So, Where Ya’ Been?

Dear Fans,

I want you to know how much I appreciate both of you being consistent followers and contributors to Hi Oh Silver. Having taken off the entire month of October, I knew I could count on your loyalty to bring the viability of this blog back to the forefront upon my return this month. More than likely, you have been asking yourself what happened to me during my absence.

First, I revised my novel. Since its completion in the spring of 2012, my first novel has received professional editing and over thirty passes by literary agents. This revision, which is currently being scrutinized by my editor, removed flabby language, changed passages from passive to active voice, and tightened the plot. I am confident the perfect literary agent for my work is only a hundred more passes away.

Colors along Lake Michigan--October, 2013

Second, I traveled to Wisconsin and Minnesota. For those of you who have accidentally stumbled upon this blog and are not as familiar with the idiosyncratic nature of its author, it might not seem apparent that I have not lived my entire life in Southern California. Although my demeanor may seem to bear the marks of a laid-back sun bleached dude floating on the carefree Santa Anas, my true soul is grounded in the industrialized angst of the frigid Midwest. On the second day of the month, we touched down in my native Milwaukee, and spent the first night in my daughter, Beth’s new home, a few blocks from the shores of Lake Michigan.  The next day we drove north to Freedom, a rural community between my wife, Debbie’s native Appleton and Green Bay, home of the Packers and shrine to cheese heads everywhere.

Road through Wisconsin--October, 2013

What made this trip different were the colors. For the previous fifteen years that we lived on the West Coast, we were limited, as teachers, to trips during the spring, summer or winter. This time we were able to once again experience the changing colors of autumn. While I visited with my friend, Mike, a couple dairy farms with thousands of cows—it is the Dairy State; Debbie began her collection of a thousand photographs. After a Friday night fish fry, where we were treated to breaded lake perch, something rare in other parts of the country, we ate dinner at a different sister-in-law’s house each of the following three nights. Then, we drove across the state to Minnesota.

My Three Daughters with Deb and Me--October, 2013

Anoka, where Deb and I started our married life and Heather was born, sits along the northern banks of the Mississippi River about twenty miles from the twin cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul. Our old neighbors, who we stayed with, moved a few miles further to the less densely populated Dayton. A couple nights later we drove back across Wisconsin and spent the remainder of our time visiting family and friends in the Milwaukee area.

Third, Beth came to defend her dissertation at the University of California—Riverside. Not ten days had passed since we returned home that Beth came from Wisconsin and Courtney from Arizona. Heather, who lives in Irvine, joined us the next day. It was the first time Deb and I were with our three daughters at one time since Heather graduated from law school in New York.  Although the extended weekend was all too short, it was a wonderful end to a beautiful month.