This is the second to the last day in October. Where did it go? Poof! There are only two months left in this year, this oddity of 2020. A week from now, it will all be over. Halloween, the election, the month of October. And winter-like weather will become the norm. I don’t mind it, really.
The beautiful, lush yellow and gold trees have changed again to brown, sparse, and dull. Not much left for them to do. It reveals all the squirrel nests when the leaves fall. Everyone hunkers in, even the squirrels. Birds are still around, so if you feed them, keep on doing that. They depend on the food.
Our trial online grocery order was a pleasant experience overall. I don’t think I ordered Crushed Red Pepper, but I did order Pink Himalayan Salt. I see the Keto recipes use that. Why? Some claim it has more minerals. There is not a lot of data available, so I’ll use it because it looks pretty. Since it’s not as densely packed as regular table salt, you may need to use more to get the same flavor. I am against excessive salt in food, I just don’t care for the taste. It is lovely to look at, though.
One thing I noticed about the grocery order, they used a bunch of plastic bags. Almost one for each item they bagged. A waste, really. I think they may have several people fill an order, so they each bag their own items. I’d hate to be those workers during a snowstorm or after a blizzard. Those carts can’t be easy to push through the snow. I always think of weird things like that.
Another thing I noticed was the partially packaged grapes didn’t fare too well. The bunch at the very bottom appeared pulverized and dripping when I removed them from their bag. It could have happened moving the bags around in the bins before they reached my car. Don’t think I’ll get any more of those since they’re high in natural sugar. Dang! I thought they’d be a good sub for sweets. Turns out they ARE sweets. Until they’re gone, it’s Waldorf Salad. A lot of salad.
I suppose the dogs could eat some apples, too. Just so they don’t get too used to them. Never been a person to feed table scraps to a dog, any dog we’ve had. They would swipe things if they thought they could get away with it.
My scene writing has been interesting. It is like writing a play. You need descriptions of items present if they’re used in or pertinent to the story. Some set the scene for a certain era. You don’t want an electrical plug in a log cabin in the 1800s. Sometimes movies mess up and have errors like that. It’s often overlooked, until a blooper reel comes out, or someone notices and posts it online.
You also need to show emotion. That is through the character’s actions, dialogue, and presence. I could not like what a minor character tells me. I could fake a smile, force a smile, make a sour face, twist face in disgust, wipe a smile off my face, clear my throat to buy time, make a strangled noise with my throat, shrug my shoulders, fidget, squirm, curl up in a corner, wring my hands, give a weak handshake, and/or make a steeple with my fingers to describe a character reaction without saying a word.
It is strange to see Charlie Chaplin with a smart phone, isn’t it? Costumes in a play are so important. If the clothing and accessories are not proper for the era, the entire scene seems “off.” I’ve always thought it would be so cool to be a costume designer. The famous Edith Head, who fashioned the clothing for Paul Newman and Robert Redford in the movies, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” and, “The Sting.” When she received her Academy Award for Costume Design, her first comment was, “I got to dress Paul Newman and Robert Redford.” WOW. I remember the audience went wild.
When I was a little girl, besides playing for hours in my room with my Barbie doll and all the clothes Mom and Grandma made for her, I had one of those plastic pose able female drawing template. It was red plastic if I remember correctly. I would draw ladies then create dresses and outfits for them. It passed a lot of hours, and I enjoyed it a lot. Santa really knew what to leave sometimes.
While it’s not required to describe clothing, an author can do that, if it has something to do with the story. If not, then omit it. The condition of the clothing could tell a part of the story – holey hand-me-downs on a little boy, much too old dressing for a little girl, a great grandma dressing like a seventeen-year-old, they all tell you something about the person. Often an author describes the clothing as wrinkled, having an odor, looking disheveled, outgrown, or too big.
A picture or painting on a wall in a crime story can hold the key to solving a crime, be it theft or murder, and requires description, net worth, and how valued the painting is. It’s unnecessary to describe every painting or picture in every single room in a scene or setting. I find it fun to figure all these things out and then implement the new knowledge. Bear with me, I’m a work in progress.
As I take a brief break to get a drink of water, thank you for reading today. Hope you have a beautiful weekend. I hope your Halloween evening is fun and uneventful. We’re not giving out candy this year. Too complicated for us. Between the dogs who bark at every doorbell ring, and the COVID, we’re just not going to this year. I hope all the littles in the neighborhood stay safe and have fun. Hope to see you tomorrow. Take Care!
Kathy Raabe 