I’m back from a summer of traveling virtually nonstop with Olivia and Mateo–from San Diego to the Rocky Mountains to Virginia and North Carolina, up to Northern Minnesota, back to San Diego and then to Maine. What an amazing country this is! Gigantic and incredibly diverse, in looks and attitudes. Having spent most of my life on the two coasts, I’m always grateful for the chance to experience life in other places, especially ones as beautiful and interesting as where we visited.

On Monday, the kids returned to school, and I’ve spent most of every moment since then getting organized. One of my nieces lent me the book, The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (a bestseller years ago, which everyone else in the world has read already, I realize, but hey, better late than never!), which has inspired me to attack the chaos of my life, beginning with my closets, the closets of my kids, and my desk downstairs. In the past 48 hours, I’ve made huge progress, ending up with bags and bags of stuff to be donated or thrown out. My hope is that by clearing out the old, I’ll make room for the new, and for me, that means enough space in my brain to allow it to wander. My big realization this summer is how much I long to return to writing a piece longer than 300 or 500 or 800 words. If my external vista is clear, my thinking goes, so will be my internal one. That’s my hope anyway.

In the meantime, tomorrow, Thursday, I’ll be reading (a new essay) at the O’Hanlon Center in Mill Valley from 7-9 PM, with three other local women authors: CB Follett, Eve Pell, and Abby Wasserman. I love reading at the O’Hanlon–a beautiful setting and always an incredibly attentive and literate crowd. If you’re in the neighborhood, please stop by!