Happy Halloween! And NaNoWriMo!

Well. In less than 25 minutes I will set off for uncharted territory. Last week we brought home an uncarved pumpkin and now a sweet little owl sits on the porch, created in a mad dash to pack as much Halloween fun into the few hours between naptime and bedtime as possible. It was my first experience carving a pumpkin under the time/space/supervisory constraints of having a young child nearby, throwing pumpkin guts on herself, myself, and the dog. Less than five minutes, it took, and the results are more than satisfactory, in fact it is my favorite Owl-O-Lantern I've ever carved! I think it provides an apt metaphor for the weeks to come.

Sitting in front of me, in the ether, is what the zen people call the Uncarved Block. An Unwritten Novel. I just have to uncover it by hitting a bunch of random keys until the word mark has been reached. Then I'll have surprised myself. Maybe I'll even surprise the novel, who was sitting around drinking whiskey inside of the whale's belly, fully aware that it may never live to see the moonlight or feel the wind on its beard ever again, before I maced the whale in the eyes and caused it to heave the contents of its guts all over this computer screen, or something like that.

Before I begin, however, I want to take a couple of minutes to tell you about the fabulous day we just had.

Kenneth installed a new child seat on my bicycle. We bought a wee little helmet for Edie, yellow with chickens. I'm sorry there is no picture. I forgot to bring the camera. So there are no pictures of Edie's first bike ride, but I have words for you.
Seagulls pecking at mussels
Pelicans diving beak first
Doggies, doggies, and doggies.
Cheering with the exhilaration of FINALLY going fast! On a Bike!
Edie cheering along, "WOOOOO!"
And waving to doggies.

In Venice we lost the trail. Rode a little way down the boardwalk and back, met the King Overlord of All That is New Age. Really. He was amazing. I'd tell you about him but I think he might show up in the novel, and do you know how much stories hate to be repeated before they are shown to their rooms for the night? Oooh, there is ten minutes left.

Quickly now, there is the pumpkin carving marathon that I mentioned, and then there is us taking Edie out "Trick-Or-Treating" in a shameless ploy to relive childhood and amass vast quantities of cheap sugary treats. My half of the loot is dedicated to the Noveling process, a very important cause. In the nine minutes I have left can I just tell you that the first place we trick or treated at, an apartment building with big open doors and sidewalk chalk arrows pointing the way, the tenants were gathered in the courtyard around a candlelit table filled with sushi, wine, various other dishes, and jello shooters. That's right, I said Jello Shooters. They were for the parents. That's us. Parents got jello shooters. Grammy didn't believe us when we came home but then the tiny plastic cup with jello remnants fell out of the treat bag. The woman who gave us the jello shooters told us that her husband used to take the kids trick or treating with a shotglass for himself.

Sometimes the best parenting advice comes from the most unexpected places.

Okay I think I'd better rest my fingers for FIVE MINUTES!!!!!!

Let the Novel Writing begin!