My story has begun to coalesce into a muddy blur as I prepare to start my novel. There is a vague plan which I am sure will go through many changes. It will be more like trekking through the wilderness on foot with a map drawn on a piece of toilet paper with a pencil. I am thinking that this will be more of a voyage of self-discovery than a treasure hunt.

I have a house full of raucous teenage energy as my almost grown children and their friends are halloweening at our house. This is not helping the clarifying process, but it is really amusing to walk in and out of the room as they jostle and jibe and generally enjoy each others company. It is like a room full of puppies who can talk and laugh, and do, a lot and loudly. They are comfortable just hanging out without a plan, and can enjoy themselves anywhere as long as they are together. I remember that, when all I really had to worry about was me. I also remember being miserable half the time because all I had to worry about was me. I am on the whole happier or more content with my life now, but I miss just being able to take off for wherever , usually San Fransisco or Backpacking or just out all night with friends doing whatever. It really did not matter. The people mattered not what we were doing. Well I have a house full of that now, and it is not so bad even though it is not so good for the preparation. But what the heck, after raising 3 children to teenage and beyond, I am pretty much ready for anything.