Monday, August 31, 2009

Summer Holidays and Hopes for Fall

School begins tomorrow. As I look back upon this summer, I am filled with joy. Here are some of the critters that we came across today in the woods.

Two banana slugs posing:

A cricket sunning:


An owl hunting! In broad daylight:

We came home to our summer bounty:


Perfect for ratatouille (I added a big eggplant from the store).

Summer is far from over. And soon I'll need to make more batches of zucchini bread, tomato salsa and soup. I love having a taste of all this in the winter ...

Besides all the food processing that I will do this fall, what do I hope to accomplish writing-wise? To begin anew on my novel. I only worked a little bit on it this summer not because I didn't have time, but because I chose to spend it doing other things, like doing projects with my kids, taking long walks in the woods, going swimming, visiting with family and friends. Oh, I wrote every day, but I didn't work on my novel. Big difference. So here's hoping I can finish the first half of this by the end of this year. And polish a few shorter pieces for magazines. I should probably get my CV out there again for writing work-for-hire books.
Tomorrow.
Tonight I will read over the bits of the novel I've written, see where I need to go, write two pages even if it all ends up in the trash.
*

11 comments:

Molly/Cece said...

lovely, Vijaya. I love the slugs.:) Molly

Angela said...

Oh, how wonderful to come upon the owl in daylight. We have our share of slugs too - amazing how photogenic those little blobs are!

Happy writing, Vijaya.

Vijaya said...

Thank you, ladies. And it was sooo nice to work in blessed silence today.

Stella said...

Lovely photographs, Vijaya! Best of luck with your novel. I worked on mine all summer. I realize I still have "miles to go". But the pleasure is in the journey so enjoy.

Vijaya said...

Thank you, Stella. Yes, the journey is what's important.

Mary Witzl said...

I love ratatouille! But hold the slugs: I swear, there are enough of them in Scotland to feed every duck in the world.

I've just finished a massive rewrite and the feeling of well-being this has given me is just unbelievable. Tomorrow I'll get started on my new one: you've inspired me!

Vijaya said...

Mary, that's wonderful! Onward to the next? Yes! I'm humming along now that school has started ...

Kelly Polark said...

Beautiful pictures! I love fresh veggies from the garden. This is the first year we have had one (a small one my husband is in charge of). It's just so wonderful to go in the backyard to pick stuff and eat it!

Vijaya said...

Thank you, Kelly. A garden is one of life's small pleasures. Actually anything related to eating is (for me). Love those sun-ripened sweet tomatoes.

laurasalas said...

Amazing photos!

Vijaya said...

Thanks, Laura :) Gotta love those slugs.