My latest short story is currently a little over 5,600 words long, and will likely end up at 7,500-9,000 words long when it’s finished. Whenever that is. 🙂 I feel more on track than I have for the past month, but working on this story feels like walking through mud. The weird thing is that I really like this story, and I’m enjoying writing it. So why is it taking so ridiculously long? I have no idea!!!

I’ve decided the explanation is that my subconscious is up to something. I can’t prove this one way or the other, so it’s working for me as a theory. I also don’t seem to be alarmed by the fact that I’m taking forever to do things that I’d normally churn out, and my lack of consternation seems to be a good sign. Whether I’m right or not, it is what it is, so I’ll keep slogging through my story until it’s done. Whenever that is…

I figure it’s kind of like resisting Rosie when she wants you to play. You can try, but you’ll eventually give in, so you might as well accept your fate from the start. 🙂

I took a little time this weekend to buy plants and get my super awesome raised garden bed set up. Last year we finally admitted that we’d reached – okay, passed – the point where we could manage watering most of our yard manually, and we decided to replace the very old and mostly broken sprinkler system. We probably would have lived with it for another year or two, but the lack of water meant a lack of grass. That not only meant Rosie and Jasper would get dusty from wrestling in the back yard, they also ended up very muddy when it rained. Many dollars later we have a lovely back yard (except for the power lines, which I try to pretend aren’t there…), and my old, large garden has been replaced by a small but pretty raised garden bed. I mostly grow herbs, so this weekend I bought some tiny ones – sage, rosemary, a few thymes, bronze fennel, and twelve basil plants. (I love fresh basil.) I bought one tomato plant, two tomatillos, and five or so pepper plants. Then I planted seeds for borage (which I love), marigolds, and nasturtiums. I’m used to having a much larger space, so while the raised bed is very pretty, it’s definitely a big change from what I’m used to.

In addition to the story I’m happily – albeit mysteriously slowly – writing, I have three more stories to write by the end of June. Or four. I’m not going to look at my list to check because whatever is on my list has to wait until the current story is done. 🙂