Musings & Thoughts for Sunday, January 28, 2024, or: Weekend Update, Part the First

Late Morning/Midday, Sunday, January 28, 2024, Madison, New Hampshire

Hi, Constant Readers (and Not-so-Constant Readers). It’s late morning here in my cozy corner of New England on a cold, somewhat leaden winter day. Currently, the temperature is 36°F (2°C) under mostly cloudy skies. With a northerly wind barely blowing at 1 MPH (2 KMH) and humidity at 78%, it feels like 43°F (6°C). Today’s forecast calls for (ugh) light rain and snow throughout the area. The high will be 38°F (3°C). Tonight, we can expect scattered light rain and snow showers. The low will be 32°F (0°C).

Weekend Update, Part the First: How I Spent My Saturday

I don’t have a hell of a lot to write about today, so this will be a brief post. Yesterday, Patti’s husband Marc took me to Market Basket, where I bought $100 worth of groceries – enough for about 10 days if you don’t count milk and other perishables. Just basic “bachelor type” foods, such as frozen pizza, Campbell’s soups, Kraft Mac & Cheese, and a favorite treat, Jamaican beef patties. I tried to get items that were on sale, taking advantage of 3-for-$4 or 4-for-$5 deals…and making sure I got all of the items necessary to get those prices.

After that? I debated, several times after I got home and put away the groceries, whether or not I should work on Reunion: Coda. One minute I’d be thinking, You know, the original plan was to publish the book in time for the December holidays. That didn’t go so well. Now the plan is to go for a Spring 2024 release. If I don’t work on weekends, I might not meet that deadline. Then the next minute I’d think, Okay, but I just went shopping at a time when I usually sit at my desk and write. Plus, I’m distracted by all the worries I have about getting settled in and becoming a New Hampshire resident.  How can I get into “Write a Novel” mode? Plus…it’s Saturday, for fuck’s sake.

In the end, I compromised. I played two sessions of Regiments during the afternoon, thus killing nearly two hours (and plenty of simulated Warsaw Pact troops), made dinner (heated some Ellio’s cheese pizza in the oven), and only did a few minor edits to the opening paragraph of the chapter Goodbye, Farewell, and Adios.

Here’s the edited version of that chapter opener:

Goodbye, Farewell, and Adios: Commencement Day, Friday, June 17, 1983

1

5:30 AM

The cube-shaped silver-gray Sony Dream Machine alarm clock with blue LED digits pierced my eardrums with its shrill wail, snapping me out of a fitful slumber filled with Goyaesque nightmares. I groaned and, annoyed, jabbed the SLEEP button several times, wishing I could stay in bed for another hour. Or better yet forever. I muttered to myself, “Why do I have to get up so freakin’ early?” It was not like it was a normal day or anything. However, nothing was normal about this day. It was the end of an era, the closing of a chapter, the final goodbye to a place that had been my second home for three years. South Miami Senior High School, where I had met the girl of my dreams, and let her slip away after waiting for too long to tell her how I felt. The school year had officially ended two days ago, but today was the day that would haunt me for the rest of my life. The day that I would see Marty for the last time and watch her walk away with her family.

After that? I lingered online and hung out on Facebook and Twitter till 10:30 PM, then went to my bedroom, watched an episode of the 1964 CBS documentary World War One on DVD, and drifted off to sleep till 5:30 AM.

My Sunday Plans?

Unless I feel an irresistible urge to work on Reunion: Coda, I will try to relax and enjoy a quiet Sunday here. I’ll probably do the “same old, same old” routine of figuring out how to entertain myself – do I read a book, watch a movie, listen to music, play a computer game, or stare at the snow through my office window? Right now, I have no idea. But…at least I have options.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say for now, so this is where you and I part company. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the less snowy side of things.