Bike Paths and Changes

Eventually we all feel the changes. Our landscape, our lives, our world. This morning I took my dog DD on a walk that I had probably taken a thousand times in the past forty years. Most of them with Dave, holding his hand, and talking about our lives. I highly recommend walking with your partner. Talk about everything while there are no distractions, no cars, no children, no phones - just walk and talk. Well this morning I went back to an old dirt road that we walked together so many times, and guess what? The old dirt road is gone. It's been widened and paved, and I didn't recognize it. It reminded me that my partner is gone, our walks have ceased, and life as I knew it  - changed just like that old dirt road. It's been swept clean. I'm trying to adjust to the paved path. The new and improved bike trail will accomedate numerous bikers and hikers. It's close to the National Sea Shore. I'm trying to stay positive, but sometimes changes are not for the better. I didn't meet one bike or one person while on the new and improved road. Maybe that's another plus. I am after all a solitary person. I just miss what was once so familiar. The scrub pine and oak has been pushed back, the big ruts and holes filled in, and holding hands while walking, gone in the blink of an eye.
I spend more time writing, visiting girlfriends, playing with grandkids, but the essence of that comfortable old road is missing. I get satisfaction from my memories. They sustain me and writing about Dave, like that old road is part of a memory now.
In other news: Sharks, pond scum, and plankton blooms, just enough to give one pause and reflect on the many changes in our world. I try to keep the faith in all things. As the saying goes: This too shall pass.Winter will follow autumn, death will follow life, and change is the only constant.
So the new Crowley mystery has got me excited. Title: Watch for the Crow. What do you think of this? The nickname the Crow has been given to the chief by local youth. Two teen boys find a body in the dunes and Chief Crowley must find the killer. I see the story in my head. I've got the beginning and the why, the who, the where, what and when. If I work like crazy, I think it will be ready next spring.
The trouble with writing and self-publishing is that I haven't broken even yet. The last book cost more than I've made so far. I'm about halfway. It's great for tax purposes, a business loss.   I'm going to have to make some changes, find a different way to make my books a business. My problem is that I just want to write, I hate marketing it myself and of coarse it costs money, so there goes any profits. What I figure is that I'll just keep writing and somehow marketing and publicity will eventually find its way to me. Not a very good strategy, I know, but as long as I can still pay the bills, I'll just keep writing.
I had an opportunity to read from my manuscript, Arethusa. I read chapter 4, Swimming and Racing to a friendly group in Provincetown. I think the crowd was pleased. I did a book signing at the Whydah Museum last week. So I can say I did do some marketing. I don't push myself as much as I could. Being a writer is solitary, an introverts ideal job. While marketing is really the opposite, pushing yourself is so difficult for me. I guess I'm that introvert.

July 2019 - Those lazy days of summer are here, bare feet, no coats, and dips in the salt water. I'm a sun child, a Leo, so hot temperatures don't seem to bother me. I do stay quiet, drink lots of water, and keep the fans going. And I hope everyone is heeding the weather warnings and being safe. With the heat wave comes indoor time so I am catching up on writing skills, via on-line classes while working on two books, "Arethusa" and "Watch for the Crow" (a third in the James Crowley series) I try to work everyday at writing but also reading and learning. Not a bad way to spend my time.  I get to do things with the grandkids as well. We've been to ponds, pools, ocean and bay.  The young ones are always fun. Trying to keep up with them keeps me growing. They teach me about our environment, about todays music, and they show me new ways to use my phone. Thanks to my thirteen year old granddaughter I'm taking Portuguese lessons from an app called Duolingo.

I'm still amazed at how much time computers can suck out of your day. I don't mean looking up interesting facts, ordering a pair of shoes, or even viewing photos on FB or Instagram. I mean trying to figure out how the thing works, like copy and paste, or preview, or add a label or what the heck is a hashtag anyway. I spent the entire morning trying to figure out how to send ten pages from my book-  out in an email. I looked it up on U-tube, then asked my own computer in the 'help' column, then found something on Google that led me to another page that gave me an answer. But when I tried, it didn't work. So back to the drawing board and guess what? I had the wrong email address, so now problem solved.

My son Bob brought me my first Fluke of the season. Wow is that fish just the best eating that's ever been. This past week has brought  suppers of seafood delight. Family and friends came for a visit and we ate: clams (steamers, quahogs, little necks) We ate oysters, shrimp, cod, and Fluke. Each meal has been exceptional, a gift from the sea. Bless those fishermen, clammers, and growers. I'll be looking forward to my next seafood meal. My sister arrived for a ten day visit. We haven't been together since I drove to Florida in 2017.  She hasn't been on the Cape since Dave's funeral, 2016. It's been a great visit, lots of good food, good friends, and good memories. We planned a dune ride for this evening, with beach fire and clam bake, but the fire and clambake on the beach has had to be cancelled because there is no access to the beach because of the nesting Piping Plovers. Bummer. Hopefully next year or maybe after all the birds have flown. I love the birds, love watching their skinny little legs scurry across the sand, love watching them skim the top of the water. I can wait.

So far it has been a supper summer. Lots of tourists, lots of heat and lots of sharks. I'm an avid ocean swimmer and this is the first year I'm not comfortable going to Head of the Meadow to ride the waves. I've only been in the ocean two times this year. I keep hearing the music from Jaws in my head and that doesn't make for a relaxing swim.  Evolution, change, global warming, it's the way of the world. The sharks have always been there, but now I'm very aware of them. And so we change with the changes. Adjust the set of our sails, swim in a pool instead of the ocean and leave the sharks to feed on the seals. Stay safe, warm and dry dear friends.  Fair Winds.