How admirable that some people can run for miles!

Feeling kind of bloodless and weak today. Maybe it’s my diet, I have to make the effort and put together that darned green shake I have a lot of mornings. Last night I took down several window blinds and put them to soak in the bathtub and scrub, then hung up again, and washed the curtains and shower curtain too. I love the smooth clean blinds now. The living room ones really need washing next. Here you cannot simply dust blinds. Unless you have whole-house AC going all the time, the air is so humid that dust sticks to windows, blinds, and furniture.

I’ve been awake each night at around 3 or 4 am for a week, sometimes lucky enough to sleep some before then. Each time, I’ve looked out in the side yard and see deer there. They come to my neighbor’s tree and stay there about half an hour eating acorns. They’re very quiet but leave some crunchy bits on my side steps.

Lately the fiction group I’m in, Critters, has not exactly been full of great manuscripts to read. In the past there was a wider range of types of writing. I like analyzing work, but you have to be extremely diplomatic — that’s a rule. When the writer finds your critique interesting and emails you about it, that’s another time I have to remember to be diplomatic still, and if a writer starts blaming the audience for being unable to understand the wonderful story he wrote, it can be hard to be nice. I have to keep in mind they’re all doing something I wish I could do — write. It’s been elusive for a while. Maybe if I keep reading, it'll get me inspired.