Things Just Keep Getting Stranger

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(Edited)

Surprise!

I apologize for my absence this week but sometimes life has a way of handing you surprises and that was definitely the case this week!

Most of these surprises have been great ones. A few of them are even pushing me out of my comfort zone, which is always a good thing. I can’t wait to share more about these things in the coming weeks.

It’s always better to say “oops” than “what if?” so it's good to take as many chances as you can when opportunities arise.

Things Just Keep Getting Stranger

Pretty much the entire year of 2020 has been like living in an alternate universe.

Kanye West and Brock Pierce on the US Presidential ballot? And who would have imagined seeing a sign like the one below a few years ago?

Things just keep getting stranger but, hopefully, as the calendar turns over to 2021 we’ll begin to return to some level of normalcy. Crazy doesn’t even begin to explain the state of our country at the moment.

My wife and I both signed up for mail-in ballots for a few reasons. We were concerned with polling places being closed that the ones left open will be overly crowded. We also want to have the option of getting away from the city if violence begins to erupt around election time. We’ll be hand-delivering these ballots to our polling places during early voting though instead of mailing them in and running the risk of them being lost or damaged in the mail.

2020 has been a like masterclass in life-lessons and I hope everyone has been paying attention.


“2020 will go down in history for many things. Some of us may have found our niche, some may have loved and some of us may have also lost but 2020 came to also remind us why we should always show love and appreciation to the people around us while we still have the chance.” ― Hopal Green


Autumn Is Upon Us

The weather has been absolutely perfect for walking with my buddy this week. As of yesterday we already had almost forty-two miles of walking. Not bad for a 12 year old beagle.


Amstel giving his best "mean" look while sporting his hot pepper collar.


Proof of steps.

According to the Dark Sky weather app this appears to be the last warm week, possibly of the year for us in Minnesota. We’ll be getting out to enjoy what could be the last of summer today.

Mindful Moments: Perfecting The Pause - Book Update

Beta Reading
Done.

Illustrations
Done! We’re reviewing all illustrations over the next few days and making any needed final adjustments.

Next Steps
The final sweep of the manuscript will be happening today and tomorrow. The manuscript will be sent off to Lubosh, the book designer, next week and should be ready for publication within the next two weeks. I'll be laying the ground work for the promotion phase of the book and will be holding some virtual events to get the word out, more on that in the coming weeks.

There will be many mentions about HIVE throughout the book with QR codes that will allow people to quickly sign up and start blogging.

I appreciate you all joining me on this journey to create my next book, Mindful Moments! I’m thrilled with how it turned out and simply cannot wait to share it with the world.

Here's one more sample illustration to share with you all:

That’s all for now.

How was your week?

With Gratitude,

Eric Vance Walton

(Gifs sourced from Giphy.com. All photos are original. Illustration by Ophelia Fu.)


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I am an American novelist, poet, traveler, and crypto-enthusiast. If you’ve enjoyed my work please sign up for my author newsletter at my website. Newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates and special offers and your information will never be sold or shared.

Alarm Clock Dawn, one of the first full length novels published on the blockchain, and the book that started it all for me can be found HERE. Or Click Here to read it for free on the Steemit blockchain

My book on meditation, The Perfect Pause, is priced at $12.99 (paperback) and $4.99 (eBook). Buy the paperback and receive the eBook for free!

Let’s Keep In Touch

www.ericvancewalton.net



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19 comments
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Hello there Eric, it's been a blast of a week for me, I started up that project and I've been busy raising the house from foundation level and in a couple of weeks I'll be posting photos of the house hopefully at whatever level I get to.
Anyway say no more, 2020 has been something else but then for some it's not been too bad especially in financial aspects. Uniswap made many people millionaires.
Anyway it's nice seeing you talking that walk, that was a beautiful shot there I mean look at the default HDR effect on that one. The dog looked badass lol like mean scobby doo hahaha.

Hopefully your book will come out quite nicely, it's been wonderful to have read some part of it.
How have you been?

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Awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing the progress on the house.

2020 has been such a year of extremes hasn't it? Financial hardships and then amazing things like Uni! I wish I wouldn't gotten involved in that.

Thanks, I'm loving the iPhone SE for photos. It's definitely a notch about my old 8. Video is where it really shines. I can't believe a $399 mobile phone can shoot video this good.

One of Amstel's favorite things is riding in the car. He's learned to "surf" on the middle console and leans into turns. Pretty funny.

Everything has been okay on this end, thanks for asking. It's been a busy week for sure, I feel like my head is spinning. There have been some challenges along with the good things but that's life.

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Yeah I'll also consider that iPhone SE when I have the money.
Amstel yeah? Hahaha looks like quite the awesome companion in situations as taking a selfie and doing more amazing things hahaha looks like I'll be looking to have a dog too.

Yeah we ride on the challenges and the good side as well and blend it all. It's the reality that comes with life. Hoping to see the progress on the book as well soon.

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You can find some deals on Apple's refurbished product site. I've bought quite a few of their refurbished products and many of them come with the full warranty.

Amstel's been a great dog. We've been on lots of adventures together. The beagle breed is wonderful but they require LOTS of exercise or else they can get destructive.

Thanks, I'll have more updates very soon! Take care, man!

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We are pretty much doing the same thing in terms of voting. We work about a half hour away from where we live so we have been doing absentee voting as much as possible over the past several years. We live right down the road from the polling location, so we always hand deliver our ballots versus sending them in the mail. The biggest thing people need to remember is to not get all crazy when they sign the envelope. You need to make it clear and legible. If not they are probably going to trash it. I think it is important now more than ever to ensure that every vote is counted. Awesome news on the book front! We are in a little bit of a hot spell right now but the temps are looking to drop next week. We are going to take advantage of it and do some camping this weekend.

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That's great advice about the clear signature! There's already reports of fraud and hiccups but, these days, who knows if it's true?

Thanks, in a way the book has gotten me through this year by giving me something positive to focus on.

I'm glad you're getting out to camp this weekend! How late in the year do you guys normally do that? I've been watching a lot of winter camping videos lately.

Enjoy your weekend!

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My father in law hand delivered his envelope and they handed it back to him because they couldn't read the signature. Safe to assume it would have ended up in the trash if he had mailed it in. This year our last trip was supposed to be at the end of October, but that got cancelled because Covid pushed back the construction of the new bath house at the State Park. I usually have the trailer winterized and stored away at my parents by the end of October.

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It’s scary to think this would have disqualified his ballot. Mail in ballots add a few more layers of potential problems.

I tent camped once on the Northshore in September and it was already getting down in the low forties at night. That would be as cold of weather as I’d want to camp in. It was difficult to stay warm even at that temp in a tent. I’m sure you could handle a lot colder in a camper though.

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Amstel looks wise rather than mean.

Love the STD sign. There’s a lawn sign about two blocks from my house that says Any Functioning Adult 2020.

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He doesn't have a mean bone in his body, really. He's the best dog I've ever had, very smart.

We were cracking up at the sign. It really does work on many levels. I've seen those Any Functioning Adult signs too. I've also seen Catastrophic Sized Meteor - 2020. What a year this has been. I hope you enjoy the weather tomorrow. It sounds like it's it might be the last really nice day of the year.

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What a beautiful picture of you and the dog! Amstel looks like a good kid. They say that dogs look like their masters and I think it's true. jajajaja. In Venezuela we are in the week of flexibilization, so the economy has moved a little. The dollar is rising and inflation is also on the rise. The Venezuelan government was accused of crimes against humanity, but they remain unchanged. Anyway, I love that first image and I am looking forward to the whole book. If I am happy, I don't want to imagine you. May there be many blessings this week. It's decreed, Eric! A big hug for you and have a good weekend.

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He's a very good boy, except when there's food around. Lol. Yeah, both he and I are getting gray around the muzzle. : ) I wish we could find a way to boot out all of these crooked politicians. They're like a cancer for all of humanity. We have more than our fair share here in America too. Sometimes I'd like to just move to a small island and start my own country. Thank you very much for the kind words, Nancy! Have a wonderful weekend!

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Stranger than fiction is what 2020 feels like, who would have ever thought that things would turn out the way it has, even in my wildest dreams, never ever!
So glad about your book and what an awesome illustration, much food for thought there! How often are we in conversation with someone and see the person's mind nowhere near the conversation.
So important to really listen and connect especially with loved ones.
This has certainly been a year filled with many hard lessons but some really good surprises as well; for me personally who have focused more on blogging and not thinking much about the crypto, the value of my crypto earnings became very real during hard lockdown when our bnb could not operate!
Enjoy your autumn walks with your old man before winter really sets in;)

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It sure does. After watch Social Dilemma I can completely understand how things have come to this.

Thanks, Lizelle. In my experience, people today seem distracted more often than not. It's rare that I feel like I'm really being listened to in a conversation. That's one of the reasons I wrote this book.

Your blog and skills have grown tremendously this past year. I've noticed! Crypto has been a blessing for so many. It's really proven its worth this year. I hope that it decouples from the stock market before the market crashes.

According to the forecast this is our last semi-warm day and then the bottom drops out. We may have another warm up in early-to-mid October or maybe not. In '91 there was a blizzard here on Halloween. In contrast, I can remember December temps in the late 90's hitting 60 degrees (F). Autumn is super extreme here.

Enjoy your weekend my friend!

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Hello dear friend @ericvancewalton good evening
There is nothing to apologize for, many times things get complicated and they take us out of our planning scheme.

My week has been very good, spring is in this part of the world and the change in temperature motivated people to buy furniture for the garden, and this is what we do as a business, we are selling very well, the bars for outdoors, and that keeps us very busy.

It is a good idea to schedule the vote that way.
I take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful night

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I always forget your seasons are opposite on that side of the equator! I'm sure that's a very busy season for you.

Thanks for your comment and I hope you have a great week ahead!

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