Wednesday, 17 Mar

On a 6am United flight to Chicago with my West Highland Terrier, Boswell. Making the pilgrimmage back to Madison WI to sit a couple of tough nights out with my Dad, who's just made it through a heart valve replacement + 2 bypasses at age 81. He was on death's door walking into the hospital on Monday and docs gave it 50/50, which is about 5 times the mortality rate they usually are willing to take on. But somehow he pulls through, instantly making me about 1,000 percent more optimistic about making it to 150 myself (a personal dream).

I know I won't be getting much sleep over the next 48 (my two-day shift between other covering siblings), but Putnam's on my ass to generate material that's current events-focused as they begin their full-court sales job to the mass media about why I and my book need to be on their shows. I did Haiti on my first updating of the "Handicapping the Gap" list before I left, and now Spain seems the next logical choice. So I burn 2,500 words on the flight, pick up my dog (whom we're giving to my Mom and Dad since their Westy died recently and they're too old to start over with a puppy), and I'm off to Madison in a rental.

Later that day I see my Dad in intensive care and help him get through a tough, rather delirious afternoon. I sleep 3 hours from 6-9 at a Super 8 room my family is using and then take over from my older brother for the overnight shift. As the clock strikes midnight and my father settles into something like sleep, I pull out my laptop to discover that everything I penned on the plane is lost on a bad floppy. So I start over.

Then I start to really warm up, plus it's fun to actually write through the night, something I've never done before with any success. So I move onto the second of my Back Story of the Pentagon's New Map posts and burn another 3k to go with posts on Seam States and Spain. Despite the fatigue and weird hours, I must admit it feels very good to be writing at this volume again. When I wrote the book, it was 5k a day without fail, and it's starting to feel that alive again with this weblog.

My Dad resurrects around 5am acting and sounding like his old self. His color is about 10 shades more ruddy than the last I saw of him. We have a conversation I never expected to have again, with a man I never expected to see again, and it feels like a gift from heaven.