Yesterday was another 6,000 word day in my new Big Lake book. I’m getting closer to the end all the time and should be able to wrap it up in the next two or three days. Then it will go through the last stages of editing and proofreading, followed by formatting, and be out. I’m really enjoying this story. It’s got some interesting twists and turns, and I hope my readers will like it, too.
I did take a break from writing for a while yesterday to run to the post office to mail out a book and then to stop and fill up three gas cans. We try to keep several cans of gasoline on hand for our Honda generators during hurricane season, which will go all the way through the end of November. I always put Sta-Bil fuel stabilizer in the cans, but even so, every so often I pour the gas into one of the cars and replenish it. If things get bad enough that we need to be running our generators, the last thing I want to have to worry about is the gasoline I’m putting in them.
While I was getting gas, I heard a commotion and turned to see a dually pickup towing a flatbed trailer make a right turn onto the US Highway 1, ignoring the red light, and in the process, he dropped off two large wooden wishing wells right in front of oncoming traffic. At least one car was damaged, and I was surprised there wasn’t a bad accident because it’s a busy intersection. The fool driving the truck kept right on going, probably too dense to realize the damage he had done or the lives he had endangered.
I hate being behind anybody towing things on a trailer or a loaded truck because I’ve had a couple of bad experiences. Many years ago, when my father was in the hospital dying of cancer, I was taking my mother to see him. We were on Interstate 10 in Tucson when a truck with a flatbed trailer piled high with wooden mobile home steps lost part of its load right in front of us. I was in the center of three lanes, and there were eighteen-wheelers on both sides of me and a car right on my bumper, so the only thing I could do is put my hand over my mother’s face and run right into the mess. It tore the heck out of the car, but fortunately, we were not injured.
Another time, Terry and I were on Interstate 75 in Tennessee when an aluminum extension ladder fell off the back of a truck right into our path. We were lucky because it landed in such a way that I was able to straddle it with our Toyota pickup and keep right on going. A couple of years ago we were in Daytona Beach when a plastic box with a Dewalt electric drill and other tools fell off in front of us. We were able to stop and pick it up, but by then the driver of the truck was long gone.
While I was running errands and then back home writing, Terry was proofing some previous chapters I had written, as well as working her magic in the kitchen. Every time I think she’s reached the limits of what she could possibly do to amaze me, she just laughs and says, “you ain’t seen nothing yet!” Dinner last night was grilled pork chops and wild rice, and the night before was a delicious pepperoni and cheese calzone with homemade marinara for dipping that was better than anything I’ve ever had in any Italian restaurant on the planet.
Last night’s dessert was an amazing blueberry key lime tart. We gave some to our buddy Jesse across the street, and a while later, his pretty lady Jennifer sent me a Facebook message saying that his mouth had an orgasm while he was eating. Yeah, buddy, been there and done that, more than once!
Terry likes having Jesse and Jennifer across the street because she loves to cook and bake, and there’s only so much I can eat before I will be too big to get through the door and out of the house. They very graciously help reduce the supply of goodies from her kitchen. That’s what friends are for, right?
And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. With school starting back up soon, I figure classroom teachers and homeschooling parents all need to be prepared.
Thought For The Day – Trying to hurt me by bringing up my past is like robbing my old house. I don’t live there anymore.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
OMG Nick,
i would have thought nothing in the world could top that I-10 story, and I’m telling you the visual i get….I could never unsee that. I’ve always wondered what I’d do in a similar situation. Kudos to you for driving it like a boss.
But that cooking topped it. Great photos. If I were your neighbor they’d move me to my two garage for egress. I’d pick out a piano box now and avoid the confusion on my loved ones in future times. I’m ready….desert looks awesome. Thanks
I HATE driving behind anybody carrying anything in the back of a truck or on a trailer that’s not tied down. In October of 1981 my father was killed on my 12th birthday when lumber fell off the back of a contractor’s pickup and a 4×4 post went through his windshield.
People have no clue how dangerous the stuff they do can be. I’ve seen stuff fall off of trucks more times than I can count. My first husband was critically injured riding his motorcycle when he hit loose grass in the street from somebody mowing his lawn and letting it flew into the pavement from his lawnmower. Danny spent three months in the hospital and never fully recovered.