Tales of vacation:

The weather here is perfect – last night was seventy and breezy. Actually unseasonably nice I am repeatedly being told. I am reliving Kirksville by reading Richard Russo’s Straight Man, just finished the passage in the Dean’s office where he alludes to Robert Pirsig’s last book – from which he apparently took the name for the main character’s wife. Many of the characters seem to have something in common with those of Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and I took the scene as a lighthearted jab at writing late books for a paycheck and an acknowledgement of parity in milieu, “I’ll name a yacht after her (Lila).” Yesterday was mostly getting to know my twin nephews Nick and Jake who will soon be three years old, born on September 12th 2001, and they have a third sibling Michael due September 27th. Andy, my brother, and I finished getting the nursery set up with painting touchups and the re-assemblage of furniture.

This trip has details worth sharing, but I am taking the unusual step of writing in a journal so ya’ll will have to wait for the transcriptions. My brother lives just off HWY 54 on the way out of Sacramento towards lake Tahoe, just a stones throw from my old apartment, which we went by yesterday. Right now we’re on our way up into the mountains to picnic at a micro brewery and I must dash as the car is loading.