Every Which Way

My mind is being drawn every which way but here just now.

North:  to Orkney where my novel in progress, Silver Skin, is set.  And then even further up the way to Shetland - I'm working on a poem about the herring girls for the Farlin Project.

South:  to Oxfordshire.  (Well, all right, not all that south, but work with me here)  On Monday I'm heading off to the annual Scattered Authors' Society gathering/retreat/conference/thing at Charney Manor for the first time.  Certain trepidation level, but the long range weather report says it's going to be raining the whole time so that at least will be familiar.  (I'll be reporting on how it all went next Sunday)

West:  to Canada.  It was my mum's birthday last week - she would have been 91 - and my brother is in the midst of the long process of getting her belongings distributed.  It's hard to imagine her place without them or her in it.  But since she was born in China, her birthday also sends me to the ...

East:  to China where she was a tiny girl.  And to Cambodia/Thailand/Burma, from whence my oldest son is returning next Friday.  With stories to tell!

And, while all this mental gallivanting is happening in my mind, my cat just goes on sleeping.  Though the occasional twitch of whisker or paw suggests that she, too, may be having her moments ...

Cheers, Joan.