Monday I set out on my 22nd book tour, this one for “Dancing Dogs” my first short-story collection. I’m going first to Brookline, Mass., then Philadelphia, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. An intense trip, changing cities every day for a week or so, days crammed with interviews readings, rushing to and from airports. I’m reluctant to leave the new farm, so much is happening there. We hope to move a week or so after I return and we are moving the donkeys as soon as we can next week.  Winter is close and we will be feeding the animals hay and heating up water buckets soon. The living room, the soul of the new house, is beginning to look like a room.

We’ve painted the walls and cleaned the floors and begin to bring some furniture inside. We haven’t figured out where things will go yet, or brought in the sofas and reading chairs,  but it’s nice to have a space to sit in. This room will be beautiful, I think. This has been an important few months for me as I begin my final stretch at Bedlam Farm, my home since 2003 and a place where I changed and grew creatively, fell apart, fell in love. Lots of mixed feelings about this place. It is time to go. I know it will sell to someone who loves it, I just feel it.

In the past few months, I have moved closer than ever to confronting the fear and panic that swirled all around my heart for most of my life. I am recognizing panic and anxiety as a symptom, not as reality. We will confront life as it comes, with strength, grace and acceptance. And the new home suggests for me a rebirth in so many ways, something my life has long been about.

I am not bringing my good camera or laptop along. The trip will require all of my energy and focus. I will be bringing my Canon powershot and my Ipad so I’ll post when I can and I hope to meet some of you wonderful people along the way.