Dad just stopped in, on his way home from a pickin’ session. Grandma only dozes sort of fitfully, so it was a fair guess that she might be awake and, indeed, she was. He asked her if she remembered chestnut trees before the blight.

She said that they used to have them in their yard and in the hog yard. At the farm in Middle Tennessee, they also had some chestnuts, which she called tame chestnuts. She said they were prone to get worms in them, not like the wild ones in the woods. Grandma remembers them dying off, but couldn’t recall if that was in the 30s or 40s.

They used to also have hazelnut bushes in her mother’s yard. Dad said that he didn’t know they ever grew hazelnuts in Tennessee.

My family is taking turns sitting in the hospital room with Grandma, in case she needs anything. Tonight is my turn. The plan now is for her to go home tomorrow evening, but it’s hard to believe that at the moment. Her mind is as sharp as ever, but lying in the hospital bed makes her look greatly diminished.

She’s asleep right now but we chatted a bit when I got in. I brought the newspaper and the Bible, in case she wants me to read to her. We’re both hoping that she’ll sleep through the night.

I also brought a manuscript to edit, but the room is too dark to see the paper. Alas. I might write instead. Or maybe nap. I’m going to bet that you can expect frequent blog posts tonight. Posts about absolutely nothing.

Jon Armstrong has an interview with Joe Abercrombie. It’s a great chance to listen to two of my fellow Campbell Nominees.

Joe Abercrombie is the author of an trilogy of epic fantasy novels based around the misadventures of the thinking man’s barbarian, Logen Ninefingers.

Just a reminder, votes for the Hugos and the Campbell award are due tomorrow.

I totally missed this last week. But we moved to NYC on June 28 last year.

It’s been an interesting year.  I’ve been so busy that I can barely breathe, but Rob spent then entire year looking for work.  And that’s almost literal.  He sold his first article a bare two days before our one year NYC anniversary.  He’s got a couple of other jobs coming up, so I’m really hoping the dry spell has broken.

It will be interesting to see what the next year holds.