It’s Great to Be Back
June 23, 2024 by Harvey
In today’s Journal
* Thank You
* A New Short Story
* It’s Great to Be Back
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
Thank You
A heartfelt thank you to my guest contributors who filled in for me while I was gone. And to all of those who commented on those posts.
A New Short Story
“Giacomo, 2080” went live a few days ago on my Stanbrough Writes Substack. Go check it out.
If you enjoy it, tell Everyone. If you don’t, shhh! (grin)
It’s Great to Be Back
First, Happy 40th Anniversary to my bride, Mona, on this day. May we have many more. (Gods and goddesses,are you listening?) (grin)
It was great to be back in New Mexico too. My high school alumni association hosts a reunion every two years. This was the first I’ve attended. It’s been 54 years since I graduated.
Unfortunately, none of my 39 classmates were there, at least at the dance that kicked things off. As it turned out, it didn’t matter.
The trip was an adventure. I don’t have a lot of those anymore. Fortunately, my youngest son, Roy, went with me to drive, and to learn more about his old man. (grin)
The hotel, which I booked through a travel site, was under heavy renovation. So for example, Roy and I had both a new and an old refrigerator in our room. Of course, the older one worked but the new one did not.
The room was chock full of idiosyncracies like that, to include a horizontal shower. I’m only 5’7″, and I had to contort myself to conclude the shower.
Visited my last remaining aunt, another of my children and a former son-in-law, my eldest granddaughter, my youngest sister and two of her three lovely daughterst (and one grand nephew), a little-brother cousin and his wife and son and a few of their friends. All of that was on Thursday.
Also was blessed to visity with my friend and first reader, former jet jocky Russ Jones and his excellent game-designer son Michael on Friday morning.
Enjoyed a great lunch at a hole-in-the-wall dive in Tatum, visited my relatives and friends and acquaintences inthe Tatum cemetery, then went back to the Tatum Park where the reunion would kick off with a dance at 7 p.m.
It did, on a 100-foot concrete slab under the New Mexico sky and stars, and for the first time in years I literally danced my *ss off with a bunch of different ladies, all of whom were younger and far better looking than I.
For just one example, if you’ve never danced to a good country song with a former pesky little-sister neighbor now dressed in cut-off shorts and cowboy boots, you’re missing out.
At one point, I even danced a two-step with two ladies at the same time. Mostly to show my son et al it could be done. As they say, a good time was had by all. (grin)
Ah, I should add, there was no beer, liquor, wine or other substances involved. Just fun and me doing my best to show off. (grin)
On a sad note, only a handful of the men in attendance, all of whom walked to the event from their vehicles, actually partook in the festivities. Most of them closely guarded their chairs, benches, or plots of ground the entire evening.
Fortunately for me and the few other men who danced, very few of the ladies resembled that remark. I personally felt like Gus in Lonesome Dove. I was kind’a “Ladies, whattaya think of me so far?” (proffered with a slight bow and a grin)
If I may offer one tiny piece of unsolicited old-guy advice, especially to the men out there (young and old), Life Is For The Living. (Here comes the finger-wagging part.)
Do yourselves a favor and live it, vs. sitting, watching it pass you by, and wondering what it would be like to dance a great two-step with two laughing women at one time.
Son Roy and I left there at about 11 and drove back to Lovington (22 miles away). We sacked out in our room for a few hours and headed for home. And here we are. Quite the trip.
I wrote maybe 8 words of fiction during those jam-packed days, and to be honest, I didn’t really miss it. I’ll get back to the novel today.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
Episode 946: The Great Troy Lambert… Good stuff.
More tomorrow.
The Numbers
The Journal……………………………… 740
Writing of Blackwell Ops 25: Rafe Andersen
Day 1…… 3243 words. To date…… 3243
Day 2…… 1354 words. To date…… 4597
Day 3…… 2899 words. To date…… 7496
Day 4…… 1545 words. To date…… 9041
Day 5…… 2085 words. To date…… 11126
Day 6…… 1302 words. To date…… 12428
Day 7…… 4069 words. To date…… 16497
Day 8…… 1539 words. To date…… 18036
Day 9…… 5366 words. To date…… 23402
Day 10…. 1270 words. To date…… 24672
Fiction for June…………………….….… 37836
Fiction for 2024…………………………. 378433
Fiction since October 1………………… 681490
Nonfiction for June……………………… 18560
Nonfiction for 2024…………………… 202190
2024 consumable words……………… 580623
2024 Novels to Date……………………… 9
2024 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2024 Short Stories to Date……………… 1
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)……………… 91
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 9
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 239
Short story collections…………………… 29
Disclaimer: Harvey Stanbrough is a prolific professional fiction writer. On this blog he teaches Writing Into the Dark and adherence to Heinlein’s Rules. Unreasoning fear and the myths of writing are lies, and they will slow your progress as a writer or stop you cold. Harvey will never teach the myths on this blog.
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If I may be allowed to paraphrase: Life is for living ... Do yourselves a favor and live it, vs. sitting, watching it pass you by.
We all worked hard, lived hard, and partied hard so many years ago. Comrades and friends lie scattered in the wind of time, yet in memory, it was only yesterday, or mere days ago when we all thought we would live forever. Some of us did. Most did not. So get up and do your dance with life. You won't regret it in the end, and perhaps some of those dim memories will have ended up in a page or two of writing. Or not.
Happy anniversary UH!!!!