late afternoon and i'm full of stress, mostly issues of kids not going to school, or just not caring about school, all of which is for a different post. the sun sets on my reconfigured chair; i have a new view now, and see a bit of the street that i never did, albeit through very light curtains. the dogs of course have been guarding that very street. it's stressful for them too.

the book biz makes slow but steady progress as i try to balance marketing with writing, and it's very easy for me to let marketing win. marketing is, after all, just checking facebook sites constantly, and reading others' work, which i sometimes do without really even understanding it. there is a lot of fantasy in this world, and i must say i have trouble keeping track of it sometimes, and wish these guys would just stick with the facts. but if they do take me off into the world of their imaginations, i find it somehow like talking to my kids when they've been out there a little too long. let's get real, i feel like saying.

illinois februaries are a bit long even though the are generally only twenty-eight days. this one is already dragging a little. it's quite pleasant to walk the dogs, because it's not too cold, though my legs are stiff from a recent fall. but i like it out there on the streets. i see lots of christmas deco still up, lots of lights and balloons that really should be blown up if they're going to sit out on the yard all winter, or maybe they're a one-season thing. i enjoy the unraked leaves. my dogs glory in the smells and the other dogs' poops that have now been around a month or two. then i come to this one corner and there's a flashing neon sign, spirituality.com. i don't know what that is but it strikes me as a little ironic for some reason. spirituality to me is noticing the fresh air, the grass, the living things - to them it's some website, i guess, trying to draw you into christian science. whatever, there's a book in there, or at least a story.

i keep a healthy distance from churches. the larger they are, the more they have to lose, and the less likely they are to call someone out when they take advantage of some kid. not my kids. i'm one of the hundreds of millions of americans who are avoiding the whole scene, i guess, though i have cloud quakers, and haven't given up on god altogether.