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Rejectigami Pigeon!

Today’s mail brought the thing writers dread most — an envelope where the recipient’s address and the return address are the same. For the uninitiated, that’s an SASE, aka a self-addressed, stamped envelope. When you get one, it contains a response from an editor about a story you’ve submitted for publication. Sometimes it’s an acceptance. And sometimes it’s… not.

Today’s was not.

Which can only mean one thing — origami pigeon!

A rejection letter folded into an origami pigeon

Okay, it could have meant origami swan, but I’m still having trouble with the beaks on those. And I think I’ve done enough origami sealife for a while. So pigeon it is.

I’ll admit I had a hard time shaking this rejection. Even after I folded the letter into origami, I couldn’t put it out of my mind — and not the part where the editor said it was well written, either. Some days rejections hit you harder than others. But it’s part of the job, and I figure I can either sit here and wallow in self-pity, or I can post this latest entry in my rejectigami collection and get back to work.

So back to work it is. Because when it comes down to it, there’s no job I’d rather have. And if I don’t write the stories in my head, no one else will.

Snow?!?

It snowed last night.

Let me rephrase that. It SNOWED last night.

There really is a driveway under all that snow.

This is the view from my kitchen window, looking at my neighbor’s house. There’s quite a distance between our houses, but there’s also a driveway. You can’t see it in this picture. Oh, it’s there — it’s just hidden by the snow.

I’m sure this is nothing to those of you who live up north, but I’m in the South. Below the Mason-Dixon line. And not in the mountains. We’re lucky to get rain most days where I live. This snow stuff? Decidedly not normal.

It started yesterday evening, around 5:30, and we’re still getting snow and even some sleet this morning. This is the second snow “event” we’ve had this winter, and the news is reporting that between the two they’ve pushed the winter weather road clearing budget to the limit. Not quite over it, but I get the feeling our annual April ice storm will do the trick.

I haven’t checked the weather reports to find out how much snow we’ve gotten already, and I’m far too attached to being warm to go out with a ruler to check. I might send my husband, Chad, in a little while. He’s originally from Buffalo, NY, so this really is nothing to him. In the meantime, these pictures should give you some idea. Those are bonsai pots that sit by my front porch. Don’t worry — the bonsais are deciduous trees, oak and maple and the like, all from seeds collected in my yard, so they’re okay with the weather. I leave them out each year, and they lose their leaves in the fall, then come back in the spring. Like a mini seasonal display.

I just never expected the display to include that much snow.

Even though it’s a Saturday, I’m going to treat today like a snow day. Stay inside. Sip hot chocolate. Snuggle under a blanket while playing games or reading a book or watching a good, long movie. And maybe tomorrow it’ll be warm again.