It's been a busy month for me. I've been on vacation from the factory for most of the time, but Lyn and I took two trips to Tennessee and have done some other fun stuff as well. We went to LibertyCon 21 the weekend of the 11th through the 13th, celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary on the 14th, went to a family reunion the weekend of the 18th and 19th, stopped at Tallulah Gorge on our way home on the 20th, done some yard work and set up our little swimming pool, and finally caught up on our e-mail.

I've written a convention report about LibertyCon for our Features Section, but as a teaser, I'll just say that it was grand fun and there are links to photos. One thing that didn't make the Con Report, I was asked for autographs! Not just once, but twice. Wheeeeee! Lyn and I are already registered for next year's LibertyCon.

The family reunion was a blast. Not only did we get to see almost everyone who lives in that area, but some cousins of mine that I haven't been able to see for many years found the time to attend. It was great catching up with everyone again. Lyn and I found time for a romantic dinner at one of the best local restaurants on the night before the reunion, too. Plans are already afoot for the reunion next year. One can only hope that even more relations can be able to attend next time. Seeing the family is always fun, and meeting the spouses and children of my relations is a wonderful treat as well. Sadly, cousin Steve wasn't able to attend. I had wanted to talk with him about what he was doing at NASA, but it was not to be, this time. Oh well, perhaps next year.

As I said above, on our drive back from Tennessee, Lyn and I went through Tallulah Falls. On a whim, I stopped at the old HWY 441 Overlook that my family and I knew from our original route to Knoxville and back to Athens. Wonder of wonders! The Scenic Overlook was back in business! All the old shops and such that had suffered when HWY 441 was rebuilt to by-pass the Overlook have been reopened. So not only did Lyn get her first view of Georgia's "Little Grand Canyon", but we got a chance to see what the tourist area was like when I was a child. I recommend a visit to Tallulah Falls and the Gorge to everyone. Get there early in the morning if you actually want to climb down into the gorge, but to visit the scenic overlook, the gift shops, the museum, etc. one can show up any time during business hours. I'm not sure, and I need to check into this, but it looked to me as if there were even cabin rentals offered for weekday or weekend getaway vacations. Just Google "Tallulah Gorge" for loads of websites with information.

Finally, after more than two weeks of vacation, it was time for me to return to work at the factory. And work there was in plenty! Actually, I'm glad to have gotten through the return and out the other side into my normal days off again. Things are slowly going back to normal here at Casa Vila. I've had time to relax and reflect, and even to think up a few new scenes for the story that I've been working on for the last couple of months. I've picked up a few more reference books for research on the historical aspects of the story, so that's going well. But the new scenes that came to my mind give me the most joy about the work. Draft 0 is proceeding well, even though the revisions and edits will be a real pain in the neck once the initial draft is completed. But for now, I'm happy with what's going into the word processor.

All right, that's just about enough blather from me for one editorial. There are loads of good things to read in this month's Aphelion. It's high time I shut up and let you get to reading! Enjoy!

Dan