I’m sorry I’ve been away for so long. Time has really gotten away from me. *blinks*, is 2010 already half-gone? Or nearly so? It simply can’t be!
Sigh. Plea to time: SLOW DOWN, why don’t ya!?
Let’s see — first off, my friend Gwen Mitchell bestowed upon me the Soulmate Award. Thanks, Gwennie!
It comes with four rules:
1. Five recipients.
2. Make up something about the people you give the award to.
3. Link to the people you give it to.
4. Link back to the original award post.
Bwahahaha. *rubbing hands together* Here we go:
Dorothy Bumber. She and I, kindred spirits, both have faeries who live in our gardens and tend our flowers and veggies.
Ann Pino. Her rabbit, Cadbury, and my cat, MaoMao, are one and the same, and their secret lies in shapeshifting. And in all seriousness, please check out Ann’s newly released novel, Maelstrom. It rocks — quite literally. One heck of a fun read.
Susan Helene Gottfried. Trevor and Mitchell, from her fictional band ShapeShifter, are actually real people, and they like to come over and jam with me while I play my piano.
Jannie Funster. She and I are twins separated at birth — storytellers and musicians who tell stories through our music and make music via our stories, and we commune on projects whilst we dream.
Leah Utas. We are both ardent mountain climbers and are looking forward to the challenge of Mt. Everest.
And speaking of awards, my friend Paige gave me the Happiness 101 Award. Cool beans, and thank you!
As part and parcel of this award, I must tell ten things that make me happy. Not hard at all, I assure you. I’ll even provide photo illustrations, where appropriate. 
1. Watching the garden grow. Or should I say, explode. We used fertilizer this year, and well… talk about some huge vegetation. The cabbage plants are enormous, and the potato plants are twice as tall this year as last. And though I feared we’d have a dry spring, we’ve gotten fairly decent rain.
Check out this garden. Soon we’ll be getting all kinds of yummies, and in the meantime, we’ll keep picking the bugs off the potato plants.
Our potato plants (hopefully, you can’t see the bugs):
Broccoli plant working on a floret:
Ginormous cabbage plants:
Green bean plants that are already climbing their wires:
Tomato plants, already hanging full of developing tomatoes:
And sprouting corn:
2. Hiking. I’m not a writer who can do constant BIC (butt-in-chair). I consider myself productive, actually quite driven, but I’ve got to get out and shake off the mold on a regular basis. No, on a frequent basis. And for me, that means going to the mountain. Every hike is different. There’s always something new to see. For example, fresh ghost flowers, growing in the same location as the old ones from last year, which are still standing like mummified matchsticks. As you can see, the new ones are just now pushing themselves out of the dirt. Ghost flowers are fascinating — rare and strange and lovely. You can read more about them here.
Thanks to recent rain, the tadpoles on the mountain are thriving and still have a well-watered pond. Here’s a tadpole hanging out in a skeletonized leaf:
Soon, there’ll be scrumptious snacking on the mountain — behold, blackberries in development. In my appetite for blackberries, I rival any black bear.
The forest looks particularly lush after a spring rain.
The mountain laurel is starting to bloom. Here are the first blossoms I’ve seen, this warm season. The rest of the laurel will soon follow suit.
And no series of spring-on-the-mountain pictures would be complete without a dazzling drift of daisies.
3. Writing novels. I’m proud of myself, having recently completed first-pass revisions to Heart’s Chalice. But much work remains to be done on that novel. I’m going to let it bake for the rest of June, then come July, I will dive, in earnest, into second-pass revisions. This story has been a long time coming together, but I believe — hope — it’ll be worth the wait.
During June, I’ll brainstorm rewrites to House on Bear Branch, to be retitled Deirdre of the Sorrows. I also have a completed novel, Patchwork Stained Glass, on my plate, on which I have put final polish. And more novels are bubbling in the constantly-churning stew of my mind. Stay tuned for updates.
4. Writing short fiction. Check out my story blog, Grace Notes, to read flash fiction based on my novel-in-progress, Heart’s Chalice. I haven’t updated Grace Notes in a while, because I’ve been focused on revising the actual novel. Another consideration — I don’t want to tap out Heart’s Chalice short fiction before the book can come out. But I will be writing short fiction again, you can count on it — whether about Heart’s Chalice, or another novel.
5. Playing piano and writing music. While my inner editor has been ruthlessly whacking at my novel, my muse has come out to indulge my other great artistic passion: music. I’m entering a new songwriting phase, and I’m finding it particularly delightful. At some point (hopefully soon), I plan on recording my music and making it available online.
6. Ballicai. In other words, my much-loved cats.
Marilyn MonREOW:
Dorydoo:
Brainball and MaoMao:
7. Writing and reading poetry. Often, my poems become song lyrics. If they’re sufficiently lyrical and rhythmic, that is.
8. Studying philosophy. I’ve been doing quite a bit of that lately. Everything from ancient Greek thought to modern philosophers. The meaning of philosophy is “love of wisdom”, and that’s a direction I seek to grow: in wisdom.
9. Blogging. Yes, I still enjoy blogging, even if time is passing too quickly, I keep crazy-busy, and I don’t wind up blogging as often as I would like. I’m fairly active on Facebook, and from time to time, on Twitter.
10. Love and friendship. Speak for themselves, in a way which can’t be done justice in words.
Here’s what we look like in real life. Heh. 
