“I am so much less concerned with being "normal" than with simply being alive.”
― Catherine Raven, Fox and I: An Uncommon Friendship

I wake up to the sound of a plate crashing to the floor on the other side of my wall––the hallway. I’ve overslept, and I know what the sound is. My daughter needs help getting a special someone ready for school so she can get ready for work, and there is breakfast on the floor. A whirlwind, trying to wake up quickly. Eventually, I get out into the quiet woods for my walk with the dogs and there is much peace and quiet there to appreciate. It’s warming up toward spring. My body is tired. I want to swim too, after my walk. Body kind of whines. Mind says, don’t think about it. Just go. You’ll be glad. And, I am. I swim my half mile loving it. Head home, feeling energetic. Another busy day of doing what I love. Prepping for tonight’s open mic feature with Catherine Raven, author of the memoir, Fox & I: An Uncommon Friendship. She’s fascinating. She calls me in the afternoon to ask a question and I find I could chat with her all day. I like her instantly. Tonight, after I feed the special someone dinner and grab a bite for me, I’m off to lead my last event of a busy week; what a thrill to get to interview Catherine, and she is speaking to us from her cabin in MONTANA, the one she writes about in her memoir where she lives alone 30 miles from the nearest grocery store. Ah! What a community of open mic sharing there was as well. I’m so grateful for all the writing community and literary zest I’ve connected with this week. We had readers from around the world. I had little time for news and will scan the headlines before this day ends.