Hard Drive Purge

How diffi cult is it to put together a book if you have Bipolar disorder?You write brilliantly when you are manic, and shred everything whenyou're depressed. But some things manage to survive...She toted her bags across the parking lot. She always parkedfar away from the store partially because she did not do enoughwalking and she did want the exercise, but mostly because her carwas white, and she didn't want to lose it among all the other whitecars parked in the lot. The sun was bright as she walked. It waseighty-two degrees even though it was early morning. It would bea scorcher today.She was still about ten yards away from the car when she sawsnow in front of her eyes. And the white car turned blue. And hewas putting a blanket on the hood so the engine would start againafter the snow storm. He wore a dark blue coat and a light bluemuffl er, which he had pulled up to cover the front of his face. Hiswire-rimmed glasses were steamed up. As he turned to look at her,she closed her eyes and sighed. She opened them again and thecar was white . . . She thought, I'm all right, but she didn't feelwell. She tossed her purse in, closed the trunk, got into the car, andturned on the ignition. Will Shortz, the puzzle master, was playing agame with a puzzle-solving contestant. She concentrated on solvingthe puzzle while she tried to forget the blue car mirage.But she could never totally forget him.You are invited to come along and share the ups and downs of life,love, and survival in this potpourri of stories, essays, poems andwry observations.