Friday, June 21, 2013

Catching up on the summer solstice

Yesterday was the summer solstice, and it was an unexpectedly fresh, luminous day here after what seems like weeks of nonstop rain. I ran around like a headless chicken doing chores and errands, catching up after two busy months. That's the reason I haven't posted much here on the blog. I'm sorry for that, but I had a sudden influx of manuscript clients. It's always like that for a writer—feast or famine—so I'm grateful for the busy times, though they are stressful. It's a lot more stressful when there is no work coming in though!

So I used my so-called down time yesterday to drive out to the produce stand at The Rock—though it's the fanciest produce stand of all time. It's set on a working cattle ranch amidst shade trees and lovingly-tended flower and herb beds. I went to get some blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries, grown right there on pick-your-own bushes. Later in the summer they will have kiwis and pomegranates as well. Yesterday they also had farm-fresh eggs and all kinds of vegetables. Normally when I go I treat myself to some strawberry ice cream, but even for this ice cream-aholic, it was a wee bit early in the morning for that, so I passed.


I took along my trusty Panasonic LX5 camera with a new optical viewfinder. I needed a break from words for a while, to refresh myself and change gears so I can get back to work on my own middle grade novel. I love this little camera, which has full manual controls and a fast Leica lens, but I've never been able to get used to composing shots using the LCD screen on the back. Besides, it's invisible in bright sunlight. So I found a vintage Voigtlander viewfinder on eBay and yesterday I broke in it. I think it worked pretty well, but judge for yourself.

Today is another gift of a lovely summer day, so I'm going to take my iPad Mini and my wireless keyboard outside and dive into chapter 11! May you find some time today to write, too.






2 comments:

Vijaya said...

I say you work that camera just fine. Great pictures ... So wonderful that you have lots of work and time to enjoy these beautiful sunshiny days.

Nancy Butts said...

Thanks for the kind words on my photos, Vijaya. And I even got some work done on my novel this weekend! Hope you are managing to work on your revisions now that school is out and you're on swim team duty.