Bubble Boy

Don't let the bubble around you stop you from enjoying your life.

One of the significant changes I've noticed since relocating from Tennessee to New England is how I've felt about myself. I was uncomfortable in Tennessee, worried I would offend or say the wrong thing to someone, and basically afraid of being me. But that all changed when I returned to the only England that matters, New England.

I could joke openly with folks, have honest conversations about anything and everything, and not worry about the discussion leading toward politics or religion. Yes, there were exceptions, primarily transplants from other states, that made my eight years in Tennessee more palatable. But, at the end of the day, it wasn't enough to keep me there.

As I walked down to the lake for the second time in as many days with my son to throw rocks in the water, I thought about how great life would be for him. This is a proverbial blank canvas we can paint on to make his future whatever he wants. And it may be more challenging. And that's a good thing. He'll have to work for stuff, not be given things. He'll have to stand out if he wants to rise above others. Or, he doesn't.

One of the great things about this move is that it's all in his hands. Realizing that has been the most rewarding part of it.

The cold is blistering; we've been staying at an Airbnb during the off-season in the middle of the woods. At the lake, we launch many rocks with a plop into the watery abyss, never to be seen or heard from again unless, well, global warming. He's having so much fun, and I look forward to holding his head together so it doesn't explode when he realizes how close we are to the ocean. Watch out, blue stuff! This kid will scoop enough pounds of sand back into you that the sea level will rise and cause flooding.

Though this move was for him, I needed this more than I realized. I've seen old friends and made new ones, and it's only been a week! Who knows what will happen next? Oh yeah, we're moving into our new house next week. That's a big one; we need to get used to the new digs and learn what to do around the area—you know, new place stuff.

Not only that, I will start the final read-through of my latest novel, Lawson City: Disintegration. Revisiting all of these characters I have created and seeing how the new ones interact with them is a joy only writers and maybe parents will understand. I'm bringing back characters we haven't seen in three books to spar with ones we just saw in my last book, The One You'll Need. They all have a place. A purpose. And they all have a unique way of experiencing the tragedy of a terrorist attack on the city.

If you haven't read my previous novels, I don't know what to tell you, but get on it!

A lot is going on these days, and I am in a new environment; there is a new bubble, all of which adds to the fire inside me to create and do something more.