All Saints Day | authoremmapalova

It’s Tuesday, November 1st in Michigan. My dashboard is showing 64F.

I attended All Saints Day mass at St. Patrick’s in Parnell at 7 a.m. The general store across the street wasn’t even open yet.

But I managed to run into an old friend who was already grumpy.

“Nothing has happened yet,” I said. “You can’t be grumpy.”

“Yes, it has,” he said. “I woke up.”

This was the first day of National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo 50k word challenge. I logged in 1,777 words because I like the number plus it was 100 words more than the required 1,667 daily log-in word count.

For the first time ever, I ate my lunch on the porch in the November sun in West Michigan after I got done writing. I will savor that forever.

The lovely day ushered in a mix of emotions that a new project always carries. I even managed to walk the trail listening to the creek. The creek was bubbling its song undaunted by the fall. I threw a few rocks to listen to the sound of the rock entering the water, and measured the depth by the hollow sound.

Our fifth grandchild Henrik celebrated his first birthday today. I remember last year’s tension about the unknown of NaNo and the new grandbaby. Nothing has changed, the tension is the same.

Some guys are showing off water skiing in November in Michigan. Heck yes, that’s cool.

You rock. Happy birthday, Henrik. Love always.

Ready for #NaNoWriMo 2019

I am as ready as I can be for the National Novel Writing Month 50K word challenge starting tomorrow Nov. 1 with my Greenwich Meridian: Where East meets West memoir project.

However, Halloween is not only followed by the NaNoWriMo blast off , but also by All Saints Day and All Souls’ Day in the catholic calendar on Saturday. I always go to the mass at St. Pat’s for one or the other to reflect and for inspiration.

Usually, the Book of the Dead is on display. An evening candlelight procession goes to the cemetery.

The feature photo is an optical illussion “All is Vanity” from Belrockton in Belding. It is hanging next to the “Face of Gossip,” which is on the cover of my new book “Secrets” from the Shifting Sands Short Stories collections.

Follow me on my NaNoWriMo journey to the completion of the memoir about our family immigration saga to the U.S.

I will be signing my new book at the Lowell Area Historical Museum (LAHM) on Nov. 15, 16 & 17 during Christmas through Lowell.