We are just back from spending 9 days in Montauk, Long Island. Steve's mom rents a house there every summer for a week or two. Steve has 8 siblings and on any given day there were between 14 and 18 people staying in the 3 bedroom (1 bathroom) house. All that intimacy takes a couple of days to get used to, but it is really a lot of fun. It helps that Steve's family is pretty wonderful. Coming back to the barn, I really miss being around all of those people. It makes you get dressed in the morning. It's like being in college - and it makes me think about living in community. I have such a longing for that. I went through community withdrawl after I left college and I am feeling a little bit of that right now after leaving Montauk.

The charm of this barn has really worn off. I love being in the country, but it is driving me crazy to not be able to dig in and make this place my own. It has a lot of serious deficiencies. Someday I will list them, but for now I am going to get off of the computer.