THOUGHTS UPON WAKING
It is my second-to-last morning at a writers retreat in the mountains of Pennsylvania and I awoke before daylight.  Out my window I have just been greeted by a plethora of stars in a clear sky, a slightly pink horizon.  The howling of a dog, (or a wolf) somewhere out there in the pumpkin colored woods reminds me that I am in tune with nature and having a heartwarming respite from metropolitanism.

My first writers retreat has shaken my brain and heart and brought me so much energy and warmth and love.  I don't want to leave this place.

I had a dream before I awoke about being lost in New York City.  I was riding in a bus and could make out the spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral, but I had a sense that I needed a landmark to help me get my bearings and seeing that at a distance wasn't helping. My parents were gone and I was there to clean out their home. There were many framed family photographs, mostly of children with my parents.  I found my mother's slippers.  Trying to decide what to do with all the things she left behind immobilized me.  Mostly I was focused on finding where the trash barrels were and the trash pickup schedule and there was a handiman there who was not being helpful.  Hmn.....such a vivid dream at this place of self-awareness and improvement?  Mom and dad have been gone for years but I guess I still have issues.  Writer's grist for the mill.