I see that I have one last chance to post before July 2007 goes by without a word from this blog, so I shall take it. It’s not as though nothing has happened, but it is true that I took a long break from my ordinary life. Two weeks, which for me is nearly a sabbatical.

We spent the time on vacation in Michigan, visiting my wife’s family and enjoying their considerable hospitality. (If fish and visitors stink after three days, as the saying goes, I can hardly imagine how we must have smelled to them by the end.) I had not planned to do a lot and indeed I did not, spending most of the time in a kayak on the lake which their house borders, or playing games with the kids, or reading, or sleeping, or visiting. I felt incredibly burned out at the start of the vacation, and human by the end; it did do me a lot of good to get away.

Though it was not a whirlwind tour, there’s plenty to blog about from the trip, particularly in the Reviews category. I read the final installment in the Harry Potter series, finished Galileo’s Mistake, read a book called The Shack, and finished watching the UP Series (7 Up through 42 Up). All of these gave me plenty to think about and a lot to say; stay tuned.

I was also told about a site called TopCoder, and practiced a little in the arena there, where computer programming is…a sport. With prizes. I never thought I’d live to experience my craft’s version of the science fiction short story “Prose Bowl”. More on that later, too.

We left a Tucson that was crispy hot, dusty, and faded. While we were away, the monsoon rains arrived in force, and so we returned to a Tucson that is wet, dramatic, and vivid in both color and scent. A good time to be home.