These are Dog Days!

The month of August has whizzed by! That's what happens when life heats up.

Sometimes it's not for the better. For instance, a neighbor had a mild stroke about three weeks ago. Since his wife died, he's lived alone, although he has friends who come by, and here in the neighborhood we look after each other. One man has been keeping his lawn up, and I imagine someone else is taking in the mail. My husband has been feeding his two huge dogs twice a day, and has gone into town to visit. Today, my husband learned how to help him with his therapy.

He's coming home tomorrow from Patricia Neal Center in Knoxville. Yesterday my husband and son came home from their trip into town to see our neightbor, bursting to tell me something. They had met Patricia Neal! She was there to cheer on the patients.

Last night, they watched a video of "In Harm's Way," and although I was working at the computer, I could tell when she was on the screen -- her voice is just the same now as then, they said. Boy, Patricia Neal has outlasted a lot of actors!

BUILDING PASSION again

I have a box of books on the floor beside my computer desk, fifty copies of my romance novel BUILDING PASSION. Why I ever ordered that many, I'll never know, except that I have fans who don't read ebooks. So I have to sell them before I break an ankle tripping over them.

It's a nice romance, lots of humor and reverse-psychology aimed at managing teenagers. I wrote it when I had teenagers and one way we discouraged the suitors our daughter brought home was to invite them to dinner.

There was one young man who came several times. Years later, his name came up in conversation as we were around the table, and in chorus all three kids said: "He cut his spaghetti!" It was something that had never been mentioned before, but it seemed to be the outstanding impression he left.

The funny thing is, I have a scene toward the end of that book (BUILDING PASSION -- print copies available!) where the heroine's younger sister is making a macaroni salad, and her boyfriend du jour is criticizing the way she is cutting carrots. About three weeks before the original release of the book in July of 1983, my daughter was in the kitchen making macaroni salad and same boyfriend was looking on -- criticizing the way she was cutting carrots! They had no idea why I had to leave the house, choking back laughter.

Life imitates art!

It's Been a Long Summer!

This summer started with getting a painful case fo shingles, which luckily gave up early and now just makes short guest appearances, usually when I'm trying to sleep.

I started on a new book and trying to weed the garden which got way ahead of me when I wasn't feeling good. Then it got hot, really hot, and our grandson came to visit, and the bikers dropped by on their way to a rally at Oak Ridge.

Just when I thought it was safe to draw a breath, one of the neighbors, an elderly widower, had a mild stroke. He is being well taken care of at the Patricia Neal Clinic in Knoxville, but it is a bit of a hassle for my husband to take care of the gentleman's dogs -- two huge, noisey animals. It would be good if they could be kenneled together. But that's not a decision for him to make.

I remember that my parents, as they aged, had a hard time getting through summers. And now I guess I'm wary of summer myself. I try to slow husband down. He thinks he's about twenty years younger than he is, that he can three things at once. Being brought up short with the things that can go wrong is a sobering thought. Summer can't end soon enough for me.