Saturday, June 21, 2008

Finding My Way to Fair Hope

June 21, 2008

Look out, Fairhope! I'm coming back for a week!

Wednesday afternoon I should be back in Fairhope; the captain's house has been sold, and I'm gonna be at the closing on June 30.

I decided to give myself a week to look around, check out old friends, and maybe even say goodbye. I have been away for seven months and with the sale of the house I can leave with impunity. In fact, I've already left with impugnity, but this trip offers me an almost final look around.

Notice how I said almost final? I have family in the place, and I've just completed a book about Fairhope, so there seems to be no end to it.

I published Meet Me at the Butterfly Tree in 2001, reprinted it in 2005, and finished a second book which I called When We Had the Sky -- also about Fairhope in the past -- and couldn't find a publisher. Reading a book called Utopia, New Jersey inspired me to rework both books, combining the two and adding more historical information about Fairhope's history as a utopian community.

I'll bring along a copy and see if it flies in Fairhope. Maybe I can find sponsors to pay for the publishing, and, if that happens, I'll be back in Fairhope many times to promote the book.

Maybe I'll see you in Fairhope this trip, or the next, or the next. Look for me.