It has been a lazy weekend. Dot had her second operation this time on her left hind leg. The surgeons found a completely torn ligament in her knee which they had to detach and then had to rebuild the joint and by changing the geometry of the leg were able to rework the whole structure.
My job is to make sure she rests and doesn’t chew on her incision. Which is all pretty easy. For the next few days she will be taking enough pills to turn her into a gimpy zombie.
Jan concentrates on making sure Dot doesn’t go long without a treat or a bowl of ice to chew on. Dot is not all that hungry but enjoys chewing on ice cubes a great deal. I’m thinking of finding a nurse uniform for Jan.
My writing chair is set up across from Dot’s bed so I can working on my writing while I keep vigil on her nasty looking leg. Soon enough we will take her out to pee in the back yard. Soon enough she will be eating solid food from her bowl.
I’ve settled on a title for the new Cecil book and have chosen a set of non action related themes. Once I’ve done that I settle in on the plot/action outline for the entire book. I finished the first go through of what happens in each chapter, and I have a list of action plot points for each chapter. I have decided on about ninety thousand words into twelve chapters. Soon enough I will start on the rough draft by writing fifteen hundred words a day which is usually four to five manuscript pages a day. If things go as planned I should have a very rough draft done in two months. Then it will take me at least five months of revising before I let anyone read it. When people ask me how to write a book I tell them to do just this. There are no tricks, you just have to write. Put words on a page.
I will probably be bumped off my schedule by having to do revisions on my stand alone book about Jan. How extensive those revisions will depend on the editorial letter that I’m waiting on now. Editorial letters are like getting a report card, what they say will determine my schedule for the next year.
Last week before the operation Jan and I attended some lectures at the Stanford Marine Lab at the Hopkins Center. I went to a lecture about the poetry of Jeffers and Jan went to additional lectures on the marine mammals in this part of the Pacific, including the Gulf of California. Tomorrow Jan is taking her hydrophone out on their chartered boat with the class to help them find what whales and dolphins might be out there.
What I learned from the Jeffers lecture is that I have more reading to do to understand his work more completely. I think my piece last week might hae sold him a bit short. So I continue reading and learning about this regions most important poet.
The other thing I have been doing is trying to find a dog sitter for the first of November when we are going to take a trip to Sitka. Jan is going up to help with the memorial presentations for both Craig George and Don Seneti. Don was a Shantyman who was based out of the New Bedford whaling museum. He had an almost supernatural voice: huge and boominng. His sinnging could fill a big room without amplification. With amplification he could call up storms. He was also generous and kind with students who flocked to him in the many school programs he hosted in Sitka. He will be sorely missed.
Craig George was a friend and colleague who died this summer in a rafting accident. Craig was a respected scientist who lived in the Arctic and was one of the first western scientists to appreciate indigenous knowledge about animals and understood that it was based on close observation and deep sensitivity to their behavior. He was a fascinating guy and I always enjoyed talking to him about music, poetry, this mother’s (Jean Craighead George) writing and his many adventuress he had in the far north.
So Whalefest is a celebration of the complex webs of Marine Wildlife, that takes place the first weekend in November in Sitka, Alaska. There are lectures from world famous researchers, but also foot races, whale watching trips, art shows, a local talent show, and Sea Chanty concerts. And this year they will be saying a celebratory good bye to two old friends. There is nothing quite like it. The weather is almost always blustery but dramatic and there are almost always fifty to a hundred Humpback Whales in Sitka Sound so the whale watching trips are almost always full and full of interesting people… with lots of locals who come along for the adventure in the big comfortable boats. If you are interested in attending you should check it out soon because it often sells out. Just google up Sitka Whalefest.
Well, Dot is munching on her ice cubes and Jan is sitting next to her scrolling through her phone. and I am finishing up my letter to you. The weather is warm today and I promised Jan we would go swimming in the community pool once we got Dot settled in after she takes her meds.
I hope you are all well and happy. Here is another poem of mine.
