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Yes, I am going to write more on Vespa Vagabond.  My ride across the continent was too spectacular and too special to simply leave that blog and that story half-told.  I just don’t know when I am going to do it.  (As for a sequel to The Daily Coyote, perhaps, down the road.)

Writing memoir, at least for me, demands that I go back completely to the time and relive it – every detail, every smell, every feeling – I have to see it and feel it in order to write it. I become fully immersed to the point of probably seeming crazy and the past is more real than the present. I don’t know how other writers work, but this is the only way I know how.

While writing The Daily Coyote, I split my time between working with Charlie, and going into the past and writing. I did nothing else. I did not cook, I did not see my friends, I rarely showered. I lived and breathed my first year with Charlie in order to write the book, breaking only to spend time with Charlie.

And while I loved living that way for the time that I did – it was surreal and dreamlike and so utterly romantic – I am not ready to go back into that space quite yet. I want to live in the present. I want to do things, notice what’s around me, create with my hands, have adventures with my animals and the people I love.

And with the way I work, I can’t do all those things and write about the past (Vespa Vagabond) at the same time. I have no idea if I’m explaining myself very well, but the point is, I love Vespa Vagabond. I will return to it. Sorry I can’t give you a timeframe.

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In my previous life I shot models, muscicians, all sorts of people, and there are certain individuals who innately know how to work a camera, who love being in front of the lense.  I am the exact opposite – I hate having my picture taken unless I’m the one doing it (ie. self portrait).

Charlie has the gift.  When the camera comes out, he turns on.  I’m truly convinced he knows something significant is taking place, that we are creating together, that he is being seen…. His wariness drops away; sometimes he shows off and does tricks, sometimes he poses, sometimes he just is: the way he looks straight down the camera is rare even among humans.

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The dynamic between Charlie and Eli has never changed.  Even when Charlie was challenging me, even as he has matured in himself, even with the added dimension of Chloe, Eli reigns, and Charlie always, always defers to him.  Chloe caught on quickly and, while she is a bit more brazen and fearless in her licking of Eli’s head, she, too, knows he’s in charge.

When Charlie sees Eli, he starts whimpering, wagging his tail quick and low, and bows down to lick him.  It is so funny to see a 2-1/2-year-old coyote curling himself towards the ground in an attempt to get his head below a cat’s chin.

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I love creating books, so “yes” is a pretty safe bet.  As for when and what about, “sometime” and “something” are the only answers I’ve got for you right now.

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The precise technical description is long and tedious, so here’s a picture:

Semi-Spring Day In The Draw

Otherwise known as dry wash, gully, gulch, and/or arroyo in other areas of the country and world.