To properly welcome 2011, I have decided on a different blog entry. My next entry will be back on track with news about my queries and writing experience.
Don and I had an adventuresome New Years weekend filled with many surprises. It all started around 8:00 p.m. on New Years Eve. When we left around 8:00 p.m. to go a party, a light snow was falling. When we started home after midnight, the snow had become heavier. The drive from the party to his house is normally around twenty minutes. This night, due to the heavy snow and unplowed roads, we traveled at a snail’s pace. Even in his four-wheel drive, we started to slide every now and then. A small car on the other side of the road was half over the side of an embankment. A truck behind us skid sideways. Despite our nervousness, we got home safely.
On Saturday, we were scheduled to attend a New Year's breakfast with our pals in a neighboring town. However, when we got up, it was still snowing. The mountains behind his house and the roads below were blankets of pure white. We all stayed inside (except Don drove the 2 miles to the store to get some necessities) and watched the snow continue throughout the day.
On Saturday night when we turned in, the snow had become intermittent. In the wee hours of the morning, I heard strange animal sounds close to the house, which I cannot even begin to describe. Around the same time I heard the sounds, Don got out of bed and started getting dressed. He was going to check and, if necessary, replace a small propane tank because the house was cold. That was around six a.m. I talked him into waiting until daylight.
Don’s housemate, Paul, works the graveyard shift and returns around seven in the morning. On July 2, Paul said he needed to show us something weird. His private entrance into his room is sliding glass door which leads to a back deck. The deck had a lot of snow with animal tracks embedded. We thought they might have been Great Dane tracks from the dog up the street, but he's kept in at night and does not roam. Since Don's house is in the country, we also wondered if they were mountain lion or coyote tracks.
This morning, we attended our New Year’s breakfast. The host is an avid hunter. One other person at the party lives in the boondocks and has come across many wild animals. After looking at photos of normal range and close up photos of the tracks, they concurred that the tracks most likely came from a bear.
Meanwhile, I've started working on a new novel as I prepare to send out more query letters. Happy Writing to all!
P.S.: the latest consensus is possible wolf tracks rather than bear tracks. This makes me feel a little safer!
