Ali #14, The A-List, a book I sometimes despaired of ever finishing, went to my editor in New York at 3:35 p.m. this afternoon, after putting in several very long ten and twelve hour days, editing the thing word by word.  As Helen Reddy would say, “It’s been a long, hard climb.”  Unlike the old days when I would finish a book and we would then have an ordeal by printing, complete with countless paper jams, all I had to do today was load the document into an e-mail and press send—a godsend as it were!

Something I’ve learned in the last three months is this:  It’s not easy to be creative when you’re dealing with some level of chronic pain.  If my shoulder hadn’t suddenly straightened up and flown right for some unknown reason three weeks ago, I might not have finished the book even now, but I did.  And Bill, bless his heart, told me I can take the WHOLE WEEKEND OFF before I go to work on the next Beaumont book.  What a guy!

I’ve come out of my computer screen stupor just in time to realize that our beautiful Indian summer weather is gone, and what’s outside now is a bunch of dreary, drippy, yellowing leaves.  We may have a few splashes of color later on, but I’m not holding my breath.  This morning one of the big fir trees on our lot next door fell down, sometime between 5 am and 6 am.  Luckily no one was under it when it fell. It was rainy at the time but not especially windy.  I’m not sure what brought it down, but by six our property manager and a collection of neighbors armed with chain saws were out clearing the road so people could get to work. Thank God for neighbors!  At this point I feel as though Bill’s and my chain saw days are behind us!

The fish in the pond are mostly hibernating.  Will the Big Guy reappear next year?  Who knows?  He’s at least seven years old.  How long do Koi live if blue herons don’t get them first?

Now it’s time to take a deep breath, count my blessings, and set the table.  We’re having bean soup for dinner, but it’s going to be a celebratory meal!