Day 22: a recap.

One thing that sucked about today:

Due to a hilarious misunderstanding between me and my power strip, I lost an entire chapter.

Many things that did not suck:

—The chapter wasn't all that good anyway. It'll be better for the rewrite.

—On my way out the door today, with my boots on and everything, I got a little ditty stuck in my head and, on a whim, picked up my guitar to figure it out, and then sat down and wrote and recorded the best song I've ever written.

—I drove down to Longville, past the Federal Dam, and back around, and on my way back saw wolves. WOLVES. Saw. Wolves. The dog was sleeping in the passenger seat and I woke him up by shouting, "No shit! Wolves!"

—I drove up Cass Co. Route 7, up the east side of the lake, past all the hoity-toity resorts and the Winnibigosish Dam (where, apparently, most of the walleye fry in the country are produced. Chances are good, if you're eating walleye from the Pueblo Reservoir, it came, somewhere down the line, from right there). I'd forgotten how gorgeous it is: all huge red pines and little birch gulleys. In the setting sun, it was glorious.

—I went to the Gosh Dam for a bite to eat, having picked up a copy of the Star-Tribune in Longville, and sat down to read it, and there was a story about a guy I know, a classical pianist who is coming back to play with the Twin Cities Orchestra. The article was glowing.

—The Star-Tribune actually has well-written, intelligent pieces on classical music, almost as if they'd actually employed someone to write them who isn't making shit up. (This item dedicated to a few papers who will remain nameless.)

—The Gosh Dam has mighty good wings.

—I pulled into the driveway and cursed myself for not thinking to turn on the outside lights before I left, but on my way from the van to the cabin saw one of the most amazing night skies I've ever seen. I walked out to the dock and just looked and looked as the dog shivered next to me and licked my hand, urging me to open up the cabin and start a fire.

—Wolves!