I took this shot down by the creek today. The roots have been stripped bare by the hot summer rain and the leaves are turning to Fall. I've seen this before as I float into my third winter in Tennessee and I feel oddly displaced by it.

I don't have anyone here to hang with as the holidays approach. It's not the first time in my life by far, and I always survived. That's really what holiday bullshit comes down to, survival. We party at the end of the year simply because we survived.

I'm 74, and I've had a hell of a life. For most of it I was successful enough to live it fully. I made a lot of mistakes, but somehow a degree of integrity helped me land better each time, and here I am now.