Summer is Here

Earth’s tilt reached its climax this past week which officially announces the dawn of summer. The days were hot before then, but now it’s okay for the days to be long and hot because it’s–well, it’s summer. But this summer isn’t like all the others.

Here in Boise, COVID-19 is bubbling up everywhere. Just in our county, we’ve lately had at least a hundred new cases a day. So instead of going out to enjoy the cool mornings or cool water of the pool or pond in the afternoons, Hubby and I are inside our house staying away from the crowds who go to the pool and ponds around our house and apparently don’t mind getting sick and passing it around.

The fact that Hubby is home makes this summer seem odd. He’s usually in South Dakota riding his bicycle, but not this year. I don’t mind having him at home. We’ve cleaned out our bookcases, cleaned out closets, sorted through boxes that haven’t been opened in years, and made several home repairs that had been neglected for too long. Even though it’s not our usual schedule, we have accomplished a lot that needed to be done.

Summers are usually when I write the most, but this year, I haven’t done much writing. I’ve been busy helping with all the cleaning out of things and with repairs when I could. The initial days of the stay-at-home orders were stressful just because it totally changed how we did things. Now that we’ve adjusted to living at home more, it’s not so bad. Once we get everything cleaned out, I hope to get back on track with my writing schedule.

Speaking of writing, I accomplished one thing during this shutdown. I wrote a short prequel to my Daughters of Time series, called The Secrets of the Black Wedding. It’s about the wedding of Hannah Time and Headless Horseman which was the cause of the sisters’ alienation covered in the book series. It’s written from the perspective of Francis Time, their mother, who wants to keep her family together. Several people requested I write about the wedding that started the conflict, and I’m happy that I finally accomplished that. It was fun to write.

If you’d like a free PDF of The Secrets of the Black Wedding, please send me a message with your email address and I’ll send it out to you. Let me know what you think of it. I appreciate useful feedback.

Enjoy the summer where you are and be safe. Remember your sunscreen, drink plenty of fluids, and wear a mask when in public. Let’s all pray for the end of the pandemic and a return to our regularly scheduled summers.