Springing Forward

It was an amazing day here in Southern Maine, warm, sunny and light for a looooong time.  A lot of people I know (including my beloved) grumble about the arrival of Daylight Savings Time. To them, springing forward means an hour of lost sleep, and dark mornings again. To me, the long afternoon light is worth the trade-off. 

I celebrated by grilling chicken that had been marinating all afternoon in a lemon-garlic sauce officially called "Garlicious" which I call "Garlic-Licious," because it makes my sweetie laugh every time. It was lovely to stand out on the deck, imagining the trees leafed out, the garden planted, the warm-weather birds flocking to the feeders for a bedtime snack.

Soon.

We walked at Crescent Beach in early afternoon.  Here is a photo of the sign that greets the winter-weary masses:

And the dunes, which were especially beautiful today:

A pivotal scene in my novel in progress, The Quick Pivot, is set at Crescent Beach. Every time we walk there I feel surrounded by the ghosts of a couple of my favorite characters, who spent a life-changing afternoon there in May, 1968.

Speaking of my WIP, I had an opportunity to read a couple of short passages yesterday at the New England Sisters In Crime open read event, organized by my pal Maureen Milliken in her beautiful town of Belgrade Lakes. Five of us brought work to read and several others came just to listen, including a high school student from nearby Oakland who told us she loves, loves, loves to read mysteries.  That proclamation, and her courage in attending an event where she knew no one except her very supportive Dad, endeared her to everyone in the room.

Thank you, Maureen, for organizing such an enjoyable event and for reading your work.  Thanks also go to Kathy, Priscilla and Emily for reading, and to Sandy and David and Mary's dad for listening.  And special appreciation to  Mary, for making us remember how exciting it was to discover this world of mystery.