I am reporting here at the cabin in Willow. On a lake whose name I don't yet have. But swallows it has, darting playfully up to the porch. (look closely at the image).

It's a complete house; loft bedroom, with bath, kitchen, dining and living area below. I can look out two balconies, one on top. One on the bottom, on to the lake. The place is decked out with wood furniture and stuff, not too much, but certainly not too little; every drawer space, shelf and corner has an occupant, normal things one lives with, extra small towels, pencils and staplers, batteries and ribbons; well, almost: vhs videos, homemade dolls, plastic flowers with holiday lights intertwined. 

I do have two dresser drawers and a small empty cabinet to myself. 

I came here to write, to focus to write. I don't have the Internet code yet, but I do have pen and paper... so, here I am, writing this.

I bought extra pens before coming here. I can go through all the ink in a pen, it seems, rather often. So I made sure to bring plenty of pens. My favorite: Energel, liquid gel ink, by Pentel; blue, needle-tip 0.7. It's thicker and flows easier than the 0.5 fine-tip, though I like the fine-tip, too.

I wake up early this first day. And I feel the need to pray. And because this is my space and time, I can pray out loud in the middle of the night, and only God can hear me.

My bones feel a little fluidity this morning. Rusty coffee is sticking to my stomach, like candy stuck on a carpet. It shouldn't be there. That's how my gut feels. Maybe I'm just jostling inside because of loss of sleep last night. I will push through. 

I shall make every moment count. This is not a cabin junket, though I feel at ease with picture-book Alaska outside my porch window, yet my insides are seriously journeying to finish my book.

During the next two months, my mouth is chewing too much bubble gum at one time, so maybe I am unable to blow a bubble. I don't know... I broke things down into manageable pieces. Let's see how it goes.

Even writing this journal page, though not book related, has a place in my schedule here at the lake.

July 7, 2026 AM

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