thunder?

Yes, that is thunder I hear. Thunder and lightening--dangerous weather to be blogging in. Storms always make me want to write.

So, I bet you all thought I already left. Nope. Not yet. I haven't had anything to say or, for that matter, time to say it...well, not until all this electricity in the air created a sense of risk anyway.

The bags are packed. They have been since yesterday. They are sitting by the door waiting to go to the mountains of Montana and Idaho (or wherever else we end up)...and will continue to wait until 4 pm Saturday when I'm done working at the Art Center. Did I mention that I'm about jumping out of my skin with anticipation? And first of all, I must point out that I never (oooooh, REALLY big THunDER!!!)...uh, where was I?... oh yeah... I never used to pack until 15 minutes before walking out the door. Actually, this whole packing process has made me realize quite a few changes my life has taken.

I used to drive a pick-up truck with a topper. In the cab behind the seat I had a blue plastic tub with all my camping gear. On top of that I had my cook stove and on top of that a pillow. On top of the pillow was my old dog Japhy (named after Japhy Rider in Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums--one of my favorite books, by the way). He was a black border collie mix--very nimble and able to get comfy in small spaces. He was my constant companion (oops, there I went off on a dog tangent again). Anyway, my point is that my life was packed--at ALL times. I could get up at a moments notice and go. I'd throw a few clothes in a bag, but other than that, everything else I needed to live was neatly tucked behind the driver's seat.

Yesterday I pulled that beat up old tub out from under a bunch of junk that had accumulated on top of it down in the basement. Everything was just as I had left it--gas lantern, cooking gear, extra shoelaces, ect, ect...(yeah, you get the point). And then I started adding to it. Tent, sleeping bags, food crate, misl. crate, more misl. more misl...good god, you'd think we're moving!!! So my question is: What happened??

Not to mention, I had to make a couple dozen phone calls to let this, that, and another person (pet sitters, parents, realtors, business reps, art directors, ect, ect...) know that we'd be out of town. Ridiculous. What sort of responsible adulthood has my life come to???

Anyway, we're leaving Saturday and will be back in a week (...or so). The bags are sitting next to the door because WE CAN'T WAIT!!! We don't even have anything to eat (because we packed it already).

But one question I have is: Can I live without internet??
And my second question is: Is that really what my life has come to??

Did I mention that something weird has happened to me lately?...That I've been doing a lot of thinking but, like Moose, I've done very little reading or writing. One of these days soon I might write about that more...but for now I'm going outside to smell the rain. I think letting my brain temporarily melt is a good thing. The trick seems to be in not not letting it stay that way.