Sidetracked Charley

Shadows of the Day It occurs to me that if you are a Lama on top of a mountain or a monk in a monastery someone must be in charge of the day to day aspects of life beyond chopping wood and carrying water. Today was about paying some bills, realizing that I need to get my taxes ready to go to the preparer and trying to locate all my mortgage papers, appraisals and various property papers. The latter took up so much of my time I did not get to the taxes. I thought I had all my mortgage papers in one place with other legal documentation. However, because of the lawsuit with the Contractor-from-Hell, I had pulled out various documents and forwarded it to my attorneys. I was sure they had given me back my copies at the end of the court case. And I was equally sure I had filed them back in some secure location. It was just that there could have been three or four places that made sense based on whether they went with legal documents, back in the original place, or stayed with...

Some sidetracks are just more exhausting than others. And more dangerous. And definitely more difficult to return to the original track and schedule. Losing the Astro Van was one of those derailments that has had very far reaching ramifications to my life. Especially since it happened after a tooth extraction by an oral surgeon and spending $1300 for the head gasket that was going to solve my problems but didn't. I was in such a financial hole I could not just zip out and plunk money down on another vehicle. And I was at a bit of a crossroads - or switching yard - on my career as an artist. If I was going to continue with fairs I needed one type of vehicle and if I wasn't I didn't. Fortunately friends were generous with loans of vehicles while I pondered just how to get back on track - and which track. I like the above historic photograph of a derailment of the Chile Line narrow gauge at the infamous trestle. You can almost hear the workings of all the minds trying to ...