"Any Day Above Ground is a Good Day."

A beautiful spring day with sunshine and leisurely cool breezes maintaining the over all temperature at a very comfortable level.

Spent the afternoon correcting Year 12 exams to discover the vast majority had done quite well. It is only three weeks for their state-wide examinations; there are technically no more classes; however I’ll be conducting small group tutorials right up the end. These groups have been traditionally small depending on the student’s comfort level with the material or their shooting for an above average mark and want to achieve an edge. I’m pretty confident that they’ll do well on the exams. We’ll just have to wait and see…fingers crossed.

Looking through my bills today and came to discover my car insurance had lapsed, and have been driving around for a week in an uninsured vehicle. It is now paid and we’re safe. An accident, even a minor one costs a lot of money, a potential catastrophe to say the least.

My novel has been stalled for months, avoiding chapter 15 like the plague. Well I can now report that there has been a breakthrough, and if persistent, I can actually finish the manuscript in about a month. This will be a major accomplishment and a relief, as it had become the proverbial ‘monkey on the back’ for a few years now. There is an end in sight. It is a rather large novel, sitting at over 80,000 words with at least another 10,000 to wrap the tale up. I think I’ve mentioned this before but the book is a supernatural story concerning the main character’s revelation as to his true identity. Overall a very strange tale and one I should think (hopefully) will entertain the reader.

While working today with the headphones on listening to a haunting track: Samuel Barber’s Adagio for strings, performed by the Philharmonia Orchestra. It is a moving piece with tremendous amount of pathos, touching the soul. Also listening to Diana Krall’s “The Look of Love” one of her better albums.

I can feel the idea for a short story creeping into consciousness and if I get a good sleep, the story should come to me in the morning.

Overall a productive day and as my friend continues to tell me, “Any day above ground is a good day.”

I believe she’s right on that one.