There’s an owl right outside my window. It’s dark, so I can’t look out to see what type of owl it is.

I googled “owl calls” and found this site.

The owl I heard was a female Bubo virginianus, or Great Horned Owl.

She sounded like this one.

The Owl Pages says Great Horned Owls can be up to 2 feet tall, with a wingspan of up to 5 feet! They can weigh 5 pounds or more and can live up to 13 years in the wild.

It also says that some of their calls can be “ventriloquist calls.” However, I doubt this one was throwing her voice. I have large maple trees right at my back windows. I’ll be she’s settled in the branches of one tonight.

In other bird news …

When I came home from work this afternoon, there was straw scattered on my front porch, right underneath the porch light and a wreath that’s hanging by the door.  I believe a bird was trying to build a nest there, and for some reason got scared away, or else she decided the spot wasn’t exactly prime real estate.

Two hawks took up residence in the trees at the edge of our property last summer and scared away the squirrels and the brown yard bunnies. I haven’t seen them yet, so maybe they’ve moved on to someone else’s trees. Hopefully, we’ll see more forest critters this year.

To a reader, a character is someone:

• to identify with
• to cheer on
• who has similiar feelings
• who may have similar experiences or
• whose experiences are extraordinary or
• unforgettable
• who becomes a friend.

To a writer, a character is someone:

• complex and puzzling
• always in the back of your mind
• so real he could walk in the door, sit beside you and carry on a conversation
• sometimes unpredictable
• who must to be able to choose his own destiny, a free agent
• influenced by the setting in which he is placed
• always changed by the other characters with whom he interacts
• unforgettable
• who becomes a friend.

I went to the store today and bought fruit. Lots of fruit. Kiwis and nectarines, blueberries and strawberries, apples and bananas. Grapes, too — red seedless. I’m eating  a few as I type.

This fruit fest is yet another of my many attempts to eat dessert the way nature intended, rather than the manufactured stuff that tastes so good. It’s substituting no-fat, good-for-you, all-natural sweets for all those high-fat, high-chocolate, totally delish foods my tummy craves.

Have you ever considered that fruits have their own personalities? If you were a fruit, which one would you be?

Banana: Has a sunny yellow disposition, yet turns to mush quickly and depressions form easily. Known to be slippery — if it falls to the floor, it’ll take you down, too. 

Kiwi: A split personality (some say it’s like a strawberry, others liken it to a banana). A little green, but blends well with others, especially on a platter.

Blueberry: Fun-loving and bouncy. Likes to hang out in groups, especially where pancakes and muffins are involved.

Apple: Firm to the core. Can be a little tough on the outside. It may be hard to judge by its appearance – some are grainy, some are tart. Granny Smiths, especially, may be slightly old-fashioned.

Strawberry: Bright and sweet, but may appear seedy. Some are even hollow inside.  Always wears a cap. 

Grape: Hangs out in tight bunches. Rolls quickly and gets lost easily if separated from the group.

One thing they have in common?

They all taste even better when dipped in chocolate. Dark, dark chocolate.

All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by frost.

– J.R.R. Tolkien

I don’t believe it. I checked my spam queue and discovered my reply to a stupid spam comment about weight loss had been spammed by yet another spam comment about weight loss! Twice!

Here’s the comment:

“Here’s How I Lost 18 lbs Of Body Fat In Just 22 Days Without Surgery”

What does it take to get spammers to leave you alone? Especially weight-loss spammers?

This is so aggravating that I’ve created a new category for such crap. I’ll file this one under “irritants and annoyances.”

This morning, I opened the garage door to back out my car and was surprised to discover that overnight, the world shed the browns of winter and unfurled the greens and blues of early spring. The warm air smelled like daffodils and moist soil. The birds chirped a celebratory chorus.

It was tough to concentrate at work, shut up inside a gray concrete room, when the colors outside were so vivid and enticing.

According to the calendar, we can’t announce the official start of spring until Friday. I’m convinced, however, it was born today. After such a cold hard winter, I’m glad it chose to arrive 72 hours early.

The earth wasn’t the only one dressed in green for March 17. Almost everyone wore green striped or solid shirts or green jackets. Most of the greens were that gorgeous, bright lime green that I love. I have a fave lime-green shirt but for me it’s still too cool to wear short sleeves.

Though St. Paddy’s Day ends in a few hours, I think I may leave the ducky site theme up for a few more days. After all, it’s the season for fresh starts.

A new blog format, in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

No pot of gold yet, but the rainbow is gorgeous.

Nice peaceful Saturday. I’m working on that project I wrote about in a previous post — the picture book manuscript that was accepted more than a year ago but the small publisher decided not to pursue it because of the economy. Rather than scrap the story, the editor suggested I use it in a compilation of family scripture study lessons, so that’s what I’m trying to get together today. I have an outline ready and have selected the scripture stories I want to create lessons for. So I’m making progress!

After our unpleasant winter and the January ice storms, it’s nice to see some blooms. My neighbor’s daffodils are blooming, as are the forsythia bushes on the side of my house. I saw some hyacinths yesterday. I love daffodils and hyacinths.

Speaking of hyacinths, I can’t look at them without thinking of Hyacinth Bucket from the BBC comedy, Keeping Up Appearances. (”It’s Bouquet!”) Poor Hyacinth tried desperately to put on airs at the expense of her dear and patient husband Richard. Her attempts were nearly always thwarted by her embarrassingly funny, low-brow relatives.

I wonder if Hyacinth knew the Queen has a Web site?

Just read a summary of  the “QueryFail” day  two agents started on Twitter several days ago.

Now feeling very anxious. Maybe a writer should not read such things when she’s waiting for word on her latest submission.

The information is helpful. I need to know these things. Whenever agents can tell us how to do things better, we need to listen. So I’m not complaining.

It is, however, very easy to doubt yourself in this business. It’s easy to question whether you have the skill or the talent to get published. As time goes on, you begin to think the story you felt compelled to write really wasn’t much of a story after all. If it had been a good story, you’d have heard back sooner, right?

And maybe the hardest part of all is quashing the fear that, perhaps, you may not be as strong as those writers who kept working and didn’t give up.

During those times, all you can do is dig your claws in, hang on, and hope for the best.

And work on the next project.

modem trouble + router issues/seven days = zero posts for at least one week

Ah well. On to other things.

The FEMA contractors finally removed the four, 6-foot high piles of tree limbs in front of my house. The limbs broke off our trees during the January ice storm. I was really glad to see the limbs go. I couldn’t see to back out of my driveway and was sure one morning I’d ram into another vehicle. The contractors used BIG equipment that left huge ruts at the edge of our yard but I don’t care. I’m just glad the stuff has been moved. It’s a bit of closure for us. We had our trees trimmed and they look so bare now.

In other news, an article I wrote about Twitter is in the current issue of our SCBWI regional newsletter. You can read it here. It’s a pdf file, so you have to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to open it.