in random briefs

I overslept this morning.

Today the heat probably broke a temperature record. Will it be our last hot hot day of the year?

Will, a good friend of my son, James, leaves this week for college far away. Today Will’s mom, Shelley, and I chatted in the shade out at their country home, while her dogs wrestled in the dust nearby. Our lives transition as our sons, somehow, have changed from pudgy, Pokemon-crazy kids into tall young men.

I finished an essay draft today. Now it can rest while I begin a new piece of writing tomorrow.

This week I may flub the sending-two-things-out goal. I want to make it, to cast about for something, anything in my files and fling it toward an editor. Will the editor appreciate this?

Tim hates the heat.

Fortunately for Tim, the transmitter site he worked at today was a few miles from the beach, over at the cool coast.

Tim just phoned. Now back in town, he gets to fix the TV station’s air conditioner (it always blinks out on hot days) and then he plans to ride home on his bike, after things cool down.

So I’ll see him in the wee hours, when I get up tomorrow, I suppose.

I don’t think I’m especially good at these listy updates.

My inspiration, though, came from a book by Emily Smucker, age 19, titled Emily. I got to chat with Emily and her mom, Dorcas, recently at their home. Since then I’ve read Emily’s book and am reading the newest one by Dorcas. The daughter’s pages, many compiled from her blog, tell the story of her struggle with West Nile Virus, using honesty, style, and well-done random lists. I highly recommend it.

Last Saturday the Smucker authors gave a talk and book signing at Barnes and Noble. A crowd filled the aisles and clogged the magazine area. Emily’s books sold out, and the ones by Dorcas, titled Downstairs the Queen is Knitting, almost did.

I brought my camera.

A Barnes and Noble employee asked if I’d like to be in a shot, and I eagerly agreed.