• Geminid Meteor Shower This Week

    The Geminid meteor shower peaks Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, but will be visible until December 17. It’s expected to produce as many as 120 meteors per hour, but the ¾ moon will reduce visibility of the weaker ones. The Geminids radiate from a point withing Gemini the twins, but streak across the sky in all directions from that point. Best time to watch is around 2:00 a.m. These meteors are left over from an asteroid, rather than a comet, and include larger pieces which burn brightly, but generally do not leave a tail.

    The best map I found is at https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/meteor-shower/geminids.html.

     

    Happy sky watching!


  • Interview With Author Brian Dawes

    Brian Dawes, author of Life According To Brian, has been places and done things few of us can imagine, and a lot of us, including me, probably wouldn’t want to. The picture of Brian’s book with the gas mask is a case in point. Brian was attending University in Queensland, Australia, home for the holidays in Bahrain during the First Gulf War. The Bahrain government had issued gas masks to its citizens in case of an attack from Iraq. The English speaking “ex-pats” in Bahrain were avid partiers, not to be deterred by the threat of attack, so they had “gas mask parties.” Everybody had to bring their own gas mask as well as copious amounts of booze.

    Brian was born in Perth, Australia, but his family moved to Zambia when he was a child. Zambia proved to be too unsettled for safety, and his family relocated to Bahrain by the time he was three. Most of Brian’s misadventures began when he was sent off to boarding school in England at the age of eleven. Deprived of parental supervision and subjected to strict rules at school, he formed a close friendship with other ex-pat boys. As a group they excelled in finding ways to skirt the rules and get into trouble.

    Chapter 3 in his book, aptly titled Four Fools Go Poaching—Escape From Alcatraz, reveals his attitude toward the school and its staff, and the kind of tom-foolery through which he and his buddies escaped. They snuck out one night and went fishing in a neighbors pond (which happened to be a trout farm) and caught a pretty good haul. Of course, they had no way to cook the fish, and had to hide the stash, so the fish ended up in lockers and various other inappropriate places. You can imagine how that worked out after a few days.

    At thirteen he managed to convince his parents to allow him to return to Bahrain and attend school there. Before long, however, he heard from a friend that a boarding school in Scotland, aptly named Colditz (after the infamous prison in ‘the Great Escape’) was a pretty good school, and off he went. It didn’t hurt that his grandmother lived in the area. Not that being at a better school changed his behavior much. In Chapter 4: Halfterm Mayhem—Saving the Family Name, the boys spend their school break at a house owned by his ‘unaware’ parents, who were still living overseas. The first night they create a new tradition by getting drunk and jumping off the bridge into the freezing river at 2:00 a.m. The next day, they decide on a toga party, using Brian’s mother’s new sheets, in appropriate colors of bright pink, blue, green, and yellow, and partying on the lawn where the geriatric neighbors are certain to see and report to his grandmother. When they see gran on her way, they sneak out to the local pub, still in togas, of course.

    Brian has traveled extensively. I probably missed a couple of countries in reading the book, and there are probably some he didn’t write about, but at the very least, he’s covered Bahrain, Australia, Morocco, Thailand, Uganda, Gambia, Goan (south of India), the United Kingdom, and Egypt.

    In Chapter 18, Thailand—Safe Hands Act I, Brian and his buddy Firthy head to Thailand. In Brian’s words, “Bangkok is best described as utterly chaotic, think manic beehive with the Queen on her period, shouting orders outrageously drunk and high on LSD. General disorder is the dish of the day.” No spoilers here. I’ll let you read the rest of the story yourselves, and see how the “safe hands” bit works out.

    In Uganda, Chapter 40, Two Fools Attempt Croc Suicide—My Favorite Flip Flops,  Brian and his buddies hire guides to take them fishing in search of huge Nile Perch on the Nile river, where the crocodiles were larger than their boat. Brian’s friend caught the Perch, but Brian landed this monster catfish. Not sure it couldn’t have eaten the boat.

    Brian inherited his pension for drinking and risk-taking from his father. When they weren’t partying at home, his dad (far right in the photo next to Brian) had a fold-up portable bar that they would haul out to random places in the Bahraini dessert. Amazingly, Brian survived it all, got married, and lives with his wife Heather and two daughters in Scotland.

    Life According To Brian is available on Amazon, and has recently been released on Audiobooks.

    https://www.amazon.com/Life-According-Brian-B-Dawes-ebook/dp/B08Y7C8TSP/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1U853OJ5PP8WQ&keywords=The+life+of+Brian+by+Brian+Dawes&qid=1667575790&sprefix=the+life+of+brian+by+brian+dawes%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-1


  • Totally Science FICTION

    I love those scenes in science fiction where the character sits down to a strange computer—often alien with alien symbols, and with a few educated guesses hacks the computer system and saves the world. My experience with technology is… well, not so great.

    In the past week alone I have hit enough problems to make me consider moving back to the not-so-good old days of black and white television (can’t go as far as no television—no thank you) and manual typewriters. OK, well, maybe not that far. I typed college term papers on a manual. What a pain. It took twice as long to type the thing as it did to research and write it, and I was a fairly decent typist.

    Here is my weekly list of issues:

    My “smart” phone has forgotten how to send photos to my computer. Mind you, I’ve been doing this for years, so it’s not like I don’t know how to do it.

    My Kindle decided it didn’t want to open my latest purchase, so it stuck it in a never-ending cue. I’ve tried everything, including a nonsensical series of instructions from Google that included menu choices that don’t even exist. Amazon won’t let me repurchase the item, politely reminding me I’ve already purchased it. The local librarian finally reminded me I could probably download it to my computer. That worked, but is far less comfortable than sitting in my favorite recliner with the Kindle. Oh well, at least I get to read it.

    Facebook decided I wasn’t allowed to post anything on my own author page. I got so frustrated with that one I haven’t tried again in a week.

    I wanted to submit a story to a flash fiction contest in a Facebook group I belong to. Couldn’t PM the administrator because supposedly we aren’t “friends.” His profile didn’t have an “add friend” button, so he had to PM me before I could PM him back. Excuse me? I am a member of his group!

    Technology is wonderful when it works. If you tried to pry my phone or my laptop away from me, you’d have a real battle on your hands. On the other hand, it’s no wonder our stress levels are ten times higher than in the not-so-good old days.


  • Lost Canyon Cave and Natural History Museum

    I got to spend this past Saturday with my sons at the Lost Canyon Cave and nature trail in Ridgely, Missouri. Also saw the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum there. I thought the tickets were a little pricey, but turned out to be worth it. The cave tour is with electric golf carts, much better for my knees. It was a much smaller cave than I was expecting, but the trail was beautiful, with several impressive waterffall.

    A word of warning, however. Even if you buy tickets in advance, you have to stand in line to wait for the next available golf cart. They were slammed this Saturday, and we ended up standing in line for an hour and a half. Traffic pulling into the place was backed up almost to the highway. The staff seemed baffled as to why they had such a huge crowd, and I noticed it slacked off later in the afternoon. But my advice would be to go early. They said they normally only had a crowd like this on Labor Day. So of course, it would be the day we chose to go.

     

    The cave has a little bar inside where you can buy drinks and snacks (expensive, of course).

     

     

     

     

     

    They also had a couple of prehistoric skeletons, one a bear (left) and one a cat like a sabertooth (left), which I didn’t know we had in North America.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Of course, there were also impressive rock formation, though no stalactites or stalagmites.

     

     

    From the Welcome Center, the cart follows a nature trail winding around through a whole series of waterfalls, about six or seven I think.

     

     

     

     

     

    and past some amazing rock formations.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    The Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum might have been the most worthwhile part of the trip. According to the shuttle driver it’s the largest in the U.S., although that would be in large part because it focuses primarily on the Ozarks. Most of the museum is actually Native American exhibits, with a few skeletons of prehistoric animals thrown in. We didn’t get pictures in there as the lighting wasn’t ideal, and I assumed we weren’t supposed to use a flash, though I didn’t see any signs.

    It was a great day outing, in spite of standing in line.


  • New Roof Part III

    Finally got to see some wood go up. Once they got the concrete poured, they started the framework. We had to have special “earth-contact” lumber, since the roof is barely above the earth, and actually touches in some places. I was amazed at how fast things went once they got the frame up. It seemed like one day there were a few boards, and a couple days later, there was a roof.

     

    Probably not really that fast, but after all the digging that had to be done, it was such a joy to see the roof start to take shape.

     

     

     

     

     

    The final step was the shingles. We chose shingles because part of the house is two-stories and metal roofs can be slick.

     

     

    And here is the finished job—looks like a normal house, but with all the added advantage of the earth-sheltered house. We could still walk up on the roof from the back, if we wanted. It won’t be like before, when we could spread lawn chairs on the roof and watch the meteor showers, but it looks beautiful, and I am so thrilled. We have the best of both worlds, an attractive roof that will be easy to repair in the future, and the insulation of the earth covering.

    And once grass grows behind the house, we still have a great view of the stars.

    We have a lot of serious damage to the outside of the house and to some interior walls from the major leaks we had. We literally had water streaming down one wall in the living room and coming out through an electrical outlet. You can see some of the exterior damage here–the rough white patches where mold has grown through the stucco.


  • My New Roof Part II

    Last week I showed you what our house looked like when we started. As the men started working, the house held a few other surprises, like insulation along the back wall and under the earthen roof where we weren’t expecting it. Some of the early earthwork was done by a very gutsy driver.

     

    But Nathaniel had his men dig by hand all the way around the edges to protect the insulation. It was still hot while this work was going on. Those guys have my sincere sympathy, but I never heard a single complaint.

     

    Once they got down to the tops of the original walls, they had to pour a new concrete stem wall to provide a footing for the roof structure. It had to rise high enough to clear the earth covering we wanted to leave in place. Maybe you’re beginning to get a feel for how weird this project was. I’m pretty sure I have the only house like this in the country. Maybe in the world.

    Next week you get to see the new roof start to take shape. I’m so excited!

     


  • My New Roof Part I

    I’ve been talking for weeks about getting a new roof on my house. This was no small undertaking, considering our house is earth-sheltered with an earth roof over a concrete structure. We had been trying for about three years to find someone to redo the original earth covering and waterproofing. No one in this area (Southwest Missouri) knew how to do it. The nearest companies that build earth-sheltered homes were in Kansas City and Tulsa, and those companies weren’t willing to travel to our rural area just to replace the roof.

    We house was built in 1999 by a company in Minnesota. The roof was only warranted for ten years, and it lasted maybe 15, but after that we started having major leaks resulting in significant damage to the stucco exterior and some interior walls where water trickled down through the concrete structure.

    Since we couldn’t find anyone to fix the earthen material, we decided our only option was to build a roof over it. However, we wanted to maintain as much of the earth as possible, since that’s our insulation. It was worth hanging on to. In the winter, if we turn the central heat off, even in the coldest weather the house doesn’t get below about 62 degrees. We do have to air condition in the summer because of humidity.

    We started looking for contractors to build a roof structure tied in to the existing concrete structure of the house. A couple of estimators told us they were interested in the project, only to disappear once they thought it over and figured out what they were getting into. After three years of waiting for contractors who simply didn’t show up or quit communicating with us, we were at our wits end.

    I finally started calling contractors again, most of whom must have heard about us, because most wouldn’t even come for an estimate. But Nathaniel Cotten Construction of Neosho did. Nathaniel looked the house over and said he’d call in a few days with a bid. We’d heard that before.

    But a few days later, there it was, and much less than the highest bid we’d gotten from a company that ghosted us. Even better, he had a crew ready to start in three weeks. To the left is another view of what the original roof looked like from the back of our house.

    And one from the front, where you can see that one side is two stories.

    After spending some time studying the original house plans, he and my husband Carl figured out—sort of—where the walls were so they could start digging. We thought there was about three feet of dirt on top of the walls. Turns out, there was closer to six, so there was a lot of digging.

    Most of the digging had to be done by hand by the poor guys with shovels in order to preserve as much of the earth on the roof as possible. Nathaniel also made sure they were careful not to damage the waterproofing on the back wall.

    Stay tuned. I’ll have more information next week!


  • Team Work Rocks

    I met with my critique group today. They are my inspiration, and they keep me going when I want to quit. So many times I’ve left my computer, with the intention of never writing fiction again.  (I’d say I’ve laid down my pen, but these days, I never write that way). They push me to go back.

    Today I got some great tips for rewriting part of the first chapter of my WIP. This from the same people who had me throw out the first three chapters I’d written previously, so the current chaptter one was chapter four. But they were right. It is SO much better. And today, it’s better still.

    If you write, I encourage you to do whatever you can to find a supportive group of fellow authors to work with. There are caveats, however, and if your chosen group doesn’t meet the following standards, it would be best to move on.

    1.   Ideally, at least some of the members should be farther along in the writing profession than you are. A mix of people at different levels is fantastic, because skilled authors don’t always read something the way those who read a lot, but haven’t done much writing. The more we learn the trade, the more it affects how we assess what we read, and most readers are not writers.
    2.   Critiques should be constructive, not destructive. Suggestions should be made with the goal to build you up as a writer, not to prove how much more they know (or think they know.) On the other hand, sometimes it should be tough, just like tough love. If the book has to start with chapter four, they have to have the guts to tell you.
    3.   That being said, you as the author have to be willing to accept criticism and use it to your advantage. People who just tell you how wonderful you are won’t really help you.
    4.   Regular meetings are important. They keep the momentum flowing, and give you the motivation to keep producing when you’d really rather do something else this week. If at all possible, find a group that can meet in person. There’s something about the back-and-forth flow of discussion in a group that far surpasses what can be done online. However, an online group is better than no group.

    Check with your local librarian to see who else in your area is an author. See if the library will allow you to post something seeking other authors (published and unpublished) to start a group if one doesn’t already exist.

    Good luck my friends, and keep writing.


  • Back In The Saddle

    I recently tried to discipline myself to write every day. I did get quite a bit of writing done that way. My greatest fear was that I would write junk that I would end up throwing out, because I normally try to write based on inspiration. So what happened?

    I ran the first four chapters by my critique group. They recommended I throw out the first three. So I stopped writing for a week. I decided I was fed up and would stop writing, at least until I could find an agent interested in what I’ve already written. I have two books in my first series edited and ready to submit, and two in my new series ready for editing.

    But, as is usually the case, the writing bug has bitten me again, and as much as I would like to ignore it, the bite REALLY itches. So I’ll be back at the computer again today.

    Wish me luck.

     

     

    Image by Pete from Pixabay.