Monday morning and Red is at work. He challenges me to embrace my work, focus on it, push away the distractions of life and make my time on this earth count. Freud said love was about love and work. I think he was right. I work hard at both every day. People ask me often how I manage to write amidst the distractions of life. Life is filled with distractions, few of them as important as my work, my voice, my contributions to the world I live in.

Red and I are connected to one another at so many levels, but this look in his eyes is one of the most important. In the snow, ice and bitter cold, he permits no distraction. He does his work.