This is it.

The day before I start my novel. I, and thousands of others around the world, will be embarking on the one-month novel-writing quest known as Nanowrimo. (www.nanowrimo.org). I'm a bit nervous, but I'm not totally unprepared. For years, I've had this fantasy story stirring in my head, and this, I believe, is the perfect time to finally get it on down paper.

So, with my random preliminary character notes and plot point scribblings, I embark (look! I'm already in the fantasy-writing mindset). I'll try to keep you posted on my progress, but, if you don't hear from me, you can assume that I'm either writing furiously and will need a hand massage by the end of the night or I'm ripping out my hair in frustration.

Now, to use that extra hour of sleep to my advantage :)

See you on the other side.

Heidi

p.s. While at the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see the traveling Louvre exhibit (which was incredible, by the way), I found, in the middle of a crowded room, a man dressed as Waldo.

Springtime of Life - Camille Corot

For it is Life that we want

"For it is life we want. We want the world, the whole beautiful world, alive - and we alive in it. That is the actual god we long for and seek, yet we already have it, if we open our senses, our whole bodies, thus our souls. That is why I have written and intend to continue until someone among you takes up the happy work of keeping the chain letter of the soul moving along into whatever future will come." - Bill Holm

Since working at Milkweed, I've discovered this fantastic author, who, sadly, passed away earlier this year. I want to take his message to heart, take up his calling, and since he can no longer speak, carry the chain letter of the soul to my generation.

I hope to live this way in my faith, as well. God gave me the gift of words, and I must've ever forget that. Let me speak truth to the world eloquently, precisely, and honorably.

Happenings

I quit my job! I have never felt so liberated. I mean, if people are not going to respect me and my work ethic and/or use me as a scape goat, they better be paying me more than $7.25 if they expect me to stick around.

In other news, I had an interview with a recruiter this morning. I think it went well (even though we were thirty minutes late thanks to traffic!), and this could be the beginning of a very amazing opportunity. The building also housed the Dairy Queen headquarters, and they gave out free dilly bars in the lobby. Kind of exciting :)

Josh went apple picking over the weekend and is in the process of making apple sauce, apple pie, and apple crisp. The apartment is in a constant smell of yum... In the meantime, he decided to store the bag of apples on the balcony. I looked out the window this afternoon and saw a squirrel bounding away with something very large in his mouth. Naturally, I started laughing, and after Josh chased the animal away, he moped about the loss of one of his hand-picked apples. And just because I love rodents and this story sort of relates to this picture, I've posted something lovely for you to look at.

"Morning Song"

I took a trip to the library today with the intent of getting one particular book and ended up leaving with four. Go figure. One was a collection of poetry from Sylvia Plath, a very lovely and tragic poet. Why is it that the people who are highly-tuned to the beauty of language and the world around them are likely to commit suicide? Is it, perhaps, because they see the potential of the world and know that it will never be rid of all the evil?

But, I digress. When I opened the book, I was met with this beautiful piece of poetry. When I was done with work on Sunday, I was so sick of screaming, messy children. Perhaps that's why this poem sticks out to me. I need to see the beauty in the crying.

Morning Song

Love set you going like a fat gold watch.

The midwife slapped your footsoles, and your bald cry

Took its place among the elements.

Our voices echo, magnifying your arrival. New statue

In a drafty museum, your nakedness

Shadows our safety. We stand round blankly as walls.

I'm no more your mother

Than the cloud that distils a mirror to reflect its own slow

Effacement at the wind's hand.

All night your moth-breath

Flickers among the flat pink roses. I wake to listen:

A far sea moves in my ear.

One cry, and I stumble from bed, cow-heavy and floral

In my Victorian nightgown.

Your mouth opens as cleans as a cat's. The window square

Whitens and swallows its dull stars. And now you try

Your handful of notes;

The clear vowels rise like balloons.

South Dakota Get-Away

Here are some pictures and highlights from our much-needed vacation. The time away really helped us reconnect with each other and with God. Camping in the great outdoors has a way of doing that. :)

Sylvan Lake - One of my favorite spots (and there was going to be a wedding later that night!)

Me holding up one of the huge rocks.

Josh exploring a roadside cave. We also toured Wind Cave and Jewel Cave but didn't take pictures inside them (too dark). Jewel Cave was my favorite. The amazing rock formations made you feel like you were walking through a corral reef. I can't even adequately describe it!

More remarkable rocks we drove through on Needles Highway.

And, of course, Mt. Rushmore.

New homestead

After a crazy weekend of moving, cleaning, and sporadically working, we are finally settling into our new apartment. The place is a mess, naturally, but already I feel better about life. Something about being able to have fresh air blowing in all day, extra sunshine, and more room to spread out.

I'm really excited to start unpacking. Unfortunately, I need to wait for Josh to come back from work to help me move the furniture. And set up his computer. He has this cool new thing on his Mac called Delicious Library where I can use the camera on the computer to scan the barcodes of all my books and movies and keep a record of them. And then, if I loan them to people, I can quickly and easily check them out. So exciting! (I know, I know, I am such a nerd.)

And for more exciting news, someone at the new place has really fast unsecured internet! We're hoping we'll be able to borrow that from time to time. ;) And for the time being, Josh has the T.V. set up in the bedroom, which is becoming a dangerous situation. I really like it there! Would it be redundant to get another one for the living room?

Anyway, it's good to have a new place to call home, especially one that feels more welcoming. And I can't wait to get the place looking all organized and cute and to have people over to visit!

Titanica

"Women and children first," they said, and I knew that was my only way of

safety and also the way towards my biggest loss - the life of my husband.

- 1st class passenger

Oh my. Something about having a husband yourself makes you feel differently about the Titanic disaster. Josh and I went to the exhibit at the Science Museum on Thursday, and it was quite the intriguing and sobering experience. We were there about two hours, but I probably could've stayed longer. Let me list some highlights of the day:

1. As we entered the exhibit, we each received a "boarding pass" with a name of an actual passenger and a bit of his/her history. At the end of the exhibit, you found out if your person survived. I was Margaret Brown (a bit anticlimactic since she's the "unsinkable Molly Brown"), and Josh was a Frenchman traveling with his family to Haiti (he was the only colored man on the Titanic. Kinda cool). Of the two of us, I wonder who died? ;)

2. One of the artifacts retrieved from the bottom of the ocean was a steward's jacket. After being underwater for close to eighty years, it was still in tact! The steward, named Broome, had written his name on the inside of the collar, and you could still read it. Remarkable.

3. They had some role-play people wandering the exhibit giving tidbits of info in British accents. That's how I learned that the Titanic was one of the first and only ships to offer meals to the third class passengers. On other ships, those passengers were required to bring their own food to last the duration of the trip. That would lead to some interesting smells, I imagine. And the steerage passengers had real mattresses rather than sacks stuffed with straw. The ship was glamorous even in steerage!

4. We touched a huge block of ice that represented the coldness of the ocean on the night of the sinking. *shiver* I'm surprised people didn't die instantly.

5. I discovered this fantastic website that has biographies of all the Titanic passengers. I can't wait until I have more free time!

6. And lastly, we watched the omni-theater presentation, which was incredibly interesting, and I didn't get motion sickness! :)

Love,

Heidi