Author: Dart

Chinese Bat Flu?

Would make a great name for a band, right? But probably hurtful to someone, somewhere. Maybe bats. So, let’s call it COVID-19. Or Corona-virus. Whatever.

It is March 30, 2020 and Idaho is mostly locked down.  Liquor stores, gun shops, grocery stores, Home Depot/Lowes, Walgreens, Walmart, Target, gas stations and more are open. There are probably about a hundred drive-through coffee shops in the valley, and they are open. Restaurants doing take out only.

But many people in Idaho are slow to adopt the social distancing thing the federal government is seeking.

People from other states don’t understand Idaho.

Personal responsibility and personal freedom trumps most other things here. Especially if it is the federal government issuing orders.  This feeling of personal independence runs deep in people here, except for the newcomers like myself.

Ruby Ridge was in north Idaho. That was a long time ago. But as recently as 2014 Ammon Bundy led an armed standoff against federal officials at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon. Ultimately arrested, a local jury set him free. People in Idaho and western Oregon cheered.

He lives in Emmett, Idaho about 30 minutes from my house.

So, distaste and distrust of the federal government, or government of any kind, runs strong in these parts. When the federal government says stay indoors, many people in Idaho ignore them.

Just saying.

I am hoping we get through this mess sooner rather than later.

 

 

 

Drive to Placerville, Idaho

 

None of the roads were straight longer than 100 feet. They were all winding roads through the mountains and forests, with not one guardrail in sight. But it was a magnificent drive. Our primary destination was Placerville, Idaho.  We drove up Idaho 55 to horseshoe Bend and then turned onto Harris Creek Road which interestingly enough, followed a stream. We left the brown hills and climbed into the mountainous forest. Harris Creek had snow and ice along its banks. The road quickly became unpaved and bumpy but our brave Kia Soul kept on going. Harris Creek Road turned into Placerville Road and we entered the city of Placerville. In the 1860s this was a gold mine town with a population over 5,000. Today it is a Near Ghost Town with just 54 residents. It has a fire department, a grocery store and city hall. Actually, a combination grocery store/City hall. The city has a mayor, three city council members and a City Clerk/Treasurer. A nice webpage too.  History buffs visit often, as well as recreationists and some people who maintain a summer home there.

We captured images of the forest, streams, mountains and old buildings. We returned by way of Idaho City and then route 21 to I-84 to our west Boise home.

Enjoy the photos!

 

 

donnasplace_Placerville11-15-2019_rs
harriscreek11-15-2019_RS
harriscreekStream11-15-2019_RS
harrisscreek_star_ranch11-15-2019_RS
meadow_Placeville11-15-2019_rs
oldhouse11-15-2019_rs
starranch11-15-2019_RS
starranch11-15-2019B_RS

 

101 Words

One of my small successes in writing was having a 101 word story published in 101words. They publish 101 word flash fiction daily.  They wanted a rewrite and I worked harder on those 101 words than any other published fiction. Which is a good thing! The story was much improved. You can read it here.

I submitted another one two days ago that I had been toying around with and finally finished. Waiting to hear back from them.

I wrote another one over the past two days. It needs to rest for a day and then I will edit it and if I think it is good enough submit that.

 

The attraction of writing micro fiction?

1. The challenge. Story must have a beginning, middle and end. The challenge is to find a story that can be told in only 101 words. So, we are not talking about War and Peace. The trick is to find a core concept or thought that is worthy enough of being called a story. But not a concept that is too small, otherwise you don’t have a story at all.

2. The word count makes me examine every single word to determine if it is required, necessary, helpful. I am surprised how many words are not necessary. This helps me learn better writing skills.

3. I can complete it over a short period of time, and that success of writing a completed story, no matter only 101 words, gives me a boost. If it gets published, a huge boost!

4. C’mon,  101 words means I have less opportunity to screw up the story!

 

 

Shoshone Falls, Idaho

Last Sunday Suze and I met a good friend for breakfast in Twin Falls, Idaho and then proceeded to Shoshone Falls Park. It is about a two-hour drive from Boise, mostly on I-84 with an 80 MPH speed limit. In the mornings the highway is pretty empty so cruising along is easy. Afternoons the 18-wheelers and the RVs come out competing to see which one can overturn first. But if you stay away from them you should be OK. Keep in mind, 18-wheelers are restricted to 70 MPH so you might want to settle in behind your favorite truck and just cruise at 70. Otherwise, you will be passing one truck after another. And out west, they have triple 18-wheelers! 

But, Shoshone Falls is a must-see if you ask me. There are plenty of opportunities to see rocks and giant gashes in the land all through Idaho and much of this area, so seeing green trees, beautiful waters and those magnificent falls is a real treat.  

Feel free to click on the photo to see a nice enlarged version.

The Snake River

 

 

The Snake River with yellow flowers below and great sky above.

 

Close up of the falls

 

Shoshone Falls

 

These are very small images. Full-size prints are available at our Fine Art America website. You can order prints, frames, coffee mugs, T-shirts, notepads, even shower curtains!

Or, if you want to purchase just the digital image and get it printed yourself and find your own frame, email us at humeston *at* gmail dot com.  Most image files go for $25

Dart

Novel Writing Software

Not so long ago finding software to assist you in writing a novel was challenging. Years ago I settled on Scrivener.  At the time it was the best in my opinion, and many people still consider it an excellent option for authors. But today, (2019) there is an explosion of options for novel writers. Some of the programs download to your desktop/laptop/smartphone and others are online only. Some of them are pretty basic, and some of them are just a tad easier than designing an aircraft carrier. Many are free, donation ware or cheap, and some can cost over $100. The online versions charge you a monthly fee.

Writing a novel means keeping track of chapters and scenes, characters, locations, items, plots and subplots and a hundred other stuff. My novel is at 32,000 words, 29 chapters, and I never imagined how challenging it would be to keep track of the characters and what is going on. A novel writing program, on your desktop or online, can hep you greatly. There are drawbacks and advantages with each type:

1. Online only. Wherever you have an internet connection, you can write. These platforms, such as Novelize, keep track of your progress weekly, help with grammar and editing, and offer a host of features. But if you don’t have internet – you can’t write usually.  And some of them don’t have the full power of a desktop software. For instance, I had to change a character’s name while using one such online program, and could not do so. Unless I did it manually. This in fact, was the last straw for me which eventually drove me to Word and then LibreOffice. You can rename people easily through the find and replace function.

2. Desktop/laptop/smartphone versions: Three types here:

a. Vastly complicated
b.  Complicated.
c. Somewhat complicated

Notice there are no “easy” ones. You do have to learn the system and set up your novel properly from the get go, and maintain it. And that can take time. Personal comment: If you spend all your time learning the program, setting it up correctly and maintaining it, when will you actually write your novel?!

I used Scrivener for some time, and later Novelize. Then YWriter, which I really liked. I also tried several others. Today? I use LibreOffice. I have chapters and characters setup, locations and so forth using the Navigation panel. It doesn’t warn me when I am not writing enough, it doesn’t beep at me or offer encouragement or any of the other bells and whistles. But it is free, and I write easily anywhere. I save a copy to my local drive and One-drive, so with or without the internet, I can write. And it is free too, another benefit. I will write a post one day explaining how I set Libreoffice up to be my novel writing software.

Meanwhile, if you are looking for novel writing software, here is a list of most of them. If you google the topic you will find reviews and ratings too.

Novel Writing Software

Bibisco
Dramatica Pro
Free Writer
Liquid Story Binder XE
Manuskript
Mariner Software
New Novelist
The Novel Factory
Novelize
Novlr
Plume Creator
Power Structure
QuollWriter
Scrivener
Storyist
WriteItNow5
Writers Block
Ywriter 6

I am sure there are dozens more, but these are the ones that I have personally installed and tried, at lease once anyway. Yeah, I should have spend more time actually writing my novel! LOL