I've met and begun to tell the story of another interesting ancestor, a great-aunt named Sophie Mecum. (I don't know how many of these characters will make the final cut in the new book, but it's a blast letting them tell their stories and try to outdo the outrageous behavior of their siblings.) In 1902 Sophie was married at age nineteen to a rather boring labor-oriented individual who worked as a "teamster." This was one step up in the evolution from "drayman," the occupation of her maternal grandfather, Isaac Utter. Within a year of her marriage, Sophie met a dashing Irishman who made his living as a riverboat gambler on the Mississippi River around Davenport Iowa. Apparently without hesitation, Sophie abandoned her husband and eloped with the gambler. Her husband filed for a divorce, in an era where fewer than fifty out of 9,000 marriages ended in divorce, and were considered scandalous. In an apparent attempt to preserve her "good name" a kindly judge granted the divorce to Sophie rather than her husband, and granted the return of her maiden name. She married her Irishman five weeks later.

Sophie's story went from bad to worse from that point, and eventually it was rumored that she had met her demise in a "hotel fire" that was speculated to actually be a brothel.

She is one of nine siblings in a notorious family that continues to amaze me with their antics. Another interesting offshoot of this story, is that within a year of Sophie's divorce, her mother Etta Belle, my great-grandmother, filed for a divorce after a twenty-five year marriage, apparently encouraged by the ease with which Sophie won her freedom. Etta Belle is another whole story by herself. She will hold a place front and center in the book.

This exercise is so much fun; like being 007. I'm so happy to be back at it full time.

I can't believe six weeks have gone by since my last post. Here are my excuses: Computer crash; family reunion over Thanksgiving week in White Sulphur Springs, ten days in Wichita visiting grandkids while mom and dad went to Cancun; working on the annual Christmas letter; travel, travel, travel---all these are the story I'm sticking to.

My children's lives are a continuous soap opera. When one family is flourishing, another is in the toilet. I spend so much time counselling it's frightening--in wondering if I've made myself too accessible. I guess I should feel flattered that both my children and their spouses trust me to give an unjudgmental opinion and unbiased advice. I hope things have settled down in their lives before I'm either not mentally capable or simply not around to help.

We had an absolutely wonderful Thanksgiving. The families came from Wichita, Denver, Fort Lewis (WA) and Bozeman. The week started on Tuesday and ended Sunday (when the last family left.) Seventeen of my offspring, their spouses and children showed up for eating, bonding, snowmobiling and hunting. It was ten below zero most of the week with plenty of sno, and they loved it. It's been five years since we all got together. We definitely won't wait that long again. Life is too short.

I'm glad to be settled back into our little house in Sequim--just a few hours after the big storms hit. We got very little rain, no wind, and didn't even lose power, when the rest of western Washington was being flooded and blown to pieces. Blessings on the Olympic mountain rain shadow. We have tickets to the Irish Tenors Christmas concert next Saturday. They are so wonderful; the music stays with you all year. Don't miss them if you ever have a chance. They are world-class entertainers, and to have them (two years in a row) in our little community of Port Angeles is mind-blowing, and the result of a close friendship between Anthony Kearns (one of the tenors) and a Port Angeles family.

Now that my computer crisis and other activities are settled, I'm re-launching "Chasing Ghosts." If volume is an indicator, it comprises about 100 pages so far.

I miss Judy; she's a guest professor in Tucson this semester. I hope she comes back, although I'll understand if the grass is greener elsewhere.

I'm going to try the gym again today, after an attack of lower back pain. Fingers crossed!