Subj: Hi!

Date: 97-09-17 18:24:57 EDT

From: Anil5462

To: rthfield@sirius.com

CC: Anil5462

Hi Luann,

Haven't been in touch with you in a while and I wonder how all of you are. I hope that the response is "great and we are rediscovering how wonderful life is everyday."

I could say the same for myself except that it's mixed up with the usual and some unusual struggles - that includes my projects. But part of the wonder is the result of the struggle. And there's also the simply lovely weather that Humboldt County has been having for most of the summer plus unusually early rains because of El Niño. The rains have come with great billowing white and gray clouds like those seen in the monsoon where I lived in the east of India (Bengal.)

My projects and computer are meshing and I'm occasionally feeling some power flow. I'm also learning the software packages including MS Office, which seems to have millions of features. Just a few days ago I experimented with Visual Basic for Applications and that was fun.

I'm thinking of visiting the Bay Area and I'd enjoy a visit with you if you have the time and energy. I'm not sure when I'm coming. I have five weeks of vacation starting next week and most of it will be spent in the mountains - the Trinity Alps. Then when I get back I will want to reorient myself to the world of work - I'm more burnt out than I've been in a while and it's partly due my focus being my projects and not work. Then I'll want to reflect a little on ideas and meditations from the trip and how they add to and mesh with the projects. One of the reasons for wanting to visit San Francisco is to use a Mac with OS 8 or perhaps an older Mac with Word for Mac 4.0 or 5.0. This has to do with importing to Word 97 some documents typed by a friend on an ancient Mac. Anyway, I'll want to fiddle with this stuff before heading south. The consequence of this rambling is that it could be a while but when I do visit I'd like to visit with you.

I haven't had a roommate all summer and it's been very nice and sometimes wonderful. It's just so lovely up here. Recently I've been feeling something that I realized is loneliness but not a painful thing. It's the other face of the delicious aloneness thing. But I recognized the loneliness because I brightened up a few days ago when a friend visited for just a short while.

Also brightened when an Email from Jaysi came. She's working out some aspects of her relationship with herself and the world and is not getting much understanding from her family. The Email was friendly, though, and she's cheerful. Says Hi to LuAnn.

My aging/aged parents are status quo. Have a recent photo of my Daughter. She's 14. Looks lovely - no longer looks like a kid. Her step-dad reports that her main focus is boys and that she spends too much time with that species. I miss her. She's my daughter and as long as she doesn't come to any actual harm what she does is fine.

It's sunny outside and I'm going to go to town and then go for a run.

Love, Anil

anil5462@aol.com