Wind in the Turret

I've gotten prizes off to my contest winners - don't forget, it's not too late to ask me for a Jonah Knight CD. I still have about 10 of them left, so leave a comment with your email (me at thismail dot com) and I'll get your shipping details to you.

I'm up in my office this morning, listening to the wind sighing through the trees. It's been unseasonably warm recently (I have three words to say about this: Global Warming Conspiracy! Because, you know, that's what scientists do... they make up shit for political reasons....) and I've got the balcony door open. After living right next to the interstate (and the fire station) it's strangely quiet over here.

Full Frontal Neighbor (the first time I saw him, he was stark naked. Of course he was walking around in his own house, and it's probably not like he knows that from a certain angle of my living room, I can see straight into his kitchen... I haven't told him. It's a nice view.) is on his porch right now, smoking a cigarette. I can smell just the faintest tang of tobacco and hear him talking to his cat.

The trees bend and sway in the wind - I think there's a good deal of warm air that comes off the nearby river - and the oaks make a strange groaning noise as they move around. I've never lived so close to trees in my life. Everyplace else that I've lived has been a collection of little box apartments with a few bushes around for aesthetic purposes, but only one or two trees.

This worries me, a bit. We get a lot of storms here, and the trees are really close. Our balcony and porch have been constantly three inches deep in leaves, despite several foliage removals. I worry that a strong will come through and we'll have an oak through the roof. Or my big picture window in the living room will get smashed. During the fall, we spent several weeks being pelted with acorns. My best friend, the librarian, looked it up. The variety of oak in our back yard has the biggest acorns in the world. It was like being under a driving range. Constantly.

Sometimes, alone in the turret, the wind swirling around the office, the sound of trees and the faintest rumble of neighbors moving around, getting their days started, I have a sip of coffee and I feel like a real writer.

How amazing.




Don't forget to drop by the Smutty Advent Calendar and see what interesting prizes they have for you today!