The Snowball that Swallowed my World ( #IWSG & #BOTB Results )

       I was just hanging out waiting for the holidays when a massive snowball rolled up behind me.  I tried to get away, but then it just swallowed me up and kept on rolling.   And here I am now, rolling to who knows what... 

The Insecure Writer's Support Group

Join us on the first Wednesday of each month in Alex J. Cavanaugh's Insecure Writer's Support Group--a forum of writers who gather to talk about writing and the writer's life. For a complete list of participants visit Alex's Blog. 
     The co-hosts for the December 7 posting of the IWSG are Joylene Nowell Butler, Chemist Ken, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon, and Cathrina Constantine!

December 7 question - It's holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?

         When November started I had little idea of what was to come.   Then, things started happening and the month started flying like no other November I can remember.  Unexpected things that were good for the most part, but very busy for my life.

         First, there was a surprise trip to East Tennessee courtesy of the son of my best friend who was to celebrate his 50th anniversary with his wife.  I had not planned on going for the anniversary luncheon, but my friend from my high school days really wanted me to come so his kids surprised him by bringing me there.  It was a delightful four day whirlwind that also allowed me to spend some very good time with my brother and two sisters.

        Then, a couple days after my return home, my oldest daughter and her family came for a week and a half visit for the Thanksgiving holiday.  They treated my wife and I to a mini-vacation in Scottsdale Arizona at a magnificent resort that was all decked out for Christmas.  It was spectacular!

         After that four day excursion, we had an enjoyable few days leading up to Thanksgiving.  I prepared a feast that included turkey, ham, and all sorts of sides upon which we all gorged ourselves.  I'll pat myself on the back for that achievement, which is something I hadn't done for the past few years.  Two of our daughters came with their families and we had a great time.

         Then after everyone had left, my wife came down with a mild bout of COVID (of course!).   As she was recovering I came down with a bit of an irritating cold that set me back a bit.  Fortunately I tested negative for COVID, but still I didn't feel like doing too much for several days.

        As we recovered, my wife's father went to the hospital and was diagnosed with COVID as was her sister who lives with their father.  My father-in-law has been in declining health for the past many months and going to the hospital didn't help.  He's still there as I write this post and my guess is that he will likely pass away today or soon after.  After all, he is 98 years old and was having a difficult time doing anything for himself.   He's had a long run in his life so I think we can be thankful that he made it this far.

      That's just November, and any writer goals I might have had didn't get very far for this busy month.  So, to answer the IWSG question for December, I think it's probably safe to say I'm going to be falling way behind on the writing plans that I had been considering and likely I won't gather much momentum in the weeks ahead.

       But who knows?  I don't need much more in my schedule, but I'm ready for anything.  I'm pretty sure there will soon be a funeral and family gatherings.  And next week my wife and I will be having our 25th anniversary.  What a combination of events and occurrences!  That's the way it goes sometimes.   I'm not even sure about Christmas and New Year.  I'm going to take it all as it comes.  I can do writing later I guess.

Battle of the Bands Results

         

         My most recent Battle was an example that goes against the grain of conventional BOTB thinking of not pitting a more unknown song version against a more known version that was a "hit".  My song choice was "Rock 'n Roll (I Gave You All the Best Years of my Life" using the relatively obscure version by Cajun fiddler Doug Kershaw up against the more known Mac Davis version that made it to  #15 on the Billboard charts back in 1974.  

        The Davis version hasn't aged too well and like a few noted it's kind of a lifeless schlocky tribute to rock music while sounding insipidly poppish.  Mac Davis tanked in this Battle with most of the votes going to Doug Kershaw's up tempo version.  Add my vote to this latter group.

Final Vote Tally

Mac Davis                2 votes

Doug Kershaw          11 votes

Next Battle of the Bands on ?????

          As I noted earlier, I've been busy and things might not let up too much for a while.  I'll decide about my next Battle in the weeks ahead, but I'm thinking it might be January 15.  I'll see what everyone else is doing as well.

        Have a wonderful Christmas and an excellent year to come!