Is this a hobby?

I've been parked in my campsite in Port Townsend, WA for almost a month now. My writing chair faces my picture window looking out over Puget Sound. Every ship headed to or from Seattle, Tacoma, Navy yards, or Olympia passes by my window. I've found a site that identifies all the ships that pass here and I've started running out each time I see one to take a picture.

Of course, there are many sailboats as avid sailors take advantage of any clear day, of which there have been only five or six this month. Not all the sailing vessels and pleasure craft are identified on my map because they don't radio in their positions.

From my angle and with the depth of field of my telephoto lens, it often looks like there will be a collision. This time between a fast-moving Navy tug, Shenandoah, and the ferry, Salish. The tug was much faster and long gone before the ferry got there.

Excuse me for thinking that some people just don't have a concept of how cold that water is. I see paddleboards, kayaks, and even a couple guys in wetsuits swimming along the shore. 

The US Navy Destroyer Samson is one of the Navy ships I've seen a couple of times. It and the Momsen apparently are on duty patrolling our shores.

The American Seafoods Factory Trawler American Triumph was pretty impressive. This thing comes in with somewhere around 900 tons of fish that are cleaned, packaged, and fast frozen right on the ship. I'd actually like to get a tour of one of these some day. I've seen three come into port in Seattle this month.

Tugboats do a lively business on the Sound. This big barge is being moved along by The Western Ranger and the barge appears to be filled with gravel or sand. That is a lot of tonnage!

Of course, I see a lot of container ships. This one is the MSC Antonella. I have no idea what is in any of those containers. That's one of the things that is missing from the website. No idea what any of the cargo is.

The Ocean Tact is a bulk carrier--of what, we have no idea--flying the Panama flag and on its way from Korea to Olympia. It's an interesting profile but I have no idea what any of that equipment does or what it carries.

This was one of the closest ships I've seen out here. USNS Washington Chambers is a Navy Replenishment Vessel from Pearl Harbor and was headed to the Naval Reserve base on Indian Island, just across Port Townsend Bay. It looked like it was coming right into shore here at the marina! It was met by three tugboats just around the point and guided into port.

And, of course, there is the Coupeville to Port Townsend Ferry that makes a round trip in about an hour and a half starting around 6:00 a.m. This was at Sunrise on Thursday the 26th. Our ferry is the WSF Salish.

So there is an introduction to my new hobby. It keeps me jumping up out of my chair every time I see a ship cross my field of vision, so it's also my major form of exercise. Whether this will last another month as a hobby is uncertain, but I had to get a picture of the sunrise in at least once!

NaNoWriMo is coming to an end tomorrow. I've more than completed my 50k words, but unfortunately they are on two different stories instead of just one. Some of the writing has been like pulling teeth to get it out of my head and onto the page.

BUT... A Place at the Table is now finished and the release date is estimated to be December 22, just so I have a nice Solstice present for myself. I got the last chapter back from the final proofreader and comments back on the paperback layout yesterday. I think it will be a good addition to my collection. I'll talk all about it next week.

Be safe, Be well, and Wear Your Mask!

Wait a minute. It's stopped raining.

 Guys are swimming. Guys are sailing.

After a week of gray skies, wind, and rain, the 55 degree weather and partly sunny skies came as a real relief this afternoon. I got out and sat outside for a while today. After I straightened out my patio rug and made sure nothing had completely blown away. Even the gulls were back on the water this morning.

I've gotten quite a lot done on my NaNoWriMo project this week, though my numbers don't show as much progress as I'd like. I'm at 25,035 words on my story It Ain't Immortality, But... Still, they are good words and don't reflect the additional 12,000 I've written on my other story, The Assassin. Nor do they show the new book I've proofread and uploaded for presale. I'd say that's positive.

And today's views across the sound have been pretty spectacular. The Fort Worden lighthouse is a good two miles from here and is clearly visible this afternoon.

I've made a couple of trips out for supplies this week and now I'm hunkered down for at least two weeks. We're still holding our Thanksgiving plans open and are watching the progress against the plague. If it looks like we might be at risk, we'll hold off our celebration for a while. I bought a turkey pot pie, just in case.

Had a spectacular sunrise on Monday, but it presaged the stormy weather to come. For a few days, the trailer really rocked in the wind.

 I've been aware of how my writing affects me this week. It's pretty amazing. Theo, the character I'm writing about, has taken up photography. I find that I'm taking more pictures than I've been taking, even though most are very near the trailer. It's really neat to see the sailboats and cargo ships plying the water. I've been getting up around 6:30 in the morning, just as it's getting light out with sunrise at about 7:15 these days. The first thing I see in the morning is the ferry making it's first trip across the Sound.

Theo is also writing a journal. Nothing deep. Just a record of the day. I found some journal software I like and have been updating it each day, including a picture from the day. It's pretty neat to follow the journey of my main character with my own journey--though we're very different.

The one thing I'm not doing that Theo is doing is meeting lots of people. I nod and wave at people walking along the shore in front of my trailer, but not really having any personal contact. I wouldn't have missed it if it weren't for writing about him meeting people. I think that's one of the things I haven't done well on my journey the past seven years, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. When it finally passes (and it will) I want to spend more time sitting and talking to people. Even if we're socially distanced. Had to get out to say hello to the greyhounds, Oliver and Speckles.

I have many people I communicate with online--some of whom I have actually met at least once! I heard an incredible amount of angst and fear being expressed the past couple of weeks, but so far haven't seen evidence of much they were afraid of. Not that there is nothing scary in the world, but I hope we can start living without fear.

I found these words online and though I don't generally pass a lot of this on, these words, supposedly from an older man, were worth pondering:

#1 After loving my parents, my siblings, my spouse, my children, my friends, now I have started loving myself.
#2 I just realized that I am not “Atlas”. The world does not rest on my shoulders.
#3 I now stopped bargaining with vegetables & fruits vendors. A few pennies more is not going to burn a hole in my pocket but it might help the poor fellow save for his daughter’s school fees.
#4 I pay my waitress a big tip. The extra money might bring a smile to her face. She is toiling much harder for a living than me
#5 I stopped telling the elderly that they've already narrated that story many times. The story makes them walk down the memory lane & relive the past.
#6 I have learned not to correct people even when I know they are wrong. The onus of making everyone perfect is not on me. Peace is more precious than perfection.
#7 I give compliments freely & generously. Compliments are a mood enhancer not only for the recipient, but also for me. And a small tip for the recipient of a compliment, never, NEVER turn it down, just say "Thank You"
#8 I have learned not to bother about a crease or a spot on my shirt. Personality speaks louder than appearances.
#9 I walk away from people who don't value me. They might not know my worth, but I do.
#10 I remain cool when someone plays dirty to outrun me in the rat race. I am not a rat & neither am I in any race.
#11 I am learning not to be embarrassed by my emotions. It’s my emotions that make me human.
#12 I have learned that it's better to drop the ego than to break a relationship. My ego will keep me aloof, whereas with relationships I will never be alone.
#13 I have learned to live each day as if it's the last. After all, it might be the last.
#14 I am doing what makes me happy. I am responsible for my happiness, and I owe it to myself. 

I'm not saying this is the way I live, but there are some gems within it that I will and do aspire to.

Be safe. Be well. And wear your damned mask!

Week one: 16,357 words

That's a start. It's not moving as fast as I thought it would, but I also got nearly 5,000 words in on my alternate story, so the total isn't bad at all. I mean, think of all that happened this week!

1. I moved to my new winter site on Sunday. Nice place. I'm spending hours just staring out the window at Mount Baker across the Sound. At least, hours on clear days.

2. The weather was warm and sunny. Then it was cold and cloudy. Then it rained. Then the wind started blowing. Then it was cold and sunny. It's a bit confusing, but driving through town yesterday to get my groceries, I saw again how beautiful this town is, even in the rain.

3. Went over to Lynnwood to pick up my repaired computer from the mailbox. Computer is working great, but they were unable to recover my data. New drive. Still, I have it for working on my NaNo projects! and I've started automated hourly backups to a remote drive. Just hoping that means I never have another accidental spill on my keyboard!

4. I took the south route across the Sound from Kingston to Edmonds on Tuesday and the north route up Whidbey Island back to Port Townsend on Wednesday. Both routes are incredibly beautiful. North is a little more costly because it involves two ferry rides. I happened to hit both perfectly and the trip was no longer timewise than going to Kingston.

5. You see the strangest things on the water. I had no idea what this ship was when I saw it, but have been informed by people who know that it is a new stealth destroyer for the Navy, a Zumwalt Class. I didn't know the Navy had white ships for stealth in the Arctic and Antarctic.

6. I've been learning a lot about photography because the MC in my new story, It Ain't Immortality, But..., decides to take up photography and I've had to learn some about it. Not much. I'm not writing an instruction manual. It's funny, though, that I've approached it a lot like I was writing an instructional manual and trying to figure out what should be in the user manual and what is irritating because it isn't in the manual. But writing the stories as he begins collecting them is making this an interesting project.

7. Oh, yes. Lest I forget, we apparently elected a new president. I'll believe it when I see him sworn in.

And that's my adventurous week. I'm once again caught up in writing several hours a day as I relive my own memories as others talk about theirs. Hope your week is going well!