Big Bend National Park

I spent much of my day--probably only 2.5 hours if you really count--in Big Bend National Park, courtesy of a manuscript I'm reading. It's written by a teacher of young children at the San Vicente School District, and she really transports you to the land and makes you feel the friendship and closeness of the people who live in that isolated setting. Melinda loves Big Bend, so I emailed her she'd be jealous, and she asked if I was hiking. I said a bit, plus some bird watching, and she advised having a glass of wine on the porch of the hotel in Terlingua after hiking. Sounds good to me.
In real life, e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook are taking an incredible amount of time, and I find it a dilemma. On the Agent Quest list I read that you must use these tools to promote your writing career. But, to me, they are left-brain, the opposite of creative, and they don't further creativity. In fact, they are among the things I put between me and writing or re-writing, which is what I should be doing now. The Big Bend manuscript falls into that category too, but at least I get paid for doing it. Plus I like it.
Had a nice lunch with Jeannie today and then we went shoe shopping--she came away with four (yes, four) pairs of black shoes, while I bought a pair of snow boots for our Christmas trip to Colorado--they're gray plaid and will match my long gray coat. I'm having doubts about my stability on snowy, icy streets in Breckenridge, but I guess I can hold on to my kids. Still seems a long time away to me, but it really isn't. Thanksgiving will be here before we know it, and this weekend I start cooking for my annual tree trim (no tree) party. Jordan says she's not coming if I don't do desserts.
Incredibly beautiful weather today, so I put the top down. After many many trips to VW service and a lot of money (which they eventually repaid), the top on my car still doesn't go all the way down. We went into lunch, and when we came back and I turned the motor on, I could put the top down--it has to sit like that. A royal pain! I'm taking it in again Monday.