Friday, January 14, 2022

Home Again

 The trip to North Carolina was short.  I went through my brother's place for the last time.  There were some old papers to throw away, but that was it.  Then I left the keys on the counter for the new owner.  There have been a few glitches, but escrow should close tomorrow and then that's it.

We ate at a couple of our favorite places, and went through the Duke campus.  We couldn't go in the library that my brother frequented since you have an ID to get in. It's a beautiful campus surrounded by forests.  The bricks in the building are different shades of caramel and the architecture style is called collegiate gothic. 

The weather was all over the place.  Very cold when we got there, and 30 degrees warmer the next day along with drenching rain.  Then cold again.  The area is full of trees and some are evergreen and had foliage at the top, but the lower portions were all lanky sticks.  

When it came time to go to the airport, I was anxious to go home and get on with my life.  We flew through Dallas.  The first leg of the journey home was crowded, the second wonderfully empty.  Even LAX was pretty quiet.  It was a Tuesday and this is the slowest tine to travel.  There weren't many business travelers and most of the people seemed like they didn't travel a lot.  There were no irate passengers.  Everyone wore their mask.

As I was checking my email at the airport, there was one from my editor with a possible book cover for MAKING IT WRITE and the news that he'd be sending me the edits by the end of the week.  It worked out pretty perfectly that I was able to do the trip without a deadline hanging over my head.

The days are already getting longer and the decorations for Valentines Day are up.  We got a live Christmas tree this year and it is enjoying being out in the backyard.  Pretty soon the random bulbs will come up with paper whites, daffodils and hyacinths. New beginnings.

3 comments:

Linda Osborn said...

So glad you got business taken care of. I have been through that process a couple of times, and know how hard it is.
I am off and running {well, limping} to get a smog check today. I realized today is my cars' birthday, and l had not received a renewal notice. Of course when I went on line to renew it politely refused because I need the smog check....grrr. Hopefully l can get it before midnight !!
You mentioned starting a new series--now don't forget you left Casey and Dane making muffins, and then planning to go to his house. Has there been any more word on the crochet books ? Sure hate to see that series end !

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda, I spoke too soon. Escrow got delayed until next Wednesday, so there are loose ends hanging still. I can't imagine the deal will fall apart, but it isn't over until it's over. I hope your car registration renewal worked out. It reminded me that I have to make sure I sent in the one due for one of our cars.

I absolutely won't forget about where I left Casey and Dane. I'm planning a trip up to Monterey to get some fresh images of the area before I begin the next book. I haven't come up with a plan for the crochet books yet. I just got the edits for the third Writer for Hire book and focus is on that again. I have less than two weeks to go through the manuscript.

Linda O. Johnston said...

Glad you're home safely after what sounds like a difficult trip. Glad that deadlines didn't make it harder. And congrats on the potential new cover.