What's Up Wednesday? June 26th

What's Up Wednesday is a weekly meme geared toward readers and writers, allowing us to touch base with blog friends and let them know what's up.  Should you wish to join, check out Jamie's or Erin's lovely blogs and sign up with the link widget at the bottom of the post.

WHAT I'M READING

Recently, I was working on a tiny blurb about some of my favorite books of all time. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy is probably very near, if not at the top of that very, very long list. It is such a singular work of perfection that if I had ever managed to write a book even half as beautiful, I could die happy. Not only is Arundhati Roy a remarkable author, she is an amazing and tireless activist. She's been jailed, she's gone on hunger strikes and yet her perception of the world possesses such remarkable beauty and grace. I decided I had to reread this book again. If nothing else, it will point out with great clarity what I am doing wrong.

WHAT I'M WRITING

Ready. Set. Write. is such a fantastic idea, that I just had to jump on board. (If you want the details on how to sign up, check out the blog links above.) 

Even though my time to write has be seriously curtailed of late, it's important to have goals. And even better, a fantastic support group to commiserate with and cheer from the sidelines. 

I managed to choke out about 3K this week and I am still on track to finish my rewrites by July 1st. Now all I have to do is go back and check all of my transitions to make sure they make sense. Because with all the little sections I've added, some of the things I inserted on page 43 may have seriously messed up the stuff I added on page 143. (Gahhh!) It's okay, I can fix it. I think the changes have made it much better. And I know my CP's were dying for a little more "quality time" between my main characters. *wink wink nudge nudge*

WHAT INSPIRES ME RIGHT NOW

Six more months. SIX. 6. 

WHAT ELSE I'VE BEEN UP TO

(You should probably skip this part if you are sick of me blathering on about kayaking. Don't say I didn't warn you.)

Well, if you've been reading my other posts, you might have noticed how much paddling I've been doing lately. It's all for a good cause, but man, I could barely lift my arms after that 11 hour paddle. So it's incredibly funny to me, that after taking customers kayaking ALL day, what do we decide to do for fun Saturday evening with friends?...Why go on a night paddle of course because 1) We are Crazy People and 2) SUPERMOON!! 

The largest full moon we are going to be able to see for a while, it's called "perigee-syzygy" in case you care, was Saturday, June 22nd. (The next time the moon will be closer to the earth at the same time as the full moon will be November 25, 2034, in case you care about that either.) So we roused ourselves from our fried, sunburned coma, loaded up the kayaks and headed out to make the most of it. I am so glad we did. It was so worth it!!

The moon coming up over the ocean was enormous. The water was lit silver and the waves looked like hammered metal. It was exquisite. It amazes me how different a section of water can look in the day verses at night. At one point when we were crossing the channel, a dolphin popped up next to my bow and scared the shite out of me. Everyone started humming the theme to jaws after that, because when a grey fin pops up right next to you in pitch black water, it's going to get your heart going.

My favorite parts of the evening included: Heat lightning on the horizon, fireworks in the distance, crazy night herons making these ungodly noises, the beautiful serene silence of the open water and paddling the roller coaster waves under the bridge. When waves hit the bridge pylons they ricochet in all sorts of directions, making these rolling swells that lift your craft up and then you slide down the other side like a roller coaster. It's interesting in the daylight, but try it under the pitch black shade of a bridge at night and its a total blind riot. As in, you better put the camera down and pay attention or you're going to end up in the drink. 

Here are my futile attempts at trying to take pictures. These blurry, flash-laden images don't even begin to do it justice. The last one at the end, without the flash, is the closest thing to what it really looked like. And the moon was about 80 times bigger than it looks in the photos.