addictions of a kind of innocent sort... maybe

by Rain Trueax

bobcat in our Tucson backyard

Everybody has ways they waste time… Maybe not everybody but I do. I am not sure I can justify my own choices for what I do instead of something important… Well, maybe we need to define important, but after just going into the immigration issues, I am not going to define anything here—just describe what I do when I should be cleaning house or something more noteworthy, like writing on the next book.

My time waster began innocently enough. Don’t they all! I got interested in people who live a full-time RV life. I can’t describe right now how I found the ones I began to check out on YouTube. Maybe because I joined some Facebook groups about RVs since we have one and were looking at changing to something different. Because I also have a YouTube channel, with very little on it, I had interest in the art form, and know from experience that it isn’t the easiest thing to create something others want to follow.

approaching a new year

by Rain Trueax

As we approach the new year, it's a time for me to look back as well as forward. In some of my looking back, I picked out a few photos from our year to share. They show one piece of what we experienced. Not easy even then to narrow it down to only two from each month. The music is some I bought a license to use from JewelBeat.

2018 Looked Like This to Us

So what 2019 will hold, well, time will tell :) 

Happy New Year

Something waits

With a new book out and my mind turning toward what will be the fifth in the Hemstreet Witches series, I thought I'd post the newest link here. I've written now six paranormals (one of them, Diablo Canyon, is alternatively available as three novellas). 

Natural born witch, Torre Hemstreet feels lost as her third sister marries—the youngest no less. After years being the four musketeers, she’s on her own. More upsetting yet, the boy she fell in love with in high school, the boy who left without a word, is back. Like she needs more upset.

Marsh Logan has had more success with his music career than he ever expected when he left Tucson. He’s  winding up that career ten years later to return to the woman he could never forget—if she’ll have him when she learns his secret and if he survives whoever appears out to get him.

Beginning in Tucson, traveling north to the Navajo Nation, Marsh must find peace with himself, gain Torre’s forgiveness, and find his hidden enemy before he can destroy him. Marsh has never thought of himself as a warrior, had no idea he was in love with a witch, but he’s got a lot to learn-- fast.

Gnomes, shapeshifting, witches, and skinwalkers move through this 71,500 word paranormal romance, the fourth in the Hemstreet Witches series. All the books stand alone but the love stories and adventures begin with Denali, go onto Elke, to Devi and now it’s Torre’s turn—whether she’s ready or not. Spicy romance with speculative spirituality. All paranormal romances are exclusively at Amazon and available to borrow for Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

Something Waits

 

What it's about

Sometimes, in life we need breaks. Those can be to reflect, rest, or just sit back and be for awhile. There are times to ask-- Where do we want to go with our lives? If you are young, you might think those questions get answered by the time you get old. They haven't for me. My life has continued to offer new challenges and choices-- many I never dreamed would be part of my old age.

Looking back, something I don't do often, I see that my life has broken down into quiet periods and those with more stress involved. As a writer, we call that a WW. You write high tension, then give breaks for release before it starts again. Of course, a book has an ending. Ours only comes with death-- if then. We write WWWs because it's how life is for most of us. Maybe some are able to protect themselves from the stress times, but for those involved with others, care about their lives, they realistically can't as they will be caught in their WWWs.

What follows is a little blog break for fun and something about the inspiration for my writing and life. For some of you, that break would involve reading a classic novel, cooking a gourmet meal, or listening to classical music. Me, I am a simple farm type gal and my break involves simple, basic thoughts. I will be using a couple of YouTubes to illustrate those themes and feelings.

In my romances, the hero and heroine face challenges. The first YouTube has a hero with a duty and facing a life and death challenge. Duty is an issue for most of us- to lesser degrees, of course.  I like Marty Robbins for his songs of the  West and some mythic themes. This song is brought to life with movie scenes.

The next song is Ian Tyson's-- about an aspect of life we all face-- if we get old enough. Where did it all go? The singer is remembering the past and choices-- wondering if he made the right ones. Old now, he's looking back on years when he had strength and abilities that made him proud-- but did he hold onto something too long or release it too soon? 

One thing about Ian Tyson's songs is they are not country western but are Western. They depict the West as it has been and still is many places. When you have time to explore his music, you'll find it speaks to nature, animals, and yes, ordinary lives.

The key in the best westerns, for those who enjoy them, is finding ground between what we know it was really like, due to research, and the mythology that quickly became an important part of the story of the West. The real West could be brutal and didn't offer happy endings for a lot of folks. We get enough of that in reading our newspapers. What westerns and western romances provide are places where we can find that happy ending. The rug by the way in the video looks more Mexican in color than Navajo-- maybe even Pendleton blanket, which wouldn't be very good in a song probably... :). In addtion, I own three, gorgeous Navajo rugs and can't imagine making love on any of them (scratchy) that's where the mythology comes in.

As an addendum here, when I began publishing my books, I learned books have teaser trailers that use music, images, and words. Who knew! I learned of them when I came across the topic in an Amazon forum for writers. I learned the formats and what it would take-- like buying music where I could get the rights at a reasonable or even free price (You will be kicked off YouTube if you use popular music without permission-- and permission is generally either impossible or too expensive). To create the slideshow, I also needed to find the right images and words. I've done that now for almost all of my books. I don't do it to sell books. I do it for the love of the process and for my characters.

 

You can find more of my trailers on their own site and my YouTube channel.

Rain Trueax YouTube Channel
Rainy Day Trailers

downsizing

My fascination lately has been with simplified living, tiny homes, and RV living. Although we have a vacation trailer, I can't imagine getting everything I value in my home/homes into it. How would I store the books? How about the art? My gosh, the art would have to go, and how could I get rid of paintings I love so much? How about the Navajo rugs, the Hopi pottery, the rocks my parents collected that take up so much space? 

Yet, there is this appeal at the idea of simplified living especially with a trailer and being able to boondock (live off the grid) with solar panels. For me, I like to stay connected in terms of the Internet and be able to write using my computer. I bought a fold-able desk to use next time out. We use HotSpots to connect wherever there is enough cell signal (some places there is not). 

I hear about some who desire to live in planned, senior communities and to me that sounds like hell on earth. Yet, how would I feel about not owning anything but a trailer and truck? I don't know, but those who do it fascinate me, and I watch some of them on YouTubes to learn how they live. 

Couple Living in an Airstream

That video is on a YouTube channel by a guy I check up on every now and again, Cheap RV Living, where he posts RVer interviews and what he's learned about how to make it work when you don't live a life like everyone else. He's done some good interviews with women who have chosen this life for assorted reasons. 

Fearless retired woman

Solo Woman Joyfully Living

Well, actually, on YouTube channels, there are quite a few women sharing their lives that way. Most are positive, but I've seen a few like the next link. 

 Scary experiences also happen

We have done trailer and van camping over many years and have had a few scary events also. Be aware is my advice. What she did is what we have done-- leave, even in the middle of the night, when it doesn't feel safe.

Still, most is good. It's not all about old folks these days. Some might be forced out of a stick and brick home, but there are those who want no mortgage or just the freedom to travel. Full time RVing is not new as I remember when our kids were young and a magazine called Trailer Life had a regular feature on those where their rigs were their homes.

Van Life-- Our Custom Van

While I don't see myself doing it at this point, I find the cable shows and videos fun to watch. I used to be a fan of the home remodeling shows, but now it's more tiny living or YouTube for those who have put aside the regular life for one that is unconventional. I am interested in why they made the choice and how they expect to live. I am interested in how it might change a person to live this way. 

Reflections on what society has become

I've thought of it always as something I could do if the economy turns disastrous. It's not for me right now other than as a voyeur.

Some of that and my own experiences with trailering inspired me to write a novella that I first called Red Hawk Christmas but more recently changed to Diana's Journey. It might actually end up with a yet different title, as it's hard to get across a book that isn't really a romance as such and yet is about a romantic journey that a woman makes not to find 'the' man, but to find herself when life has changed for her. 

It was intended to be first in a series of women starting over, with not all involving an RV; but I got sidetracked by the paranormal books and so that put that series on a back-burner for someday. (It also is the one that got a very negative review that literally killed its sales-- reviews can do that.). Still, I like the story and was able to share a lot of my own experiences where I've camped and spent time in the West.

Diana's Journey

I think it's had a problem with not being a romance and yet it kind of is. Cross genre books have this problem.

making a video

One of the things about the internet is how it brings us in touch with so many people, from all around the world, those we'd likely never meet any other way. It seems relatively safe too-- other than insults being easier to throw around. The thing is the anonymity has a price attached-- lack of real connection. 

Oh, we can choose to meet in a real place, those we only knew through typed words and a few shared pictures. I've done that now with maybe 20 or so. Some came off meeting first in chat rooms. Some came later through Facebook connections. But many 'friends' remain typed words and a photograph (which might not even be them). 

For someone like me, who lives in a community where there aren't many like-minded folks nearby, the internet has become a way to connect with others, who are more like-minded. They can feel like friends, but we can't say-- hey, let's visit some antique stores today. Or how about lunch? The internet becomes a place to interact but yet... are we?

One way I tried to get past the feeling of unreality was to set up a blog I called Videos and Discussions. My idea was I'd create short blogs where I talked about my writing-- or whatever topic came to mind. Others would give me their links about their creative work and I'd post them as a place to get a little more real, to hear each other's voices, see how we look when talking, and then share those ideas that we would share over coffee if we lived closer. While I've done quite a few short talks there, it didn't end up having others want to share theirs-- or hasn't yet.

Videos and Discussions

Then, I forgot about making the videos until last week-end when I thought it must have been a while. A while turned out to have been since 2015. On the weekend, I decided to do one regarding my recent work. I'd learned a thing or two about what makes a paranormal and that gave me a theme.

Back when I first began making videos, I knew I wanted them to feel like talking with a friend-- the thing I wasn't getting much of. Still, I wanted them to have some cohesion. With a friend, I could drift off this way or that, as could they. With a video, I have only four minutes (about the longest I expect people to stay with it). 

To get my cohesion, I don't do an outline or write down key points. I turn on the webcam and just start talking. I turn it off, watch it, and try it again-- with no intention of keeping these. Eventually, after a couple dry runs, I have a good idea of where I am going and what will best illustrate my points.

Then is when I look to room lighting. I tape these in a corner of the living room where my desk and webcam set. I turn off some lights and put on others as I like a visual with more light on one side and limited light behind. Since I don't cut and splice, the final video will be one take-- which means phone calls, husband walking through room, all can lead to a-- start over. 

I'll admit it. I want to look as good as possible for a video; so I put on the kind of makeup I only wear when heading to town. I also choose a top that doesn't change the lighting. I notice I have a lot of tan t-shirts, and they show up often in the videos I've done. 

When I sit back down, I start talking with the points in my head, which means if I do it more than once, it will vary. I haven't ever spliced one; but if I did any outside, that would likely have to happen.

If when I watch, it doesn't work, I try again-- although I don't keep doing and doing it as that seems to me it'd get stale. Monday, with two interruptions, the one below was the third try. I'd done the dry runs the day before as I fleshed out my ideas. Outlines might be more effective, but for me, this works best to stay loose.  I have no idea where the 15 came from on the video but it wasn't the takes this time. They all got erased except the final one.

Next step is post it to YouTube on my channel, which also has book trailers and nature videos that we've made. YouTube's computer chooses the thumbprint, with three options-- never good ones when I'm talking. Vimeo, which I have also used, lets the creator choose the thumbprint. Nice Vimeo. But I have to say YouTube is so easy to use that I generally go for it. 

So take a look at the one I made Monday, then come back for why I am posting this topic.

 

What I am hoping is my original idea for the link above could still happen-- not just with other writers, but photographers, painters, sculptors, cooks, quilters, etc. etc. I still think this is a way to make ourselves more real to each other when we don't have an opportunity to meet for real. And if we someday do, then that's still nice to share our creative work with others, those from around the world. 

There is another plus to making these. I think it can help us focus on what we are trying to accomplish when we talk about our work, when we make ourselves become cohesive in what we hope to accomplish. 

If you give it a try, get me the link. I'd love for Videos and Discussions to fulfill the purpose for which I had originally hoped-- a nest of creativity where the work is shared and encouraged. Besides bringing us together, the internet can do that.

book trailers

Creating trailers for my books has become one of those things I generally do when I finish the rough draft. They help me write the blurbs, and I enjoy playing with images. If you have an interest in such, the ones I have created are at [Rainy Day Trailers] as well as on my Rain Trueax channels at YouTube. For reasons relating more to my lack of techie skills than a desire, I have two channels there with no idea how to merge them. This is the one with the most recent videos-- My YouTube Channel.

Because of discovering filters to use on photos, for the first time I put together the video with one of the apps. I like how besides looking like a painting, it gives the images a fantasy feel-- appropriate for a paranormal book where the 'other' side intrudes on what we consider the real world...



This following link takes you to it on YouTube if the embed is too slow. Much of how well videos work is dependent on the speed of someone's server. Mine varies in how effective it is. It can help to put it on pause and let it get ahead, in short, buffer. (My granddaughter taught me that one-- as often happens with techie stuff that they get far faster than I do).

A Price to be Paid

If you haven't seen the videos for the first two in the Hemstreet Witches series, they are at: 

 Enchantress' Secret

&

To Speak of Things Unseen

putting music and words to images

As an extra blog for this week and for fun, this is the book trailer I just created for the recent novella, Sonoran Christmas. I do these for most of the books, although I haven't yet for the last novella, Red Hawk Christmas. I had it in my mind that maybe I'd do a trailer for it that was more about the series, Women Starting Over. That hasn't come together; so temporarily a video is on hold.

Until I began bringing out my own books, I had no idea that they had book trailers. I learned some basics from one of the forums at Amazons and got into the idea of taking images that worked for the stories, a few words and putting it to music. 

You can't use just any music as it has to be where you have the license from the owner of the copyright. There are places that offer clips for free, but I like JewelBeat who have reasonable costs, and put out a variety of melodies to suit different genres. This one is from one of their albums with a western feel. They cut the clips into various lengths, which is perfect for a book trailer which should not be too long. 

This is the latest video for Book 8 in the Arizona historical series where the Taggert family patriarch, reprobate though he's been, meets up with the woman, who just might be the one to tame him.

fresh eyes

For the last week, we've had our 15, 12, and 8 year old grandsons (off and on) at the farm. They've been helping build fence, laying irrigation pipe, watching movies, playing their games, and generally enjoying the experience of working hard enough to have sore muscles (maybe not exactly enjoy).

The week has had its chaotic aspects with trying to figure out what we will be doing with our two stray cats. The orange one is wanting to come in off and on but not stay. We haven't been able to keep him in the yard because he's very good at climbing. The black one was caught in the live trap and has been in (unwillingly) for a couple of days. She is antsy, growls at anything that moves fast, and meows a lot. So, in the cat world, chaos reigns.

My second book in the Barrio Viejo series (changed title for it) is off to the beta readers, and I'm making changes as they come back with issues they see. So far it's been minor things, and a suggestion to tighten up one of the chapters. That's the neat thing about beta readers-- that they see the work through fresh eyes.

When I was working on the trailer, my middle grandson took an interest in the images I'd put together. He said, "But, you just told the whole story."

Hmmmm, that's not what a trailer is supposed to do. So I reworked the images to do more suggesting the risks and introducing the dangers (some of them) the hero and heroine face. It improved the video-- again the advantage of having someone else see the work through fresh eyes. 

My youngest grandson really got into the idea of monsters; so we looked through the possible images I could add, which fascinated him and is always fun for me. I don't use the really horrible monster images because I don't want something ghoulish on my books. There are no zombies, and demons can look however they want (in my stories). 

So writing a blurb, finishing the edits as suggestions come in, and then this book will be ready to go out. I am having a hard time understanding why these books haven't caught the interest of those who've read my other books; but what someone enjoys in a book is so subjective. There isn't a right or wrong. It's what piques interest and add to someone's life either through knowledge or enjoyment.

Here's the trailer for the book due out early August as I am thinking of doing a pre-release for it-- which means 10 days that it can be ordered but not purchased. Summer doesn't seem a good time for book sales for many of the authors. Still, I can't wait for fall for this one as it will be ready way ahead of that with another to write.

      

a month went by already? Seriously???

August 1st, Lammas, first harvest, a time for reaping what we have sown.

And for this blog, I have no more ideas than on July 1st. That means I will take August off also and be back September 1st to evaluate where I am. First though, a little of what July was like.
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My biggest question is: Where did July go? I can hardly believe a whole month passed and did it in a week. 

The vegetable garden has been so abundant that we are already looking for where we can give excess produce. For July, we moved pasture irrigation pipes off and on. I never did it often enough to get over the pain of the work. This was easier when I was younger. It is important though, not just for the animals but for concern over fire danger. This has been an exceptionally dry and hot summer in my part of the Oregon Coast Range-- worse, there is no promise of rain or cooler temperatures.

We researched our irrigation rights for this place. We knew they went way back but given the dryness of this year, the possibility is very real that irrigation will be cut off at some point. We will do it ourselves if stream flow goes too low, which is why it's been essential to irrigate as much as possible while we still can. Rivers and creeks in Oregon

are way warmer than they should be, which won't be good for fish-- small or big.

That trip or those little trips I hoped to be taking-- never materialized due to work here, reluctance to be gone when it's so hot with concern over fire danger-- and the next paragraph.

This was not a month for original writing. It was editing-- thought by thought; sentence by sentence; and word for word. With two books to be released (August 5th and September 21st), that kind of work has to be done with the hope that when the book comes out, it'll be without errors. Editing, especially the anal type, is not easy on anybody's brain-- let alone their back. Editing full length books is a six or more hour a day job (I see novellas in my future). 

While working on a book this way, I do take breaks, but it is not easy work (sometimes depressing when I can't understand how I wrote it that way or made that typo), and there is no way around the work-- short of hiring someone else to do it. Frankly, that's not easy to find-- someone who can understand my intent.

I added an element this time by using Grammarly's free online, [check out a segment of your work]. The bad part with the 'free' option is they tell you what they believe you got wrong. They do not suggest a fix. For that, you have to look back at the work (to see if you agree) or buy their service (to see if you agree). Grammarly cannot be purchased as software but is a monthly service fee. It is not the only such service out there, but it seems one of the more widely used. 

I use Word's editing options all the time but never let any auto-correct as none is not always right. It can totally lose context. No such service lets the writer or the editor off the hook. The question, where it comes to fiction, is whether the grammarian view of what is right works for the flow. I chose to try out Grammarly to at least know what English fundamentalists would find objectionable in my writing. I do know the basics of grammar but I also won't, for instance, use whom every time it should be used because sometimes it just sounds wrong!

The one aspect of Grammarly that most confused me was the times that they would say they detected plagiarism! I can't begin to figure out how they came up with that. In recent years, I've read hardly any romances. This whole year, my reading has been newspapers, research material, and my own work for editing. I'd love to be reading for pleasure (and I guarantee that when I next read a book, it will be for pleasure. I will read nothing because the NYTimes said I should or someone claimed it will enrich my mind or reveal what is wrong with the world. No thanks, I can get that from the newspaper-- boy howdy can I!

Back to the issue of plagiarism, since there is no way possible I could be copying anyone else's work, how do they come up with that? It would be the one thing that could most tempt me to pay the $$ to get their service. The problem with subscription services is you have to remember to end it or you get it renewed automatically. So for now, not going to do it. After all, Word does a pretty good job with claiming my sentence just ran on too long or I split an infinitive.

Where it comes to writing, to give myself breaks from editing, my fun for July (and any month) came in finding and using images to create covers and book trailers. This was the month where I found the perfect guy model for several earlier written books. 

Finding an image for ethnically different heroes had been all but impossible. Then along came Vikkas Bhardwaj, from India but currently living in L.A. He offers that perfect mix of handsome, dangerous, and yet with a sense of humor, the kind of guy I frequently like for my book heroes. Not only did I find him at an online royalty-free image site (at a reasonable price), but he actually has his own site-- Vikkas Zone. For anyone who needs royalty-free cover images, check out the link-- likewise for anyone who just likes to look at good looking, interesting, and I think also nice guys.

Echoes from the Past, released August 5th, needed a little older man on the cover. Vince Taggert is in his early forties and toughened by a hard life. He had to look handsome but like a man who could take care of those around him. The expression is the kind of man it'd do to ride the river with.

When I look for covers, I want the characters to fit those in the book. I got lucky when I came across this couple. She is beautiful but even more importantly, looking inward, which is the case of my heroine. He is looking outward to the dangers around them. Finding that combination to suit a story where the past is challenging the future, that made my day. I added the lightning to represent fate.

Holly and Vince's story is set in 1901-- Arizona. This was the era where privileged women were beginning to get advanced educations and think of being career women. Holly has come to Arizona with two goals-- one as an archaeologist, in the fortunate position of being economically able to fund her own dig, and the other as a woman haunted by her dreams and anxious to find out if what she has dreamed all these years really exists.

As I have done for all my books (so far anyway), I created a trailer for Echoes. It is part of my re-creation that gives me breaks from the more nitty-gritty work of editing-- which I am back to now, as another book needed some revamping. Will that ever stop being the case???

 

spring fever

i think i have a classic case of spring fever. mentally, i am in a strange place-- especially for me. nothing is on my mind when I am not actually editing the novella due out May 1st. 

it has been a mild spring-- so lots of afternoons where i can sit outside and just watch what is happening around me which amounts mostly to insects and birds, hearing the sounds of nature-- which include the sound of sheep eating the rose leaves they can reach outside the fence. hummingbirds are very noisy, lots of squabbles over territory, but you probably know that. 

other than that, i am thinking of nothing, nada, nil. my mind is a blank slate or an empty cup ready to be filled-- putting a positive spin on my current state of mind. i admit, that for someone who always thinks, this feels very strange.  

i shall blame it on April-- Pieces of April. (i had to dig deep to even remember it was Three Dog Night. i guess my memory isn't as shot as i might've thought.)

so here i am, enjoying the beauty of this April and just being. i always say i want to do that, but it's rare when i actually do. there has been virtually no wrestling with world problems... or when something comes up, I write about it into 'my political rant' and release it. No wrestling with my own problems-- currently I can't think of any as life is flowing along as smoothly as the creek below our house. 

all my creative activity at the moment is editing. being in edit mode is probably the reason for the non-thinking brain when away from the computer. in edit mode, you aren't trying to come up with something new. it is about what you already created. did you get it down logically? can it be said better? is it consistent? very anal work and word for word reading.

i don't take it away with me when i leave the computer as I do when writing something original where i wrestle with what comes next every minute i am not doing an activity that i actually need to think about. so lots of photos and because i have so many with the bumblebee in the apple blossoms as well as the blueberries, one photo a day for awhile with no words. words aren't needed.

you know, to post this looking like my brain is right now, i left out all caps except for titles. do you know how hard that is to do...

Moods of Tucson

 If we can let go, relax and fall into the center of now, we can encounter directly the freedom that we have all been seeking.               Adyashanti

With this being the beginning of a new year, I like to find something that indicates my thoughts. The quote above pretty well says how I hope to live this year (how I always hope to live). It's on my new calendar for January.

Our little ranch did well with us being gone for a month totally because we have the best possible guy looking after it. In the years of owning it, the business of finding the right person to check on it, put out hay, monitor the livestock hasn't been easy. The man who does it now is strong, tough, knows this world and basically is so responsible that it's hard to imagine ever having anybody else if he stops wanting to do it-- I won't think about that since for now he does.

at Signal Hill

Arizona was wonderful, but I always wish I had more time there. So many things I'd have loved to do, but there was also a ton of work that the house needed, and it's the reason we were there: outside watering system repair, new dishwasher (what's with these energy efficient ones that save energy by not actually drying?), garbage disposal replaced, new blinds for living room and two bedrooms, kilns removed with one given away and the other brought back here, rental tractor to grade and repair driveway, clearing back invasive cactus to enable bringing our vacation trailer next time, some odds and ends, and my writing my first novella, A Montana Christmas.  It's amazing it all got done in the three weeks we were able to be in Tucson.

rented tractor and grading work-- hereby proving you can take the rancher off the ranch but not take the ranch out of the rancher.

Our oldest cat, BB, was in heaven to be there again. This is where he spent the first five years of his life, most of them as a stray where he scrounged and caught his own food. This time, as a pampered pussy cat, he didn't get freedom to run around by himself. He's deaf and old. He no longer can leap to the top of the wood fence and then onto the roof. Still he enjoyed his time outside with us and kept sniffing the air and rolling in the dirt. He wanted to visit all his old haunts.

Blackie and Pepper weren't so thrilled. Actually the female got along better with travel than the males, but she didn't like being outside which surprised me since she loves it on the ranch. I carried her out to the enclosed pool area, set her down, and heard the most pitiful merrrrows. She was terrified. As to why, who can ask a cat?

BB in the ironwood tree he climbed as a young cat and surprised us both by jumping up and doing again

The last day of 2012 had me on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor for the renters who were coming in that night as we would be driving north. Usually we have a neighboring couple readying it; but this time, they were gone to spend the holidays with their family in Florida. So doing it made me once again appreciate how wonderful they are and what a great job they do. If they ever stop wanting to do it, we might find it impossible to continue the vacation rental there.

Sometimes I think about how it'd be to have the house available to us in the winter and not be renting it out. Being able to hike in a desert where maybe you need a sweater and maybe not, that's a big plus. Then I think of our grandchildren and kids in Oregon, the farm. I also remember the benefits of the Tucson house as a rental with other people getting to enjoy what we do, with the rental money that enables improvements as well as pays all the insurance and taxes, and I know it's as it should be for now at least. I LOVE Arizona. I LOVE Oregon. Too bad they are so far apart.

We didn't get out of the Tucson valley this trip and had no time for a lot of our usual enjoyments. We did take many photos some of which will be quite useful in the future. We worked in some hikes but not nearly as many as we had hoped. We did get to Old Tucson where I hadn't been for years, not at all since an arsonist had destroyed the historic sets. I was surprised at how wonderful it now was with backdrops that made for great photos as well as useful for future eBook trailers. It was recreated with an artist's eye and is still being used for movie sets.

 Old Tucson

I know I've said how much I love Tucson but I want to repeat it. The energy, the diverse cultures that came to this place, the landscape that changes with only a few feet of elevation, the beauty of an autumn in the river and creek bottoms, the history, the magic of the sky, well it's just a wonderful place to be. I spend as much time as possible out on the desert, but it has a very nice city attached to it with all the cultural advantages of such a place.

Tucson is a place of extremes, of beauty and danger, of mystery and creative energy, of history and the moment. From the first time I saw it in 1965, I loved that area, have been there many many times even before we owned the house, but never felt I could live there full time. I don't really see myself as a snowbird either as I love the monsoon season, the spring, the fall, but for me, it's more a place to touch down, to have part of my soul be rather than the place I live.

With a new video of the Tucson desert, I wanted to pick up some pieces of its wonder, of what makes it what it is, of that diverse culture. Words don't do it justice. Tucson really is a mystical place for me-- the thing I can touch but never own.

Since I am sharing videos, here's one I created for our VRBO site and the Tucson home we call Casa Espiritu. It depicts spring, different colors and moods.

My Fellow Americans

Many of us have been immersed in politics for at least the last two years, as this long campaign seemed to, at times, stretch almost back to 2004. As a recommendation for a mental health break, one that pokes fun at politics, might I suggest renting My Fellow Americans. If you have seen it before, you know why. If you have not, as we had not, you will have a great surprise ahead with a lot of laughs but also some digs that remain as true today as in 1996.

We hadn't seen it when it came out. To be honest, I hadn't heard of it, but one day we had found it in the reduced DVD section at Walmart or Target. From there it sat in our bookshelf for maybe a year or more until the night before the Inauguration when we needed something light and thought this was worth a try.

How can you go wrong with James Garner and Jack Lemmon playing warring ex-presidents, from very different political agendas, who suddenly find themselves forced to be allies in a run for their lives. These two old men are just so great as they cleverly remind us nothing has changed; and that is what made it so funny and at the same time sweet. There are few things as good as watching old pros at work in anything they do well. Let's hear it for age and experience!

If you are not yet convinced, this is a trailer from the film:

My Fellow Americans

And a short clip from the film itself to give you an idea of the movie. Actually someone has evidently put the whole thing up on YouTube but my suggestion is rent it from Netflix or the old section in your video store, fix a bowl of popcorn, light a fire in the fireplace (if you have one if not some candles), and settle back for some laughs-- which are even funnier if you follow politics.

something fun

Western Skies

Friday's music was of an epic love which may or may not end happily. Sunday's was about an epic task, one that takes all a person has but that they will finish come hell or high water.

Today's is a song more about real life inspired by the land and people where I live and love. Take me out of the west (although strictly speaking it's probably from the Plains to the Cascades, I define it as reaching to the Pacific Ocean) and I'd wither. I know my roots, where I was born and where my ashes should be spread and it can be anywhere under--

Western Skies

If you write a blog, you know how they have a way of taking over, just as writing fiction will do. What was planned is not always what happens. Such is the case here when I thought of this song, then of the man who sang it, the land where he lived, and suddenly the blog expanded.

Not everyone is a fan of western music, but I am among those who are. Chris LeDoux, who died way too early in March 2005 of a rare form of liver cancer, was the real deal in terms of his character, singing and cowboy lifestyle . He had ridden rodeo in his younger years. He and the love of his life raised their family on a ranch in the same country where Butch Cassidy had one of his hideouts-- Kaycee, Wyoming.

In 1998, before I had heard of LeDoux but was very interested in seeing more of the country through which Butch Cassidy rode, I made a brief trip through the Powder River country getting as close as I could to the Hole in the Wall. In the town of Kaycee was this wonderful little museum full of western information and memorabilia. This area, Johnson County, was also a region of struggles between big cattlemen and homesteaders.

Because of the reminder of Kaycee, I dug into my drawer of photos and scanned a few from that trip (back in the days before digital made this all so much easier) and will share them tomorrow as there are few parts of the west as beautiful as Kaycee and none prettier in my opinion.

Red River

"There's three times in a man's life when he has a right to yell at the moon: when he marries, when his children come, and... and when he finishes a job he had to be crazy to start."
said by Mr. Melville (Harry Carey) in the film Red River.

As there are with the friendships we have made, the things we have done, there are those films that pass right on through after one viewing (if we're lucky); while others stay inside for a lifetime. Red River, starring John Wayne and Montgomery Clift, is in the latter category for me. It has a soundtrack that to me is the gold standard of movie soundtracks. While I generally feel most western soundtracks are great, it's at the top of any list.

When I went looking for a video for Red River, I found this YouTube. Only rarely do I read the comments below but this time I was rewarded when I learned Amazon now has the full soundtrack available. I skipped over as fast as my keyboard would take me and ordered Dimitri Tiomkin composer, William T. Stromberg conductor and Moscow Symphony Orchestra for the full soundtrack of the 1948 film, Red River.

Acquiring this particular soundtrack is a big deal for me. I have a lot of them. Mostly whenever I choose to use music to paint or write by, it's a soundtrack. I like them for how their soaring melodies play certain emotional strings, and (the ones I choose) for how they have no words to get in the way of my own ideas.

For years I have enjoyed the shortened version of Red River's soundtrack for bringing to life feelings of grandeur, of someone taking on a job that they know they can't succeed at but they stick with it anyway, for feelings of strength, and now I have the whole soundtrack to provide that inspiration. If you have seen the film, you know its soundtrack is like another character.

Maybe this year I will learn to do music montages such as are on YouTube; so I can create my own. I bought the software but haven't taken the time to learn how to use it. For now, someone else's creativity will have to do.

Red River

Unchained Melody

In my part of the Pacific Northwest, because of very heavy rains, there has been water water everywhere. (I guess you could drink it but I wouldn't suggest it.) Because I live on a creek, flooding is always a possibility when the conditions have been right. They predict, downstream from the farm, that local flood crest will come in the afternoon.

Currently the creek below my house sounds like a river and is just barely outside its banks. The closest it has ever gotten to the house has been to the edge of the driveway (the year of the sandbags), but it seems unlikely it'll come that close this week. Still definitely not the pretty season on the creek as the muddy water rushes past.

This is the season of long nights, of lots of hay for the cattle and sheep, of carrying in firewood to feed fires, of cats staring outside in disappointment or looking in the french door with their noses pressed against the glass-- like why did you let me out?

For me, this has always been the season for evaluating last year, fixing what I can fix, and devising plans to change what isn't working. It is a season where I look for inspiration many places and among them would be movies (more about them in the future) and music. Because I have the blog, it seemed a good time to look for videos to fit some of those songs that speak to my soul. YouTube is such a wonderful resource for creatively using music.

To begin, here is one for all those who have loved and had it work out and just as true for when it did not--

Unchained Melody with the Righteous Brothers

Bethlehem Morning

Believers or not, Christmas has something for everyone if they simply let the meaning of it become more important than the frills that have come to define it. It is harder for many of us today because we have (in my opinion) had a fundamentalist avalanche of expectations and distortions often losing what that message was about. Don't we all want unconditional love? It's no wonder this story of such a love has resonated through the centuries.

Jesus was not born in December-- assuming he was born with any possible resemblance to the story most of us have been taught. The story has been so covered in mythologies, which may or may not be historic, that the message has often been all but forgotten.

At Christmas, whether you think about Santa Claus or an infant child, the story is about a gift. To celebrate Christmas, does it matter if there is a physical, historical reality attached to any of it if we instead celebrate the kind of love that offers without asking anything in return? It can take a lifetime to really understand the meaning of that kind of love.

The first time I heard the following song, a definitely religious one, was in a small country church. It was a crowded Christmas service and I was up in the balcony. Our pastor at that time sang it and chills went down my spine as it soared through that small sanctuary. Today my perspective on what happened in Bethlehem might have changed but not my belief in what it stands for, the kind of love that gives all, that lasts as long as life itself and just possibly beyond.

Bethlehem Morning

I can't resist adding this version because the male vocalist sings it as well as that pastor did the first time I heard it.

Bethlehem Morning by Hugh Jackman in concert