Excerpt from Introduction: The truth is, these stories were written under a high-pressure reality. Less than three months ago I took on the work of moving my home from New Jersey to Washington State. With a large cargo trailer and pick up truck, I travelled to Ashville, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, Phoenix, Sedona, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Portland, and finally Yelm, Washington. I visited "mardigrah" in New Orleans, hiked...