It's all in the Details

by Margie Senechal
 
I'm terrible with details, especially in my first drafts which usually include a lot of dialogue and some action directives. I tend to forget the sights, smells, atmosphere. I always notice it in other books and am in awe of those writers. 

I was thinking about this and how everywhere we live there are different details that mark our communities with their originality.  

For example, in a little over a mile radius of my home there are three Starbucks and three pot dispensaries.  And just for the record, I live in a pretty expansive city.

The State School for the Deaf and the State School for the Blind are both housed in my city. So, the deaf and the blind have been integrated into our society for decades. ASL is taught as a second language in our high schools and most churches have interpreters and classes to train said interpreters.

My house is two blocks from the hospital and less than five miles away from Portland International Airport, so having Life-flight helicopters, jets, and planes overhead is the norm. Although, when I hear jets, I always look up, because...jets. Although this shot was taken North in Seattle, I love it. So, there you have it, jets...

And the apples all lie down

And lastly, while being Washington State's fourth largest city, Vancouver is a strange hybrid of country and city. We have trees and fields a plenty. Right now I'm gazing out at my over-burdened apple trees. They're so thick this year, they broke a limb and are now basically lying against the ground, not committing to actually just giving up and collapsing on the ground. 

Bee bath that once had a layer of marbles, now only four

Up until last year, Jordy was sure we had a opossum living in a our briar/compost pile. Which was great because the mole condos disappeared. 

Until it was killed by something and left to rot under our forsythia bush out front. I think a raccoon got it. And I say this because the corpse looked quite shocked to have been killed and because we've had raccoon sightings in our yard of late. In fact, I just went out to turn off the sprinkler and notice my bee bath is missing most of the marbles. 

Now, your turn. Tell me what's original about your community. 

Marble thief? Opossum slayer?