I recently watched the Michael Douglas movie Romancing the Stone and laughed all the way through it. A little adventure, a little romance, a little bit of a nail-biter, with a great big alligator that ended up as a pair of cowboy boots. My life has been a bit like that this winter as I spent time in both Idaho and Montana, without the alligator, of course.
Adventure comes from doing something new or going someplace I’ve never been before and I’m having a blast. I’ve been busy doing what retired folks should, enjoying life. Returning to Boise from Billings was a nail biter this week, icy roads and snow that couldn’t make up its mind if it was blowing north, south, east, or west, up or down, but kept blowing and shifting, just to confuse me. The drifting snow near Dillon, Montana, gave me pause, made me rethink the whole driving in snow thing. The previous day it had been sunny with puffy clouds and what I call sucker holes in the blue sky, just enough sun to make me think it might be a nice day sometime soon. It didn’t and got worse.
Romance, well, there’s been a little of that, too. My friend Luke hasn’t been as attentive as I wanted but he did bring me flowers so there’s that. I’m not really sure what to expect from a date at seventy-five, so I might have expected too much. We’ve eaten at a few restaurants, mostly mom-and-pops and had some great meals. We took a couple drives to view herds of cattle with new-born calves struggling to stand up. The temperature hovered below zero with sideways-blowing snow and I thanked my lucky stars I was a human in a vehicle, not a cow giving birth. Now I’m back in Idaho, wondering if he will call me. Cell phone coverage is iffy in parts of Montana but I’m a patient soul. I keep thinking about the blue-eyed cowboy that I met at the Superbowl party. I haven’t talked to him either, but somebody left a message on my voice mail, at least it was a 406 area code and might have been he.
So that brings me to the alligator. I don’t really have an alligator but have a hole in my bathroom floor as big as an alligator. I thought it was sewer gas, but it turned out to be mold and had a parade of workers to eradicate it, but these days it is difficult to get anyone to fix things, so I’m waiting and waiting and waiting for help.
I love writing, as you know, it is my most favorite thing to do, (except putting on my bikini to go to the beach). I have written a Wrinkly Bits blog twice a week, Tuesday and Friday for two years and love writing them and hearing the amazing comments that come back. Thank you!
I recently began writing a new book about a subject that is different from anything I’ve ever written before. As you know, I became a widow nearly two years ago and found little available about “getting on with life” and decided to tackle a non-fiction book on widows and widowers and what happens next. It’s like nothing I have written before, and I find it challenging, but I fully intend to maintain the humor and folksy style of writing that I use in the blogs. Time for all of us is at a premium and I can’t seem find time for all that I want to do. I am about 10,000 words into my new book and anticipate it being 40,000 words so want to dedicate a little more time to putting this book together.
Between my adventures, whatever romance comes my way, the alligator hole plus two blogs a week, I find myself too busy to maintain my current pace. I tell my grandkids, do one thing at a time and do it well, so I am going to follow my own advice: I will continue to write my Friday blog but dispense with Tuesday’s blog until I can finish the book. I promise to keep you updated on my views of life, romance or lack thereof, and continue to seek out Cowboy Bob and his tales. So far, it’s been an adventure.
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