50 States, Day 269

  The Writing, the Sewing and the Rant

"Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul.  Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal."

~Pamela Vaull Starr

What do we do when we're standing down? Quilt Girl quilts and I write. She'll fill you in on the quilting, but here's the lowdown on the writing.

Every day without fail- except those days I do fail- I write in a journal. The journal reads differently from the blog, as it's my insights, personal issues and business things that may not see the posting. 

Currently I'm writing the proposal for '50 States in 50 Weeks: A Motorcycle Adventure.' My agent, Terry Burns of Hartline Literary, didn't want to pitch the book until we were confident we'd finish the adventure. I'm writing the first three chapters, the table of contents with summaries, market strategy, competitive analysis, my biography and a synopsis of the story. The book starts, of course, with the Denver snowstorm crash.

I'm tweaking '50 Stories in 50 States,' an anthology of short stories that takes place in each state. These are fiction, some based on historic events and a few on true stories. If you've been following the blog, you have read a few of them.

Blogging has taken even more time, as I post on 'Geezer Guys and Gals' and 'Author Culture.' I try to keep a post ahead in case something opens up, and it prevents my jamming to beat a deadline. 

And now, a Rant.

Yesterday we were told to arrive fifteen minutes early so the shuttle could leave on time. However, it showed up nine minutes late. On return, Epcot's monorail broke down, so they directed us to busses to get us to the shuttle. We missed the first bus, so the second one unloaded us at the stroke of five. We walked to the shuttle stop, no shuttle. At 5:07 I called, the shuttle had left. We were on a list! 

"You should have called us," the man replied.

"I didn't think time was so important, since this morning you were nine minutes late," I shot back. Finally he came in his pickup, returned us to the campground and charged us thirty dollars, all the while proving to us that his service was much cheaper than returning in a cab. 

After getting the emotion down for twenty four hours, my insight is this:

I was a stupid customer. I should have called to tell them we'd be late. 

But he committed the Unpardonable Sin. 

He called his customer stupid. 

We're going to Disney tomorrow. We'll be taking the bike.

And now, sewing weary but happy, Quilter Girl!

After a late start this morning, I got Ethel out and started in on the Texas Braid quilt.  I elected to sew in the tent which is tight, but it was breezy and cold outside.  Chasing little pieces of fabric around the campground while freezing is not my idea of fun!  I am making a smaller quilt than the directions in my book so will be doing twelve rows instead of eighteen.  

The rows all start with a light triangle and a dark one sewn together to make a larger triangle.  I did all of those first, one step down, yes.  I chain sewed bits and pieces together to begin the first four braids, it is starting to look like something.  It is exciting to watch each row grow, but it is also lots of the same thing over and over again.  Quilters learn patience early on.  We did get some groceries and stopped at Burger King for a quick meal in the afternoon, then walked to Perkins for dessert.  Naughty, but delicious.

QG

Tomorrow, the Magic Kingdom!