Chilly winds

After one of those balmy, cloud-filmed afternoons on the half-deserted campus yesterday, abrupt switch to dry sharp cold and HOWLY winds with fall of darkness. Driving home over the hills (since CalTrans starts closing lanes on the 405 at 10, which is when my class lets out), in two places the road was nearly completely blocked by trees that had blown down, massive dark groping tangles in the headlight glare. When I got home, the yard was littered with shingles blown from my roof (and assorted other debris).

In the student store that afternoon, saw the newest tweak on Energy Drinks: in addition to those deadly-looking little black-and-red phials of Ninja and Rebel Fire five-hour energy shots, at the other end of the counter were restful white-and-pale-blue bottles of Dream Water, "calms you down and lets you sleep." Presumably, if you're still in a frenzy from drinking Ninja and have to get SOME sleep before your early class. Reminds me of the classmates in my high school in the '60s, who'd take reds and whites - amphetimines and then barbiturates...

None for me, thanks.

One more week of class. Then with luck I can settle down and get the first draft of Ben January # 12 started: Root, Hog, or Die. And a LOT of research to get started on.

I've been re-reading the mainstream Civil War novel I wrote a couple of years ago, Homeland - a very simple little story about two (female) friends on opposite sides in the Civil War, and what happened on the homefront, in New England and in Tennessee. It never went anywhere, but I'm VERY fond of it.