic location in Hurricane Alley, the Sunshine State might as well have a giant bull’s eye on it.

Weekend Update, Part the Third

Yesterday afternoon, I watched the finished version of Sunny in the Village of the Crickets a few times on YouTube. Only on my PC, I tried finding Popcorn Sky Productions’ newest short film on two Internet-connected smart TVs here but no dice. I’d have to sign into Google from at least my personal set and find it through the director’s channel on YouTube, but I hate the hassle of doing that with a TV remote. Sunny will eventually be easier to find via “Search,” but for now, even when I input Sunny in the Village of the Crickets, I get every “cricket” related title except the one I’m looking for.

Aside from that, my Sunday was “meh.” It was neither terrible nor great. I read a little bit, listened to music a little bit, and attempted to choose a movie to watch on the family room TV set but couldn’t decide, so I went to my room and gamed for a while.

As I said…it was just another Sunday in west-central Florida.

Action This Day

After the requisite midday period, my plan for today is what it always is on regular workweek days: work on the manuscript for Reunion: Coda, the novel-length follow-up to my novella Reunion: A Story.

Currently, I am on Scene Two of Chapter 11, and that scene is nowhere near completion, so my plan is to add more “new words” to get it at least to the two-thirds of the way point. If I do everything right – get enough rest during the break, eat a decent lunch, and think positively – I should be able to achieve my goal of getting at least 500-600 “new words” into my first draft manuscript.

Aside from that…I don’t have much to say about things, so I’ll close for now. Until next time, then, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.