Bloody Change of Plans

Yesterday, before going to meet Caim in Green Bay, I went to my doctor to see about my nose.  I'd had three bloody noses, the last one two weeks ago.  I decided if I was going to be doing my Illinois tour, I should have the offending area cauterized.  The doctor did the job but said there was still a scab she didn't want to disturb.

This morning, it happened again, my nose started to bleed profusely.  I thought I could stop it with an ice pack to the neck, pinching my nose, and applying a "tampon" packing the doctor provided. I bled right through.

After three hours of bleeding, with no let up, I called my son who came over right away and took me back to the Appleton Medical Center ER.  In another hour, the bleeding stopped and I was told to go home, avoid blowing my nose and don't sneeze.  How one avoids sneezing, I don't know.

Chris brought me home after stopping at Hardees for a chocolate malted milk shake made with real ice cream. It helped me get my strength back. I highly recommend it.  He left me here to decide what to do next.

I didn't see how I could go to Illinois on Tuesday as scheduled.  How could I tell the stories in performances when blood could spurt out of me at any time.  I have to take my problem to an ear, nose and throat doctor and have it diagnosed properly.

I was to meet my high school friends Norma and Sue at Pere Marquette Park.  I immediately called Norma and talked my problem over.  She had reserved the cabin we were to stay at and paid for a train ticket to Springfield but she got back to me later to tell me she was able to cancel our plans at no cost.  That was a relief.  She also talked it over with Sue and we decided to move our little reunion back to the spring, possibly in March.

On Monday, I have to call all the people who were hiring me, explain the situation, and apologize.

So much for a tour I have been working on since April.

It can't be helped.  

Caim

Jacynth and Heather

Last night I was sitting in my office, writing down what I wanted to accomplish today.  I had just finished my list when I got a call from Heather Innes of Scotland who wasn't where I thought she should be but in Green Bay with her friend and singing partner Jacynth Hamill of Ireland.  Together, as Caim, the two a cappella singers are touring Canada and the United States.  I've known them for years, arranging their tours in Wisconsin and traveling with Heather in Scotland.  

Heather said they had a problem. They were staying with a woman in DePere but she had no computer access, didn't drive and was new to the area.  They had not a clue about getting from her house to their gig tonight at the Cup O Joy, a Christian music club.  Could I come and get them to their performance on time? 

So after writing my latest short story at Black Coffee Fiction http://blackcoffeefiction.blogspot.com (murdering a banker in the most gruesome way) and posting it at 4:00 pm I was on my way.  

Mapquest sent me in the wrong direction, but in my usual way, I zen drove myself to the right place and delivered them to the Cup O Joy where they are tuning up.  Jeff Pockat the harpist is performing here as well so we had fun catching up on the folk music gossip.  

Jeff's wife would ordinarily be in charge of selling CDs and books for all three of them, but she wasn't here tonight, so Jacynth gave me the "float" which is what they call the vendor's change in Ireland and here I am at the table selling their merchandise, writing my blog and catching up on e-mail.  The performers come on in another ten minutes. 

None of this was on my list of things to do today.  People tell me they don't know how I come up with things to write about.  Easy, things to write about arrive every day, sometimes from Great Britain. 

For more information about Caim go to www.cluniemusic.com 

Getting There

So far, Wade has been doing the heavy lifting on our joint book project.  He's the computer expert, a former engineer, so I figured I would leave the book to him. (That and I'm lazy.)  He has come through and with his perfectionism put Black Coffee Fiction into an e-book with pizazz.  I am doing the press releases which is a different skill.

Now we're working on the paper edition.  This week Wade did the galley, e-mailed it to me at Laura Lake and we both approved it.  Today we met at the Copper Rock North in Appleton to talk over the project.

All that remained was to design the cover.  The cover on the e-book had to be black and white so it would be easily readable on the older Kindles, but we wanted something more colorful for the paper edition.

We started looking through photos on the Internet that can be downloaded for a fee. We liked the idea of coffee beans but me, always a cheapskate, thought I could take the photo myself.  I went over to talk to the manager and his staff.  Yes, there were bags of coffee beans we could photograph, but why?

I explained what we were doing and they were soon on their i-phones checking out Amazon.com.  I told the manager we mentioned the Copper Rock North in our book....and found out his name was Ben, not Bill as we put in the book.  Wade quickly made the correction on the e-book and said the first e-books were now collectors' items.

We found the right photo and soon we'll have a copy on approval.  

Ben who used to be Bill says we can have a book signing at Copper Rock North.  We will probably do one in Seymour as well.  We figure some time in November.

Finally, Wade put a Black Coffee Fiction link on this book.  To order it, it is simply a matter of clicking and going directly to Amazon.com. Apparently, we get a few extra pennies per book for anyone that does that.

Once the book is done, and the PR well in hand, we'll work on finishing our novels.

There is always something to look forward to.  

Goodbye to Laura Lake

I leave Laura Lake this morning with the usual sadness.  I would like to stay longer but there's a book to get into print, a storytelling tour to Illinois to ready, and a sorrowful feline waiting at home.

This morning, the lake was fogged over and yesterday's fall colors hidden:

No matter.  I have days of golden memories. There's the path to the bog lake that I walked yesterday.

At the bog, the remains of the pitcher plant, the blueberry bushes with long gone fruit, the eagle flying over....oh yes, the best of hikes and the promise of next spring:

The memories of walks with Gary down to the boat landing:

And always, the autumn glory of Laura Lake:

And finally one more memory of something we aren't like to repeat very often:  The Big Breakfast.  I used to serve Gary sausage or bacon, scrambled eggs, and fried potatoes and onion a couple of times a week.  No more after the doctor told him to cut it out.  But for my final day at Laura Lake we had the now once a year treat of greasy sausage, greasy eggs, and greasy potatoes and onions. We'll save that in the future for our last day of camping.

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Wade and I have had four glowing reviews of our Black Coffee Fiction e-book.  You can read them here at Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Coffee-Fiction-ebook/dp/B009GKEYHK/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348624600&sr=1-3&keywords=Black+Coffee+Fiction

On Laura Lake

Somehow Gary got me loaded in the canoe.  The Wenonah is longer than the canoe wew usually share and tippier.  I didn't have wading boots along so I had to crawl in from the shore. I managed to keep my feet dry but graceful I was not.

Then we were off, paddling along the shore and grooving on the fall colors reflected in the calm water. Soon, a bald eagle flew over. Soon after, we saw a turtle sunning on a log.

We aimed for the area Gary has named Bat Cove because one fine summer night he took me in there when the bats were swooping after water bugs.  I was terrified, he was laughing at his little joke.  Yes, I know bats are good animals who do awesome service in clearing out mosquitoes. Still, hundreds of them missing my head  by inches....

In daylight,  Bat Cove is colorful with maples and poplars emphatically making statements in front of the latticework of the pines.

We cruised past an area we avoided all summer. Here, the DNR placed a loon nest.  (The national forests are federal but the lakes belong to the state.)  Now the hatchlings are long gone though egg fragments remain.

Our second eagle was perched on a tree.  He kept his eagle eye on his as we cruised past but stayed put while we photographed him. with my little Nikon that hasn't much of a scope capacity.

He's only a white dot on the photo  but he was one of the biggest eagles we've seen.

There were chickadees, jays, and red-breasted nuthatches along the edge of the lake calling down at us.  A single kingfisher swooped over the water looking for minnows.  And all around was the lake, autumn glory reflected in the lake.  This photo is not upside down.  It is what I could see over the side of the canoe.

The perfect reflections in the water doubled the orange, red, yellow and green foliage on a perfect day we'll hold in our memories during the long winter.

Swans

Gary came tearing back to our campsite at Laura Lake to tell me there were swans on Gordon Lake, the lake next to this one.

We took off immediately in his van, first to the beach, but the swans were on the far side.  We went on to a solitary dispersed camping site that was closer to the swans.  We never got close enough to take a photo but I caught Gary, that handsome devil, as he watched the birds paddle smoothly.past the point.  

Wayne and Barb Gaulke, camping friends, showed up then with another couple.  They had scopes to view the swans, but debated with us about the type.  Wayne was insistent that they were mute swans, but even without a scope I could see they were too big, though not big enough to be trumpeter swans.  These were tundra swans. Later we checked our Sibleys and I was proved right.  

The day was perfect, the fall colors couldn't be beat.  Later the Gaulkes canoed over to tell us about the wedding of one of our favorite National Forest rangers, Kevin.  They had driven all the way from Mequon for the event.

Tonight, a fire in the pit as we wait to see if the clouds disperse.  There's a chance of northern lights.  Barb, who is in her 70s, has never seen them, so we are hoping for her sake for a spectacular show.

A wind has come up from the north bringing chilly weather.  Snow forecast for Laura Lake by Friday.

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During my absence, Wade has been busy and now has the galleys ready for the paper edition of Black Coffee Fiction

The Perfect House - Almost

Gary loves being "Up North" so much that he dreams of getting our own house in the woods. I am not tied to  our home in Seymour but I insist on certain things on any new home.  It must have access to a good library, be relatively close to a hospital, and even more important, near to my grandson. There should be trails to walk on, intelligent people around us (too many Romney lawn signs is not a good thing), and a swimming pool and exercise center.

This past week, Gary thought he had found the best place ever near Iron Mountain.

It once was a medical clinic but someone turned the place into a home. It has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, and an enormous living room.  There are two big garages and a storage unit.  It's set on eight acres with woods on three sides. (Gary says he would plan trees on the fourth side, too, for complete privacy.) It is two blocks from a lake and two blocks from the Iron County Hospital. It is near the grocery store, a good family restaurant and the pharmacy.

I began to ask questions.

Why would we need such a big place?  We could spread out.  He would have room for all the stuff he has accumulated through the years.  There would be a separate room for my office.

Why four bathrooms?  I am willing to clean one, but three more?  He could do that, he thought.

What about heating the place?  We could close off the upstairs in the winter and put in a couple of wood burning stoves to help.  We could have solar panels on the roof.

How would we pay for it all?  The taxes are bound to be high.  The four rooms upstairs could be rented out to hunters, snowmobilers, and summer visitors.  They have outside access so they wouldn't disturb us. (I thought one was going to be my office.)

What about my grandson?  He could spend part of the summers up here.

It was my final query that threw Gary's plans awry.

Do you realize that the nearest Menards store is in Marquette, and the nearest Walmart is in Iron Mountain?

I guess it wouldn't work after all, he said.

He just can't live without places to shop for tools and other useless objects.  

We're staying in Seymour for now.

***************
We said good-bye to Lake Ottawa this morning, the last campers to go.  Before we left, I took a walk over to the dock.  Two loons popped up from underneath.  They were juveniles who were doing their best to do the loon call, but for them it is still baby talk. I think they were saying, "Mommy, Daddy, where did you go?"  But loons don't kick their offspring out of their nests, they just leave the nest and the kiddies in the fall.

Now we're at Laura Lake where the leaves are at peak.  More photos to come.