The exercise:
Write about: the tree.
Hmm, Christmas is suddenly four days away. That doesn't seem right.
Looking forward to the arrival of Max's cousin Natalie tomorrow morning, along with her mom. Her grandma isn't going to be joining them, as she's quite unfortunately come down with a cold. I'm sad that she won't be with us for the holidays, but appreciate that she didn't want to infect all of us who would have been in close quarters with her.
The Christmas tree was put up and decorated this morning/early afternoon. Max was suitably excited.
If you're thinking to yourself, That seems like a pretty big tree, then, well, you're quite right. I'm impressed it only took me, Kat's dad, and Kat's brother to get it inside, upright, and stable.
Mine:
I don't like it here,
It takes up too much space
And it feels like it's
Always getting in my face.
And beside,
Trees are not meant
To be inside.
You think what you will,
That's entirely your right.
You can say that you love
The way it looks at night.
But to me
It hates being here and I think the
Squirrels agree.
The exercise:
Write a four line poem about a: snowflake. Or about snowflakes. Whichever.
I made a grand total of $24 in card sales this morning. Considering the fact that I paid $30 for the pleasure of being there, that ain't exactly ideal.
But I got paid for my product shoot (I'll be sure to share the link to the website once the pictures are up on it) and I got paid for the six boxes of apples. Throw in a $20 tip from the appreciative apple customer and it's not so bad.
Still, though. Twenty-four friggin' dollars.
Oh well.
And, hey, look! Christmas is right around the corner!
Mine:
He's fully formed and ready
For his slow fall to begin,
And to get going with the
Eternal search for his twin
The exercise:
Write four lines of prose about a: holiday tradition.
Max (sort of) helped me put up Christmas lights this afternoon at Kat's parents house. Mostly he took almost every opportunity presented by me being at the top of a ladder or chair or couch to run off and get into things he shouldn't be playing around with.
Still got them up though.
Ready to roll tomorrow morning for the very, absolutely certainly last market of 2014. It's been a good business year but I'm quite ready to finish it off.
Then I can start fully looking forward to family beginning to arrive on Monday.
Mine:
Staying up late on Christmas Eve to keep watch for Santa's arrival was something that started when I was five. Shawn, my brother, was seven and even back then he made sure we were well equipped in case the big man showed his face. We've progressed from the slingshots and hockey sticks we had in our youth to shotguns and tire irons, but otherwise the tradition remains the same.
I imagine our yearly vigil will continue until we're finally able to make him pay for Shawn's pink bike and my crochet kit that he left us the Christmas before our watch began.
The exercise:
Write about: the decoration.
I spent most of the morning getting ready for this Saturday's farmers market. Yup, I'm doing the last indoor market of the season in Penticton, despite what I said about being done. It's a combination of things.
The biggest is that I'm going up to give my client the CD of pictures. I'm also going to try to get a few shots of his market table for his website. So there's that.
We also have our usual Christmas order of six boxes of Ambrosia apples that one of our regular customers does every year. I'm bringing those along with me so that she'll have them just in time for giving them to her family as presents.
So, basically, I figured if I'm going up there anyway... I might as well try to sell some more cards and prints while I'm at it. I'm looking at any sales as bonus money, so there's no pressure in that regard.
Although it would still be nice to sell at least a few things so that I'm not crippled with boredom.
Mine:
Hanging from the tree,
It looks around to see
Who is naughty -
And to what degree.
Its watchful eye
Will never ever lie.
Such a happy guy,
This sly Santa spy.
The exercise:
Write about: the snowman.
I don't think I'll be doing a proper countdown to Christmas like I have in previous years, but the prompts will still likely have a seasonal flavour for the next week. It's just that time of year.
Had Max with me in town this morning to run a few errands. I decided to drop by the hair salon to see if our hairstylist had an opening that we could conveniently slot into. As it happened, right then and there happened to work perfectly.
I went first while Max entertained himself (and me... and the hairstylist) by playing with the Christmas decorations in the window and commenting on passersby. He had to be coaxed onto my lap for his turn, but we got him there eventually.
Now I just need to shave and I might actually look presentable before the relatives start arriving.
Mine:
Three fat snowmen are lurking
In the front yard;
Every day and every night,
They're standing guard.
Just one snowman is breathing,
So which could it be?
The secret to our safety...
It changes nightly.
The exercise:
Write two haiku about: the apprentice.
Photography stuff went really well today, other than a bout of technical problems just as we began to take the product pictures after a round of test photos. At first we feared that my friend's flash trigger wasn't compatible with my camera and that something got fried.
Eventually, though, it was discovered we were merely victims of a battery apocalypse. The batteries in the trigger and both flashes needed replacing - for both the equipment we started with and their backups. I think the backup camera was the only thing with working batteries. Thankfully he had a huge stock on hand he could use to replace them all.
I'm extremely lucky to have found someone so knowledgeable (and generous with that knowledge) to walk me through this process. I'm an outdoor photographer who has struggled mightily with indoor shots. Plus I've never had this kind of equipment to work with.
Which I might not be able to say for too much longer. At least the cost of entry is a lot lower than I expected it to be. Well, it is when you've got someone who knows what he's doing on your side.
The pictures turned out great. There's still a bit of editing to be done (that's getting finished up tomorrow) but I think my client will be very, very pleased with the end results.
Heh, my client. What a delightfully strange thing to be able to say.
Mine:
The equipment stops
working. Now the backups too?
Tiptoe for the door...
* * *
Master makes magic
for all the happy children.
Now I know his tricks.
The exercise:
Write about: waiting for the storm.
All six packages were successfully acquired this morning, with minimal trouble at the border. Max is pretty excited about his new electric toothbrush. Or, rather, the idea of it. Not much of a fan of it when it's turned on.
We'll get there eventually. We need to do something, at any rate. He hates having his teeth brushed about as much as wicked witches hate water.
Looking forward to the photography shoot/lesson tomorrow afternoon. This could be the start of something big.
Mine:
All throughout the valley people are huddled in shelters. Families, friends, complete strangers. Coming together in a desperate attempt to survive.
Some are calling it the Storm of the Century. Others say it will be worse than anything that has come before it in recorded history. Father Matthias called it the End of Days.
Whatever you wish to call it, the storm will be here soon. Its rumble has begun reverberating around the mountain tops already. So folks hide away, count their supplies, and wonder if there will be anything to return to once the storm has passed.
Not me, though. I've got no family, no friends, no pressing desire to see another sunrise. I'm sure I could have still found a shelter that would have taken me in, I just wasn't interested. I'd rather be up here, with camera in hand.
Somebody's gotta capture Mother Nature's temper tantrum for those who come later and wonder what it must have been like and it might as well be me.
