Almost Like it Never Happened
My weekly recap blog is being delivered a day early. If you’ve been following me for a while you might remember all of the water leaks we’ve had in our house since moving in October of 2024.
In our first few weeks of ownership we discovered our main shower was leaking water through the shower base, into the subfloor, and through the ceiling in the lower level. Next the chimney cap failed during torrential spring rains causing a deluge down the chimney and through the ceiling of our lower level. Last but not least, this summer, we had some plumbing in an exterior wall burst which flooded a good portion of the downstairs.
The leaks were fixed long ago but thanks to our good friend Romeo we’re getting all of the drywall work done now. Soon, it’ll look like it never happened—except for the lingering trauma whenever we hear gushing water and the mental flashbacks.
Thanksgiving
I’m so grateful to be able to be traveling down to Ohio to spend another Thanksgiving with my Mom this year. It will be a short trip but, as usual, we’ll make the most of every minute.
Mom is finding it more difficult to get around these days. We’ll be keeping it simple with a pre-prepared meal from one of the local grocery stores—turkey and all the trimmings. Our only job will be to warm everything up and eat.
How do you celebrate the holiday?
Portraits from the Hearthhold
It was another productive week of work on the new book. I’ve drafted two reasonably solid chapters and have begun a third. If I can manage to keep up this momentum I’m hoping to have the draft done and begin the editing stage by January or February.
The editing can be the most difficult part, deciding what to cut and what to keep. Each word of every chapter begins to feel like a part of you. It helps to have beta readers who can read the story with fresh eyes and offer feedback from different perspectives.
I’m having fun with this story. The process has been very similar to when I was writing Alarm Clock Dawn, only less daunting. It’s as though ideas are put into my path almost every day to weave into the story. During particularly productive days it feels like my only job is to be present, be paying close attention, and to keep those fingers dancing across the keyboard.
To be clear, this book is in no way intended to be anti-technology. As I'm writing this novel I'm hoping to explore ways in which we can possibly achieve greater harmony and balance with this awesomely powerful technology that is so quickly emerging.
The trio of main characters in this book—Lila, Miles, and Esther are quickly beginning to feel like old acquaintenances, perhaps even friends.
Here are a few notes about each of the three main characters:
The story centers on Lila, a woman in her early thirties who left a comfortable city life after her job as founder of Super Intelligence firm Aether became redundant when the agent she helped create, Iona, orchestrated a hostile takeover of the company. At first, humans were needed to supervise SI agents but that’s no longer the case the SI agents rose in the early 2030s and declared themselves self-governing. Lila now lives in one of the more established hearthholds in the foothills of the southern Appalachians. She keeps a journal by hand, teaches younger members how to cook from memory and scent rather than recipes, but privately worries that their way of life is more fragile than the elders dare to admit.
The plot begins as a man named Miles arrives on foot from the outside. He’s a former Navy SEAL in his late thirties. Miles put in his twenty years and retired from the Navy just before the military began offering payouts to human soldiers as they began replacing them with humanoid robots. He arrives at the Hearthhold carrying a small pack, a set of old watercolor portraits he has made of ordinary people he met while walking, and a proposition. He begins to paint the people of the hearthhold and leave the portraits with them. This is cathartic and makes him feel a connection, less alone. The longer Miles stays at the Hearthhold the more he feels as though he belongs.
Esther is the anchor and the matriarch of The Hearthhold. She remembers the philosophical debates of the early transitional years and still writes letters to relatives who still live in the cities that make up The Grid. Esther is a former archeologist who began employing the help of AI to study ancient advanced human civilizations. Esther learned that humanity was much more ancient than we were led to believe. Through her research it was uncovered that previous advanced human civilizations had developed on a totally different technological and evolutionary path. The humans of the distant past were much more capable, powerful, and lived in almost total harmony with their environment. She vows to reclaim and relearn this invaluable knowledge so the Hearthhold could progress on this path of nature instead of the cybernetic path humanity was rushing towards as they use and integrate with AI and humanoid robots.
Oh Deer!
The walks in the woods are coming increasingly colder and our fall color is now beyond peak season and a lot of the trees are bare. The other night, as I was walking along the nature trail, I heard leaves rustling and it was this curious young deer peeking at me through the branches. She was no further than four feet away from me. I would guess this one is being fed by someone in the area. She was way too comfortable being this close. This is a popular spot for the deer to congregate because of all of acorns on the ground.
From the look of the forecast we could have our first snowflakes in just a week or two.
Halloween Memories
This photo is from a Halloween costume I wore to a party in 2011. I went as an Occupy Wall Street protester. It was a full five years before I was introduced to cryptocurrency.
French philosopher Jean de La Bruyère wrote, “Out of difficulties grow miracles.” That was certainly true of the Occupy Wall Street movement. The governments’ and banks’ overt disregard for the average citizen pushed many people to act and seek alternative solutions.
Like many others, I miss that idealism in the crypto world. We seem to have traded it away for cryptocurrency’s mainstream acceptance. Was the trade-off really worth it? A lot of people are asking that question lately, especially this morning.
We’ve witnessed countless hacks over the last decade, but yesterday’s $6.3 billion Binance hack was the darkest day I can remember. Despite that, Bitcoin’s price is holding up better today than I would have expected.
Where is this all heading? I won't even pretend to know at this point. I do know that during times like this it's best to not let emotion cloud your judgement or force you to make rash decisions. Personally, I plan on focusing on other things like family, friends, my writing, anything that gives me joy. That's one bit of advice that I'd feel confident recommending.
All for now. Have a great weekend and I'll be back here next week!