Buckets of rain

Here's an update from the writing front. In our last episode, I had two chapters to go before finishing the first draft of my novel. Well, I wrote a whole chapter in the last few days... and I still have two chapters to go.

This is typical of what happens when I'm not sure of the outline of a section I'm about to work on. I write through the problem without locking up, but it always takes me twice as many scenes to resolve the problem I thought I started out with. So I still have two chapters to go, but less to put in them than I did at the start of the week. I hope that makes sense.

Meanwhile winter has blown in with a vengance. Up in the Russian River area where I've been for the last few days, it's been raining since Friday morning. I think they got about six inches total. Today I drove back to San Francisco through some of the heaviest rain I've ever driven in; but either everyone was already at the mall or they were scared off the road by the weather, for I drove all the way from Healdsburg to the Golden Gate Bridge in 90 minutes. Then, of course, it took me another half hour to drive across the city.

I came back for the 50th birthday party of Sara, my writing coach and friend. I just had to stop and get her something, even though we're not supposed to bring presents; I got her a big red cushion for her butt.

And then I'm going back to Healdsburg tonight; I have to be back at the retreat center by 7:00 a.m. to lead the Matins service. The rain seems to have stopped for the moment, but I'm not betting on that being the case by the time I have to drive back.