.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Genesis of a Historical Novel

Thursday, June 30, 2005

mostly numbers, and a few words

Kimmie told me that on JACK-FM this morning they confirmed that this has been the "darkest" June in recorded history, with just 149 hours of sunlight (at that time), compared with the previous record-holder, June 1953, which had 150-odd. It was pouring a warm rain as she left for the office.

JACK-FM is the radio station Kimmie listens to in the morning as she gets ready for work. This morning I was the one to switch the radio on--a cheap little Radio Shack job that sits on top of my upright chest of drawers. JACK's slogan is "we play what we want". This morning Kimmie and I paused to listen to "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)", and were taken suddenly back to our childhood years. We tried to remember who did the song ("the Cowsills?" I guessed; "No," said Kim, with a definite shake of her head), and when it came out. Kimmie remembered lying on her mother's bed listening to it in 1974. I knew it came out earlier, I thought maybe the late 1960s. Kimmie said definitely not. So I said it was not later than 1971, probably 1970. I just got the facts: the act was Edison Lighthouse, and the year was 1970.

After my morning notes (Rubicon, A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ), I had my own office-work to go to: estate accounting at Mom's house. I drove out at 10:30, as she and Jackie (who had taken today off work) were preparing to go to a lunch date in Port Coquitlam. I sat at the dining-table and proceeded to enter bank-statement data into Quicken on Mom's laptop. I'll go through every transaction in order to get good data to plug into the master Excel workbook.

When Mom and Jackie had left, I worked on. I took a lunch break at about 12:30, then went to sit on one of the deep-rose loveseats by the picture window. I made some notes in my prose sketchbook:

Almost silent: faint cawing of crows outside; now the quiet reverberation of a boat engine; here in the living-room I hear only a tiny electric sound: maybe a clock running. From the kitchen: a single plop of a water-drop falling from the faucet. An isolated creak of a floorboard somewhere, and otherwise, just the high-frequency trill of my own ears.

So it is peaceful here: and peaceful outside. The great picture-window, at which I sit, looks out on the little lawn, hemmed in by a sloping laurel hedge, then a fringe of heterogeneous overgrown plants at the top of the bluff dropping to the high-tide water. Offshore a flock of Canada geese has landed by the bald crown of the tidal rock. They came in noisily, calling and flapping, paddling even as they hit the water, stirring it to foamy green. Now they swim placidly past the dock.

The old apple-tree reaches for light from the left side of the window, the green fruit hanging in clusters among its curling leaves. The flower-beds, irregular, one eye-shaped, the other a rough pentagon, each ringed by mossy rocks, have been cleared. The sun has come out in this dark June, bathing the 2 beds and half the lawn, creating a magic of trembling chiaroscuro in the apple-boughs.

Gentle ripples traverse the cove. Out in the channel there are swags of darker, smooth water, like open water amid ice-floes. But the floes are simply the silvery reflection of the cloud-massed sky, more a sky of April than of late June.

Somewhere in the distance a lawnmower nags.

I worked on in the silence until about 3:00, then packed up, locked up, and came home.

Novel-writing? Nope.

7 Comments:

  • Oh my God, I'm so glad to tell everyone the real thing that happen to me...My name is EMILIANO BABARAH. If i refuse to share this testimony it means i am selfish to my self and to people i love so much whom might have similar problems, March 16th about something 7:23pm after taken our dinner my husband got crazy started calling a lady name Melisa I love you, i was so mad and started crying like a baby...then my husband left home then for the idiot called Melisa, and never return back home then i believed when he understand his self he will surly come back to apology, but instead he left me So i complained to my friend she told me she was having such problems in her marriage until she was introduce to DR ORIOMON who specializes in bringing back broken homes and broken marriages DR ORIOMON cast a spell for me in May 4th surprisingly my husband came home May 6th apologizing that i should forgive him that it will never happen again, i was so glad and gave the thanks to DR ORIOMON who save my marriage, if you are having similar problem you can contact him and His email address is (oriomonspiritualtemple@yahoo.com) you can still save your marriage if u really love your husband.
    Thanks EMILIANO BABARAH_USA

    By Blogger Unknown, at March 14, 2014 2:26 PM  

  • I want to let the world know about Doctor Zazaz the Great spell caster that brought back my husband to me when i thought all hope was lost. Doctor Zazaz used his powerful spell to put a smile on my face by bringing back my man with his spell, at first i thought i was dreaming when my husband came back to me on his knees begging me to forgive him and accept him back and ever since then he loves me more than i ever expected so i made a vow to my self the i will let the World know about Doctor Zazaz because he is a God on earth. Do you have problems in your relationship ? have your partner broke up with you and you still love and want him back ? Do you have problem with your finance ? or do you need help of any kind then contact Doctor Zazaz today for i give you 100% guarantee that he will help you just as he helped me. Doctor Zazaz email is: indiaspellcaster@hotmail.com

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at June 28, 2014 12:53 PM  

  • With the best genesis of the historical novel you can define the new field. You can also get the most numbers where you can define the new field. Just get the link with http://www.articlerewriters.org/ and can find the new deal.

    By Anonymous Amanamall, at December 23, 2018 2:42 AM  

  • Here area unit some higher service you may notice for the medical transcription. that's terribly valuable and useful to any or all folks. http://www.essaychanger.com/ and this website can assist you out for any quite essay writing.

    By Blogger Anonymous, at December 25, 2018 7:47 AM  

  • As the time is passing the environment has changed and we are going to get new changes in our environment to make our deals done at the right time and right spot so that http://www.unplagiarizer.com/ can provide us some help and we can make our negotiations as per the plan.

    By Blogger Donat , at December 27, 2018 9:39 AM  

  • Those are beautiful dresses and i adore how she play with colors. It is a wonderful collection, I especially like the formal wears, visit the site this is a head turning collection that I will order.

    By Blogger Rick Curry, at January 19, 2019 4:54 AM  

  • wonderful and detailed post on various energy sources and their related concerns. i liked the entire article. i would also like to bookmark your blog https://www.professionalletterwriting.net/letter-explaining-low-gpa/ and share it with others. thanks.

    By Blogger Rick Curry, at January 22, 2019 2:41 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home