Have you been scratching your head wondering "What the heck did I do with my aloe vera gel?" Ma found it on the floor in the porch over at South Forks (the big house where you stayed) so it is now here.

Since you left I have been thinking quite a bit about what it must be like to live "on the road." My days of doing that were back in the late '70s and early '80s, and while I wanted to be free to bugger around and see the country, I remember walking through residential neighbourhoods of towns or cities at night and looking through the occasional window to a warmly lit interior, and longing for what appeared to be a certain warmth, comfort and rootedness.

I have never really had that until moving back here in September, near to where I grew up. Except for when I lived in Saskatchewan, I never really felt "home." But of course, there is no such thing if your heart and soul is not settled and firmly rooted in yourself. Perhaps you have reached that place and feel at home wherever you are. I hope so.

For me, home is now where my children are, in many ways.

That said, I was not kidding about making a small teepee and getting poles and strapping them to the roof of your car! Quite a few years ago I got my hands on a book about sewing your own teepee, getting poles, etc.; making your own is the least expensive way to go, as opposed to buying one readymade. I have always meant to do it, and never had a perfect location to set it up -- that was my excuse for not getting around to it.

If you are at all interested, let me know and I will show the book to you when you come back through.

The short movies Loverboy took of the concert turned out on the dark side but we've kept them anyway because they contain a lot of laughing. I can email them to you one at a time if you like, but I imagine they will be long downloads. Let me know if you'd like me to try.

Well, time to get up from this chair. The kitchen is stacked to the ceiling with dishes, as usual. I look forward to the day when we build a larger kitchen and have space for a dishwasher again. Oy. They're neverending.

I hope your travels are going well, your muffler is back in place and didn't cost you too much to fix, and you are relieved to be getting somewhere closer to the mild BC winter.

Kate