Wow, wow, wow. It’s already November. I have been at VCFA for two full months. Time here is strange. It goes by both slowly and rapidly, though maybe that’s true of all time in general. Time is a tricky sort, going ever onward without stopping. Never looking back as it tumbles through the rabbit hole. And then there is the camera which can freeze time and put it in a capsule. Here is a picture of a tree, which I cashed in five minutes of my life staring at on a walk a few days ago. Just me and this tree, observing each other eye to eye, bud to bud, trunk to trunk. What can I say—I have a thing for dendrite patterns.

Hallowe’en was something, as usual. Full of costume parties (I was Sherlock Holmes!) and Monster Mashes and petting little black cats. While I’m not officially participating in NaNoWriMo, I’m making up my own rules to write something creative every day and work on building a story of mine into something a little larger. I’ve recently fallen into this writing cave to finish a draft of a story, and finally yesterday, I completed the first draft! Yes indeed, this draft has a beginning, middle, and end. It is just over 12K, a nice novelette length piece. I’ve basically been following Neil Gaiman’s writerly advice: “Write. Finish things. Go for walks. Read a lot & outside your comfort zone. Stay interested. Daydream. Write.” I’m especially excited to have followed the advice to “finish things.” Funny enough, that can be the hardest one to do. This story is still an infant, but I believe in its future and want to see it grow into adulthood and find its home somewhere in the world.

In other random news, if you don’t know the Facebook page, “Corgi Overload,” here is your official invitation. You may not have known you needed this in your life, but here’s me saying you do.

Here in this Vermontian November, I am happy and feeling inspired. I am enjoying every part of figuring out this novelette’s puzzle. Everything outside my window is falling leaves and mystical gray skies. Hoorah to warm fuzzies and lemon ginger tea.