why blog?

I've been thinking a lot about why I keep this blog. I'd like to have a really smart blog that directs you to all the fabulous internet sites I've reviewed for you. I'd like to have a lyrical blog that showcases my writing, one that makes other writers, other mothers, say "yes, that's just how it is." I'd like to have a blog that's up-to-date, so people who care can check in and find out what's going on.

Instead I have a little bit of this, a little bit of that. It's fun, but it also feels a little like a chore at times. I write something and then I wonder why anyone would want to read it. And that's important to think about. After all, when I teach writing I insist to my students that they keep their reaaders in mind, that they think about whom they're reaching.

I can't work this all out now. It's pouring rain--the remnants of tropical storm Gaston are hitting Richmond and doing so with great force. The power's out all over town (not here, yet); there's flooding beyond belief, including about two inches of standing water in our formerly dry basement; and I probably shouldn't be typing during a thunderstorm. It took me an hour and a quarter to drive the five miles home today--I kept coming to flooded out sections of road and having to find a different route. In the end I drove through a patch that was about two feet deep of roiling water--I saw a recycle bin floating across the street. I just gripped the wheel and prayed to make it through. There was a dead car in the intersection but the little bug made it. By then I was only a couple of blocks from home. I breathed deeply and crept along the next couple blocks, then turned right onto my block--and was met by a tree limb down across the road. So I breathed again, turned around, and went around the block, finally making it back home. Mark and Nick met me with umbrellas and all was--mostly--well.

Oh, Mark patched the roof over the weekend and it's mostly holding. The worst part is the professinally installed patch. Take that!