Father's Day

Sunday morning.  


...I'd planned on sleeping in.  After all, if ever it were possible to do so, one would think this day, of all days, the odds were in my favor.


The dog apparently never received the memo however, and by seven a.m, decided his bladder was full enough.


Boxing him one in the chops would only result in a day's worth of guilt, so I bit my tongue, rolled out of bed, and followed a stubby tail to the back door.


I read a line from a book once that said, "once you're up, the damage is done.  You might as well make something of it."    


The hour called for caffeine, and with it, the promise of a sun's grin.  I obliged...


By eight o'clock I was on the back deck, finishing up the first round of edits on, "The Fall."  (Watch for it soon on Amazon ;)


Nine-thirty found the dog prancing around in the back yard as if he owned the place.  Who am I kidding?  His name's Prince for a reason.


Watching him chase frantic robins to higher elevation got me to thinking...


By ten, I was at the high school track, MP3 in hand, rounding the asphalt at a faster clip than I'd earlier anticipated.  


At two miles I eased to a walk, feeling cocky, tossing around such thoughts as, "Getting old?  Not on this day."  


Found myself no longer alone at the track.  Watched a married couple, likely my age, give or take a year, begin speed walking from the 400 meter dash mark.  I considered their pace, thought, "yep, I got some left," and decided to show off a bit.  (At 38, one savors such opportunities.)  


Home by eleven.  Was greeted with a hug by my daughter, who so graciously ignored the sweaty t-shirt.  (She'd used the last of her allowance to buy me a watch for Father's Day. That talent for giving, I do believe she gets it from her mother ;)  


My young Hoopster managed to crawl out of bed while I was busy lapping those walkers, and decided on surprising his pop with breakfast.  I returned home to waffles.


A few hours later found us at the gym, The Hoopster working up a sweat at his weekly basketball clinic, showing up the high school boys, (he's twelve and learning fast.)


And it was then when my phone began jittering from my pocket. 


"Hello?"


"Hey Dad."


"Hi Son.  How was your day on the lake."


"Awesome.  The waves made for some wicked tubing."


"Good to hear."


"Hey Dad, I just wanted to call and wish you a Happy Father's Day.  Hope you had a good day."


"Thanks Son.  That means a lot.  And yes, I did.  Wanna watch a movie or something tonight?"


"Yep, I'll be there!"


...maybe I'm growing soft with age, perhaps even nostalgic.  But those three, and this day, that's what it's all about ;)


Thanks for reading,


El


http://www.amazon.com/South-Charm-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B005DJ945A/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1340068616&sr=1-1&keywords=south+of+charm+by+elliot+grace
  

Mr. King trades punches with Father Time

...edit work can be enjoyable if not swallowed whole.  Any attempt at cramming the entire process into a 24-hour marathon session in order to make one's deadline, will only create further migraines, (literally,) and a finished product that will mirror the quality of work that was put into it. 


So says my editor..


His advice? While trudging through the pains of edit work and re-writes, allow some spare time to read something...anything, from one of the greats.  It may be a sacrifice, but one worth gambling on.  For that book, whatever is chosen, be it good, or not so much, may in fact guide one's re-write along the journey as if holding one's hand while crossing a busy intersection.  


Lingering doubts?  Trust me, it works ;)


My choice for reading material while editing "The Fall," is Stephen King's "11/22/63," an eight hundred page monster that asks the question, "what if you really could go back and undo the past, armed with the knowledge of our future?" 


Would it be possible to re-write a wrong?  To change the world as we know it?  Or would that only restructure the inevitable?


After all, as rumor has it, the past doesn't want to change...


And sometimes, if cornered, it bites back.


Enjoy King's interview, and ask yourself, if it were possible to go back, just once, what would you change?  Think about it...    





El