Category: Uncategorized

The Wildlife Doesn’t Like It, Either

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

26,623 Raccoon Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

I went out the back door with my writer’s chair this afternoon, because they were still sawing down all the trees out front… and came face-to-face with a raccoon. I can’t blame him for running away when he saw me.

My home town is run, lock, stock, and barrel, by virtue-signalling greenies who pay lip service to “The Environment” even as they labor to erase it. They’ve driven all the rabbits out of the neighborhood, panicked the rats, and spooked this raccoon. All these animals must now find another place to live. If there is one. I don’t know how the deer manage.

I prefer inoffensive wildlife over nail salons; but in this town, that seems to put me into a negligible minority.

It’s never change for the better. They don’t know how to do that.

 

My Office Is Destroyed

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

may 31 2019 001

Well, they’ve sawed down all the trees. The shady spot where I sit to write my books… is gone. They haven’t cleaned up the mess yet, either, so there’s nowhere else to put my chair.

I’ve written 15 books, sitting there. I don’t write fiction indoors because a) it’s nuisance phone calls every few minutes, and b) it’s good for my soul to be out there with the birds and squirrels, grass and flowers and trees, God’s creation all around me. There’s no substitute for that.

Turning this place into a desert, one tree at a time… or, in this case, all at once.

Oh, This Day!

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

Close Up of a Pile of Cut Down Tree Branches. Stock Photo - Image of logs, nature: 164688458

This is what our sidewalk looks like today.

I take Patty to the hospital for her rehab. Here, the tree service is camped in the middle of our parking lot, sawing down most of the trees. All right, some of them are in bad shape and like to fall.

Back to the hospital to take her home. The session has made her cheerful. By now they’ve got trunks and limbs all over the place, so instead of getting out of the car in the parking lot, Patty takes the sidewalk. Damn. It’s blocked by sawed-off branches. Going around it she slips and falls, making a mess of her elbow.

Now it’s started to rain. Thunderstorms are predicted. I can forget about getting any work done on my book.

We’ve cleaned up and bandaged Patty’s elbow. I offer to take her  back to the hospital. No thanks. To the local walk-in wellness center? No, she doesn’t want that either.

Please drop a prayer in the box for us.

Update: So we did decide to go to walk-in wellness after all, and guess what? No doctors or nurses working there today! I guess we’ll try again tomorrow.

Stuck!

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

How Much Honey Could Winnie The Pooh Really Eat?

I have to write a Newswithviews column today, and don’t know what to write about. I want to continue writing my book, but yesterday I poured myself into it and now I need a refill. I really need more blog posts, but nothing suggests itself. My wife says I need a vacation. Lots o’ luck with that!

I know what I’ll do. I’ll go pick up our laundry. (Gee, I could skip ahead and write Byron’s TV Listings, but then I’d have a great big hole to fill on Saturday.) With or without ideas, you’ve got to have clean laundry.

There’s a lesson in there, if I could only find it…

I guess I could always go out and threaten our democracy. Anybody up for that?

‘Get OUT There, Lee!’

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

2,995 Bird Singing Photos and Premium High Res Pictures ...

It’s a knock-out gorgeous beautiful day! And I’m sitting here trying to dream up a blog post that’ll bring in readers.

Look alive, man! This weather won’t last much longer–only 11 days left in September. (Yeah, I know the month just started. Waddaya want from me?) You have a book to write, it’s going to be a good one, you already know what the next chapter’s going to be–what’re you doing indoors?

All right, I’m goin’, I’m goin’! Mustn’t waste this glorious weather.

Maybe the readers will come while I’m not looking.

Trying to Catch Up… Again!

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

251,711 Catch Up Stock Photos, Pictures & Royalty-Free Images - iStock

I’m way behind in my work today, the viewership is way down–and the WordPress problem that I had last week, with the comments failing to display… it’s baaaaack!

Man, this is getting old. Welcome to the Age of Nothing Works.

(And suddenly Robbie only wants dry cat food… What’s that about?)

Going about my chores last night, a new character for the book I’m writing, Ozias, Prince in Peril, popped into my head, along with what she’d be doing in the story. I’ve learned that it’s usually a good idea to stop what I’m doing and write it down in case I forget it overnight. Enter Aylen, the old nurse of the late King Flosi, who may have a loose screw somewhere but is otherwise sharp as a tack.

Where do these characters live when they’re not breaking into my plots? It’s so cool, the way that happens. It’s like I knew these people, once upon a time, and now they’re coming back. Do you think that’s weird? Welcome to the world of fantasy-writing.

Another Bell Mountain Picture

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

Screenshot 2022-09-09 at 09-15-04 AOL Mail - Message View

This drawing is by Kathleen’s sister, Kerolyn, who’s only nine years old. It shows Ellayne and Jack drinking tea with Hesket the Tinker, who turns out to be a very nasty villain. Kathleen and Kerolyn live in Brazil. These are very accomplished kids!

A book for young readers… illustrated by children. Why hasn’t anybody done that before? I’d love to see that for Bell Mountain.

Girls, hang on to those drawings! Who knows? We may be able to put them in the books someday.

Win Something Fantastic!

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

Life & Other Crises: Could You Love a Surprise Package?

I’ve just noticed that we have less than 1,000 comments to go to reach 90,000. I wonder if I can drum up any interest in a comment contest.

Well, sure–if the prize is gaudy enough. I’ve got T-shirts and books. No one gets excited. I briefly considered “Win a date with Joe Collidge!” Very briefly.

Didn’t I once offer a little bag of army men? How did that turn out? I’m guessing it didn’t.

Oh… suffice it to say that the reader who posts Comment No. 90,000 will win something. (You can always use little army men to decorate a big cake.) I’ve got some time to think it over and I’m always willing to take suggestions. If I can get any.

Shout-Out to ‘Unknowable’

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

Crazy Robot stock vector. Illustration of angry, dictator ...

I wanted to thank you for your comment on the Werner von Braun post, but WordPress is subverting me again.

The stupid robot didn’t recognize you because you spelled “Unknowable” wrong. This simple typo made the damned thing go crazy.

Your comment does appear attached to the “Werner von Braun” post–but no opportunity for me to reply.

I can’t very well demand that readers not make typos! Who doesn’t hit the wrong key now and then? It would be nice of the robot didn’t have fits every time it saw one.

A Lesson from a Homicide Detective

Posted By: leeduigonPosted On:

State prisons prepare for coronavirus but federal prisons not providing significant guidance, sources say - ABC News

My friend John the homicide detective has a low opinion of people’s ability to keep a secret.

“Most of these crimes,” he says, “I have to do hardly any detecting at all. These murderers, they just can’t help themselves–they have to tell somebody what they did! They have to brag about it. And sooner or later he tells someone who turns around and tells us. And we’ve got him.”

As a reporter, I found this to be largely true. People just can’t keep secrets, even when it’s very much in their interest to do so. If they’ll brag about committing murder, they’ll surely brag about fiddling the zoning board.

Do they sometimes admit to crimes they haven’t actually done?

“Yeah, they do,” John says. “Those are the hardest ones to work out.”

Anyway, it’s worth remembering: a lot of people very seldom tell the truth.