5/15/06: Back from Vancouver

Just got back from a delightful long weekend in Vancouver BC, staying with square dancing friends leatherlion and airporter.

It was a weekend filled with serendipity. For example, our morning amble along the shore turned into a trip to Granville Island when we happened to notice the water taxi. This kind of thing happened over and over -- it was wonderful to be so free of agenda that we could indulge the fates. It was also a weekend filled with ducks -- flying in the air, paddling on the water, stuffed and mounted on the wall, floating in the soup. Wherever we went, there they were.

( More than just ducks... )

I didn't blow off the writing completely. I spent a half-hour here and a half-hour there and completed the edits (after a month of work, jeez) on my "Heaven as bureaucracy" story from Clarion, now titled "Joy is the Serious Business of Heaven." It goes in the mail to F&SF tomorrow. I considered sending it to my critique group to get their feedback on the revisions, but after spending so much time revising it I just want it out of my hands.

And, speaking of serendipity, my next writing project just fell in my lap. I got a long email from a friend last week, describing a recent adventure of hers, which had almost everything -- curious incidents, rich setting, telling details, unusual characters -- all it needed was a fantastic element and a little plot structure to be an incredible story. She's given her permission for me to turn it into a story, and I'll start in on that tomorrow.