As soon as I set up a good schedule for myself, life decided it had different ideas. A family situation in my childhood home, which I will talk about when it’s less raw, has taken me back to Bay Mills, MI. I don’t know how long I’ll be here, and I don’t have internet access where I am staying, but now that things have calmed down a little I am going to try to weave a work schedule into this unscheduled trip.
Fortunately I don’t need wi-fi to write and edit! Only to post and check!
There’s a cliché that you can’t go home again. I am seldom unsurprised when I return to the Yoop (local slang for The U.P., or Upper Peninsula of Michigan) that my nostalgia and occasional homesickness is temporary, and able to be sated with the occasional trip. The problem is that those trips are never as frequent as I’d like them to be, due to cost and distance. Such is part of growing up. We live, we love, we die. Lather, rinse, repeat. I honestly love the U.P. I love the snow and the local color. I love reconnecting with my tribe and clan. I love revisiting the rez, and seeing how it has changed and grown. I love seeing my family, no matter the circumstances. At the end of the day, however, I know I can’t live here anymore. There are a lot of complicated emotions and reasons why, many of which are not suitable for discussion in this forum.
All of that aside, I am hoping to use this unexpected opportunity to do some research, to talk to tribal elders, edit without the distractions posed by the internet. Going from Hawai’i to Northern Michigan (so North I often do not have cell service except when I bounce off a Canadian tower across Lake Superior) is a shock to the system. I still adapt to it, I am pleased to say. It’s a nice refresher for writing all of those great stories set in the depths of winter.
That’s it for now. Hopefully I’ll get regular updates for the duration of my visit. If you’ve ordered a book from me and have not received it, I apologize. This was not a planned visit, and I did not have much time to prepare. I’ll try to make it up to you.
Until next time! Stay warm! I know I will!
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