FROM THE DESK OF THE OFFICIAL BOOMER VAGABOND

Some specific answers:

Julie, I feel more vulnerable while camping because of bears and mountain lions. We were right near the house and could've run inside if necessary. Except for three specific phobias, I'm not afraid of much. I didn't write anything specifically about this experience but my overall work is laced with connections to nature. Sometimes I don't want to be redundant if I've written similar pieces. I would've made a great pioneer woman -- provided they let me be the scout, and didn't stick me with "women's chores."

Dotsie, after she moved into the lower house as a renter, Kimberly started working as Michael's electrician apprentice because he needed help with his contract work and she needed a job. Two years later she moved in with him. Neither of them loves the other. He is permanently scarred from a bad marriage (dissolved 15 years ago) and she had just left an abusive relationship. It was convenient and less lonely to live together, and from the start there weren't many illusions.