No Snow Snow Day Number Two

Another day off work. Still negative temps with serious wind chill. I was a bit surprised the college closed for a second day, but I do understand. I see students wearing shorts -- yes, they wear shorts in January. I would say something snarky here, but I'm truly trying to not think or say hurtful things about others. It's a struggle, let me tell you.

Yesterday afternoon, once I learned I would be home today, I didn't read any student work like I should have. Instead, I worked on the piece I've been focused on for the last six months. I'm not ready to talk about it or share any of it yet. I simply want to keep making forward progress. That's not to say I don't share it with others. I do. Like with my friend who I meet every Monday for sharing and feedback. He has seen nearly all of it to date. I trust his judgment. He gives it to me straight, which I need.

To see how others might react, others who don't know me, I decided to post a few pages on the critique site I've been a part of for about a year and a half now. I guess I just needed to know if there is something there to continue pursuing. Last evening, I posted a second installment of five pages. When I went in to read some of the critiques, one comment told me I need to continue working on this project. That comment was "God damn that's lovely!" That's exactly what I'm trying to achieve with this work. I want the reader to see the lyrical, the poetic. Each of the critiques I received said I am accomplishing this. Can I keep it up? Only time will tell.

Today I get more time to work on the project. I've already completed some, a paltry 115 words, but that's 115 words in forward motion. I know I do need to read student papers. For now, though, I'm sticking with my own work. The student papers will get read. They always do.

The puffed-up overseer of the feeder.

The starlings have found the feeder. So far,
they're being nice and staying on the ground
 to feed. I love how their winter plumage is
so different from their summer.
Lots of bird action at the feeders, which isn't helping me get any work completed. I love how puffed up they all get to ward off the cold. Yesterday, when it was coldest, the feeders appeared closed for business. The birds must have been hunkered down out of the worst of the wind. Today, with the bit of warm up we're getting, the feeders are a happening place. Even a robin showed up to partake.

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