Some Actual Words of My Very Own

I feel guilty about neglecting this blog, but recently I've been overwhelmed with (A) work, (B) life stress, and (C) other writing projects demanding my limited time.

One thing that may not be immediately obvious is that the deep, heart-wrenching posts don't always come when life is difficult. They are often written when life is good enough to give me spare energy to look into those places and write about them. Some, like the "Losing Brave Eyes" posts, were written at difficult moments in generally good times.

Right now I'm dealing with a lot of external and internal stresses. I'm still much happier than I have been in years, but the financial worries definitely get to me. So do the other stresses, including my upcoming performance review (yes, I know I do good work, but doing a good job is different).

When things settle out a bit I'll be posting more, I promise. And in the meantime, I leave you with one more California observation:

Out here, there are carwashes designed to look like old-fashioned Mississippi paddle-wheel riverboats. You drive through the hull.