I’ve now been in my house on Fish Creek for just over a year – an entire cycle through the seasons that included snow and wind and cozy fires, two substantial river floods that filled the lower part of my property but didn’t threaten the house or any other structures, an unruly flower garden, animals of all kinds traipsing to and fro across the yards, a tick bite and Lyme disease (no worries – I knocked it out with antibiotic), drives home through a tunnel of corn, buckets of imperfect but perfectly good apples, and curtains of spider webs everywhere – everywhere I’ve ever lived there’ve been lots of spiders – is it me?! Of course, I sort of like them and haven’t sprayed to repel them, so that might have something to do with it.

I’m still so happy to live here.

It’s been a good, (and challenging), year in other ways, too. The demands of Lyme disease and the care of my elderly mom, among other things, means the pursuit of some of my interests, such as exploring Wood Creek, have had to be postponed. I’ve prioritized other opportunities, though, like scouting for collectible books and other treasures at thrift stores and garage and estate sales, and most importantly, writing.

This past summer, despite a stretch of prolonged head and eye pain that was finally diagnosed as Lyme, I took a hugely helpful workshop from best-selling author Danielle Trussoni. I’ve had good and bad experiences with writing classes, but this one was just what I needed – a small group of students (just five, including me) and specific, thoughtful and fair feedback on the first 50 pages of my novel. All five of us had such a comfortable rapport that we’ve continued meeting weekly. We share feedback on our writing and our processes, but most helpful to me has been the time we spend together on Zoom with our cameras off, writing silently together. When life becomes overwhelming it’s easy to not write, so having a good writing group to help me to prioritize writing time is pure gold.

Next on this website, I hope to have a new page with information on my book scouting adventures, book collecting in general, and why it matters. And, how you don’t have to be an old rich guy to build a meaningful collection and have a blast doing it! No promises on when I’ll have the new page ready, but hopefully soon. If you subscribe to my email list, you’ll know as soon as it’s up.