Hey Lily! Hey 9! Are your heads still spinning from last weekend?

 

Our schedule was packed to the point of insanity, but it was fabulous to breathe clean air!

 

Why are our trips to Port Townsend always so busy?

 

For one thing, they are always necessarily short. We have so many things going on here in Walla Walla- -including caring for all those veggies emerging in the back yard- -that it’s hard to get away for more than a few days, especially in the summer. There are always performances to rehearse for and be in, and performances of friends to attend. Plus an upcoming book signing event, volunteer work for three organizations (how did that happen?), the dratted medical appointments, keeping up with strength training, and so on.

 

And, yes, writing. . .

 

We need to talk about that. How many times are you going to restart book six in your fantasy/mythology series?

 

As many times as it takes, Lily! There’s a war mixed up in the plot. In the first few drafts I’ve been a sucker for making the conflict sprawling and world-wide, but, to use a musical analogy, I’ve realized this story is more of a chamber piece than an opera. The switch from far-flung epic to intimate ensemble has to grind away in my head for a while before it’s ready for the page.

 

Does it hurt?

 

Only when I laugh, 9. Which reminds me of a truly funny thing I heard in Port Townsend this weekend. At a high school reunion event a very upbeat man who graduated a few years ahead of me grinned and said, “We’re all doomed, but I’m optimistic!”

 

And was there alcohol at this event?

 

Moving right along, the other big switch I alluded to in last week’s non-blog figured heavily in the weekend. I turned over the new Lenovo laptop and the 2014 Dell to the super-duper computer consultant I’ve relied on ever since my first home computer (c. 1990s). She is incredibly smart, up to date on the technology, spins no jargony bull, and is fun to hang out with. Most of the work was done without my needing to be there, but it was still a process- -handing them off, picking them up, and spending an hour or so to wrap it up and learn how the new laptop works.

 

 

 

It was a bit stressful to go without a computer for a couple of days- –

 

I rejoice to say I do not have that kind of stress in 1974.

 

As well you should, Lily. I wasn’t totally without digital technology as I had my iPhone- –

 

You people and your pacifiers!

 

Turns out, with reunion events, a long overdue friend visit, and time with family I didn’t have much time to miss my digital life. Plus, I stayed at a cabin on the water. Nothing like the lapping of waves to soothe away computer withdrawal.

 

 

 

And it wasn’t smoky!

 

Happily so, 9! On the way home Sunday it went against instinct to drive back into the eastern Washington wildfire smoke, but it’s cleared up a lot since we got back. AQI at the moment is 105, merely “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups.” Wednesday morning it was in the 30s and I was able to, for the first time in a couple of weeks, dig into caring for the garden. The tomatoes are coming in like crazy!

 

It’s weird, though. We have grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and pear tomatoes. But they’re all really just tomatoes, right?

 

Right. Ignore the marketing hype, 9, and focus on how fresh and flavorful homegrown tomatoes taste compared to the ones we get at the store. Growing them ourselves takes time and work, but, like our whirlwind 800-mile round trip last weekend or breaking in on a new computer or wrestling book six into the story it’s meant to be, it is totally worth it.