my apologies

I'm not a very good blogger recently -- can't seem to keep up with this space, can't seem to find a computer on Fridays, can't seem to put life into words. What I have been experiencing is travel. What I have been sensing is in-betweenness, neither-here-nor-thereness. Also, it's awfully hard to think in this heat.

June was Portland, Oregon and downtown Detroit. July has been Michigan for my baby brother's wedding and now, tomorrow very early, J and I depart for a Grand Adventure on the Greyhound bus. Our friends have either told us horror stories about lateness, drug deals, and other drama, or shrug-the-shoulder, "it was chill" stories, or said they'd never ridden Greyhound but appreciated the recent NPR story about a guy who went looking for interesting experiences on the buses and mostly found them quiet and boring.

Let's hope.

We are very proud to have spent the past few days paring down our packing lists to the minimums: books we can trade after reading, clothes we can layer and wash, a mondorific bag of homemade trail mix that involves the saltiest of mixed nuts and the orangest of off-brand goldfish crackers and the plummiest of dried plums and other fruits. We are looking forward to roofing and cooking and swimming and hiking and laughing and soaking in the mountains and their green trees and their wide and wild pale sky.

I promise to bring back a good story or two.