The Journal: Satellites and a Poem

In today’s Journal

* Quote of the Day
* Satellites
* Stone Libraries and the stories they tell
* Yesterday and Today
* Of Interest
* The Numbers

Quote of the Day

“Mrs. PG gave up bookstore signings a long time before she went indie. Too much time and effort for too little return.” The Passive Guy

Each time I go camping, I try to spot satellites in the night sky. Sometimes I see one or two, sometimes none.

This morning, at 4 a.m. on my way to the Hovel, I glanced up and spotted one traveling from southwest to northeast. (Back in the day, all satellites moved east to west or north to south.)

Then I spotted another one ten to fifteen seconds behind the first. Then another one. Then another. All of them were traveling southwest to northeast on the same path, and each one was ten to fifteen seconds behind the one that preceded it. Before the parade was over, I’d seen seven satellites in a row.

Except for their unusual (for all I know) direction of travel, I’m certain they were all satellites. There were no angular maneuvers, etc. Still…. Maybe the Othgygnrks are coming.

In today’s “Of Interest” is an article titled “Stone Libraries.” It’s all about browsing graveyards and cemeteries. Very interesting.

I wandered into the cemetery in the ghost town of Acme, New Mexico probably two decades ago. The cemetery stood a scant 20 or 30 yards from the ruins of the old school, and I soon noticed that almost all of the tombstones stood over children.

I did some research and learned that cholera had swept through the community in the late 1800s, taking every child in town with it. The residents scratched graves out of the limestone-rock laden soil, buried their babies, then abandoned the town.

I was moved to write a poem about it:

Schoolhouse, circa 1893

No easy matter, bronzing these sad rooms
in words, adobe walls emotionless
and mute, their paneless windows gaping, shocked

that Death crept in so quietly. Coarse weeds
huddle in the corner by the door,
still creaking on the one remaining hinge

that wind and time have yet to rust away.
How fitting for a cholera-ridden school.
The parents must have spent a time white-lipped,

aghast but stoic, trembling in their grief
and fear that what had touched their children
might easily touch them as well. How sad

they must have been, scratching tiny graves
from limestone-laden sand. No easy matter,
piling stones on stones to keep disease

locked in and animals locked out. No task
for feeble men and women lacking faith,
this premature disposal of their future.
* * *

Yesterday I did little to nothing most of the day. Today, I think I’ll write. We’ll see.

Talk with you again soon.

Of Interest

See “Stone Libraries” at https://killzoneblog.com/2020/05/stone-libraries.html.

See “A Scary Topic” at https://www.deanwesleysmith.com/a-scary-topic/.

See “DESCRIPTION – That Little Detail” at https://prowriterswriting.com/description-that-little-detail.

See “George RR Martin on Why He Doesn’t Write Outlines” (video) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF1PyB5v9jI. (Thanks to Tony H. for passing this along.)

See “GEORGE R.R. MARTIN | Master Class | Higher Learning” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDIZnKujSa4.

See “Mt. St. Helens: The Muse of All Muses” at https://leelofland.com/mt-st-helens-the-muse-of-all-muses/.

See “Developing a Writing Practice, Part 7: Engrained” at https://www.janefriedman.com/developing-a-writing-practice-part-7-engrained/. Not bad if you skip the intro down to “Set a Schedule.”

The Numbers

Fiction words yesterday…………………… XXXX
Nonfiction words today…………… 540 (Journal)

Writing of (novel)

Day 1…… XXXX words. Total words to date…… XXXXX

Total fiction words for the month……… 30061
Total fiction words for the year………… 309655
Total nonfiction words for the month… 10840
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 113950
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 423605

Calendar Year 2020 Novels to Date…………………… 5
Calendar Year 2020 Novellas to Date……………… X
Calendar Year 2020 Short Stories to Date… 12
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………………………………… 50
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)………………………………… 8
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)………………… 208
Short story collections……………………………………………… 31