Where I work (write) is not exactly conventional. And it sure as hell is not what I had in mind when I would fantasize about having a home. Of having a place – a space – I could call my own. A space where ALL my goodies & gadgets & tools & reference materials could be placed where & how I need them to be placed. And it’s not as if I can’t write in discomfort & in strange places.

All I have known for years are strange places, living with strangers, & me BEING strange. I have not had a place – or a space – I could call my own.

No desks. No bookshelves filled with reference material. No coffee cups filled with pens & pencils, scissors & highlighters. No wall where I could tape & pushpin articles & photos.

I had pens & notebooks. That was all. Well, up until November.

No, no, no. I take that back. I had a typewriter at a house I lived at in West Cleveland for about nine months. And, yes, I did some writing there.

I imagine I’ll be including some of that work on this website… whenever I’m pressed for material. One of the sad & unprofessional things about me would be my detestation for re-writing. Especially when the words are on one format (a physical, typewritten page) moved to another, i.e., Digital Format.

That is the laziness coming-out of me… or, maybe, the impatience of an excited child wanting to go on the next fun trip. And not wanting to wait for the last bell at school to ring the day off to an end.

What I got today, on the other hand, was something FAR GREATER than any fun schoolyard trip. In fact, it’s kind of the polar opposite to what a healthy, rambunctious school child would want:

I got a place – a space – to WRITE!

Not just any kind of space. No, sir! It’s a section of counter space – OFF OF THE KITCHEN!

That’s right!

I’ll be writing all of you from a laptop, sequestered in the Main House of Old Mill Acres Farm in Taylorsville, NC. I have written more than one piece about the great importance of The Kitchen in a home. Well, now it’s even more important to me now than ever.

Yes: random pieces of paper will be tapped to cupboard doors… my odd hours will seem even more odd, hanging-out & working in the kitchen. There is a large HP OfficeJet Pro 6968 printer that’s included with the workspace… the laptop… I’m being spoiled to the spleen with kindness. It’s not just that, I’m afraid. No! It’s the kindness that comes with believing in someone.

But there has been no Home Base for me for a long time. In fact, I don’t think I have had a space since the Divorce.

And a Writer’s Domain, from what I have experienced, is something sacred… a holy place of thought & words & stories. It was well-known American Screenwriter & novelist, Dalton Trumbo, worked the Word while in his bathtub. The Great Dr. Hunter S. Thompson held council & wrote in his personal Literary-Type Salon of his kitchen in Woody Creek, Colorado.

Writers NEED their special spaces.

Mine just happens to involve a Wonderful Lady – & 12 DOGS!

Whatever works, right?