IWSG: Making Headway

The Insecure Writers Support Group meets online every first Wednesday of the month. Founded by Alex J. Cavanaugh, IWSG was created to support and encourage all writers in every phase of their work, from writing to marketing. Click here to join, and for information, writing tips and more.


Co-hosts today are Nancy Gideon, Bob R Milne, Doreen McGettigan, Chrys Fey, Bish Denham, and Pat Garcia! 

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The climate here is still quite hot but I'm adjusting to the heat. Hubby and I have been hanging out at the community pool in late afternoons. The pool is brand new, gorgeous, with lap lanes for the adults and play areas for the kids. It's been too hot for golf, although many get up early when the air is cooler to play. My preference is in the evening when we can also bike. 

View from new home. Umtanum ridge on left.

Funny thing about the sun, and I've never experienced this anywhere else. When it goes behind the clouds, you'd swear the temperature has dropped a full ten degrees. It comes out again and you retreat to the shade in the oven-like air. I read that the UV rays are high all over the Pacific Northwest right now, so best to avoid the rays. I'm not sure if this is unique to our high temperatures (high 90s, low 100s) or simply a weather phenomenon this year. Many of us find it odd that we are all so low in vitamin D too. A doctor told a friend that no amount of sun exposure would be enough. We're all taking high doses and hoping the medical community knows what they're talking about.

We are not officially a desert (our winters are cold). Farmers grow grapes, apples, peaches, apricots, cherries, corn, potatoes, wheat and more here. Give the land water and fertilizer, and you can grow just about anything in sandy loam (some areas are almost pure sand, but compost does wonders). 
 

I have one beautiful rose bush.

The truth of the matter is we get on average six to ten inches of rain a year. Fortunately, water is cheap. We live on an old river bed with an underground aquifer and a river lake just minutes away.

It's been an interesting year adjusting though. Major services are an hour away. We have basic health care, one main restaurant and grocery store, one hardware store, pizza, some fast food, three gas stations, and smaller related businesses that include a cool tortilla factory (fresh off the grill), but that's it. 

Given the vast number of fruit orchards, we also have a thriving Mexican migrant community. Many workers and their families have stayed and made their home here. I wish I spoke Spanish. Someone at church mentioned taking a Spanish immersion class, and I almost raised my hand. 

I'm not a city gal, but I find myself missing the cute college towns we left behind, with their tree lined Main streets and coffee hangouts. I miss walking through the malls, too, going to movies, and checking out the latest restaurant. I'm glad we are an hour from another college town, where we can take in a movie and dinner when we feel like it. We plan to see the new Jurassic Park movie later this week.

There is always pro and con to moving, which was almost one year ago to the day, and in that regard, you might say this has been an insecure year for me. It was a tough move saying goodbye. You really do gain some and lose some, but I don't think it helps to dwell on the negatives or the past. We should learn from the past of course and stay in touch with old friends, but embrace the new and move on. I'm treating our new home as an adventure, and slowly but surely we are putting down roots again. Landscaping over a half acre will be the dominant thrust for awhile and for sure my writing.

On that front, I successfully downsized my YA novel to below 80k, and finally....FINALLY, I'm satisfied with the ending. I'm currently using SmartEdit as one last check. SmartEdit can be downloaded for free for a ten day trial, or purchased outright. The software is awesome. For instance, it pointed out I had used "he said/she said" 109 times, which of course was excessive. But see for yourself. It's free to check out! 

As to the race, my husband and I are still competing to make the finish line first. Our self imposed motivation effort appears to be working. We both have made headway! Vince reached the halfway mark on painting his plane last week, and I'm running out of things to tweak in my novel. [Scroll down for a photo of the plane]. 

Something to inspire (remember 

the little train that could?) 

"The Ladder of Achievement" (Anonymous)

 (The Treasure Chest, 1965)

                                                                                                                                                                                 100%--I did.          

                                                                     90%--I will.
                                                              80%--I can.
                                                       70%--I think I can.
                                                60%--I might.
                                          50%--I think I might.
                                   40%--What is it?
                             30%--I wish I could.
                      20% --I don't know how.
               10%--I can't.
         0%--I won't.

 

Combine Ride: Harvest on the Palouse

I have lived in the Pullman-Moscow region, which borders the states of Washington and Idaho, for over thirty years now. I have watched the dust swirl up around me surrounding these fair towns as the farmers till and harvest the deep black soil of the Palouse, as the land is known. I have stopped behind them in their large farm vehicles, as they traverse our two-lane roads, halting traffic to make a cumbersome turn. I have traveled through the scenery they create in the fields that changes dramatically from green to golden yellow each year without fail. My husband and I have been privileged to meet and know only a few.

BARLEY (about a foot tall; wheat is much taller)

As a child I lived west of the Cascades, but sometimes took trips with a friend's family through Eastern Washington to Coeur d'Alene Lake. En route, we always passed the fields of wheat and other crops. One of our favorite things to do was to stop and sample a stalk of wheat. We would remove the chaff and chew the wheat kernel, as if it were the best snack in the world. And what did it taste like? Bland, salt free flour of course, but oh what a treat. Ever do that?

Barley up close at dusk (my camera lens was dirty from the harvest dust)

Big teeth!

So imagine my excitement yesterday when my husband and I were invited to ride in a combine harvester on the Ensley farm. They were busy harvesting their barley crop. 

"Frank"

I have to admit I thought of Pixar's movie, Cars, when I saw the big teeth of the combines up close. Remember the scene where Mater and Lightening McQueen scare the 'grazing' tractors and they go belly up in the field? Then Mater warns Lightening to watch out for Frank? Ha! Combine harvesters are huge like that, and I mean HUGE.

Cathy, co-owner with Mike Ensley in front of Ensley Farms harvest truck, which follows behind the combine for grain dumps. The Ensleys currently grow wheat, barley and garbanzo beans.

Big tires! Vince climbing into Mike's combine.  Here they come! Dumping the barley

Mike at end of day. Time to shower!

Today farmers sit in air-conditioned and filtered cabs, although there is plenty of dust. Check out Mike's photo on the left! They have talk radios and music to pass the time and use cell phones for communication.
Imagine how it must have been before combines existed (or modern ones with enclosed cabs). I am told that farmers often suffered from emphysema from the heavy dust exposure.

                                       Combines were horse drawn in the "old days."

Jeremy (Mike's son) and my driver. This is a multi-generation farm.

View from inside the cab with Jeremy. It was surprisingly quiet inside. We could talk easily, but oh was it ever dusty!!

Combines get around 7 miles to the gallon, I am told. The farm uses around 100 gallons a day during harvest. That's me on the bottom step. Thanks for the ride, Jeremy!

Take a look at my shoes. I was told I would get dirty . . . and I thought I was being careful. My face was gritty with dust, too, as was my camera lens. But what a marvelous once-in-a-life time experience. Thank you Ensley Farms!! Sharon M. Himsl Writer/Author. Blogging since 2011.  Published with Evernight Teen:  ~~The Shells of Mersing