Belly of the Whale

FORTHCOMING

I’ve been working on a little story for ya. It’s about ready; I’ll have it tomorrow. My dear friend Etta came out to visit me last week. We met at Sewanee in ’97 and have been close ever since. She came out and I showed her around town, we ate a bunch of good meals, talked and drank wine. On Friday I took her down toward Idaho to teach her to ski and then we would go south of Salmon to some hot springs that are in the mountains there.
The story of our two days there is a bit hilarious. It was Friday the Thirteenth and I botched all sort of stuff—half of it by freak chance, half by my own personal lunacy. We had a great time though and it all culminated into a great Valentine’s Day.
I am pretty laid back these days, not working or stressing like I have the last couple of semesters. I really want to enjoy the winter before it’s gone. I am determined to work on my skiing every chance I get. I am climbing more and feeling strong and stronger—getting healthy again I think. Now that I have a car I am going to start taking Widge on runs and hikes into the Rattlesnake; I hadn’t realized how much we both missed that place. Having a car is such great fun.
Going down to Idaho was my first trip with her and she drove like a champ.
I’m going to leave on now and head to the gym to climb. I’ve been on campus for a while and had the most inspiration conversation with B. Baxter—he talks to me in a manner so similar to the way my mom used to talk: a compassionate devil’s advocate. I know he doesn’t disagree with me but always turns the question, always offers the contrary assertion. We talk about everything. It was incredible. Life is good.