I love the picture we chose for the cover of "Chasing." The gypsy wagon is similar to the one that was my grandmother's home for nine years while she followed her husband all over the midwest trading horses. She did all the cooking and laundry over a campfire. It was also her job to hitch a team of horses to the wagon and drive it from place to place. Her husband, Gus, had his own team, hitched to a fancy "top buggy," that he used to promote horse trades, much as today's used car salesman drives a car from his inventory (with dealer license plates.)

This has been a fascinating journey, and I have learned so much about a segment of American culture seldom mentioned in history books.

I'm learning the intricacies of changing a PDF file to JPEG and then uploading to my blog. How I wish I could download Russ's brain! My biggest problem is not using these techniques often enough. I forget and have to re-learn it all from year to year.

Once a month really isn't often enough to post, is it? Exciting good news. "Chasing Ghosts" is in the final stages of layout and setup. I should have a proof copy in my hands within a few weeks. I may be able to send out announcements of publication in time for the Christmas season. The product is, I believe, very satisfactory. My artist friend who produces the book for me actually said he likes it the best of the three. I haven't had time to ask him to define the qualities that make it a good book, but I will. This is the most nerve-wracking part--trying to find all the typos and other errors.