It’s the last full day here in Des Moines. Erin has been home these past three weeks, and I’ve been staying with the kids and their grandparents. We’ll be heading back first thing on Saturday, all of us, and the grandparents will be staying for another two weeks. It’s been a pretty grandparent-intense summer, but I think the kids have enjoyed it. There’s been a lot of swimming, a lot of visits to see relatives, and visits to the science centre. And I’ve been grateful to have Poppa Michael and Grandma Rosemarie watch the kids on occasion while I slip away to do work or, twice now, go and catch a movie.
Still, the kids miss their mother, and I miss their mother. We’re looking forward to seeing Erin again this Sunday.
Things have been slow on this blog, but I have had a lot of writing work to do. The big project has been something that I’ve been working on for my real-estate broker client, and I’m quite pleased about it, though I can’t say more than that.
Then there’s The Night Girl. I’m about 70,000 words into it, and I think it’s only about three-quarters done. This should be interesting, given that the original draft of The Night Girl was only 67,000 words long. I suspect, though, that I’ll need to do yet another rewrite once this draft is done. I’m encountering pacing issues, and the story is just not gelling at the beginning. However, I think it’s more important to get something complete down on paper, all the way to “The End”, so I can look at the whole and figure out what isn’t working. They say that writing is like building a house, but how often do you have to finish a whole house before going in to look at cracks in the foundation? But that’s what’s needed here.
My latest Kitchener Post column is up and you can read it here. Last week’s column is here. I’ve also been adding material to Transit Toronto, including this new article on the history of the Union-Pearson Express and this revision to the history of the Harbourfront streetcar.
In two weeks time, the kids will be back to school. The kids and I have managed to work out a fair balance (thanks especially to the help of Poppa Michael and Grandma Rosemarie) that has allowed me to work while the kids have fun, but I think everybody is looking forward to getting back to classes, seeing school friends, and having blocks of time set aside to work.