With Her Boots On

I have so much to do.  I have lost my way temporarily because the computer program that structures my working life is not working today.  And I'm leaving tomorrow on a book tour.

I picked up my dry cleaning on the way to court this morning because I needed my gowns for Superior Court.  And then there were the book tour clothes that I picked up at the same time - they are all still in the back of the car, with my court file in a box on top.  I didn't want to bring them in from the car until I had luggage to put them in.  I have no luggage because it has vanished with my children - the last luggage, except for one broken-zippered bag, went off delivering young lives to new places after the compulsory (and wonderful) Thanksgiving homecoming.

As a result, I have nothing to put books and / or clothes in for the book tour that has miraculously happened on its own.

Here is a secret:  I didn't book my flights, actually, until Wednesday.

And my computer is in serious trouble.  At the moment I have no calendar, except in my own mind.  I have no file lists, A-Z.  I am forced to leave the computer issue to Lisa, my fabulous and drop-dead gorgeous one-day-a-week assistant.  She was the taskmaster for Day "O" in The Camino Letters and there are stories about Lisa in there too.

For example, one day a lovely elderly woman came to the office and somehow we ended up discussing Lisa's book "With Her Boots On".  The elderly woman said:  "With Her Boots On - just like a good solider."


In The Camino Letters, Lisa's task to me was to think about the hidden seed that would grow in the right conditions.

That's the thing about Lisa - and the thing about Lisa and me in particular - is that we understand each other a bit, we both failed sandbox, and we both have our boots on, just like a good soldier.

There is no doubt that my computer will be perfect when I get back from the book tour. Thank you Lisa.