about me

I think people get the impression that they know me well after they've read my journals for awhile; I suppose in many ways, they do.

But there's an aspect of my personality that doesn't often show through in my blogging life that I'm going to share now:

I'm totally a hermit at heart. I could spend the rest of my life without seeing or talking to another person except Cliff, and I'd get by just fine. The main thing I have against where I live is the total lack of privacy. Even back in the woods where my cabin is, you never know when somebody is liable to show up. (Especially during morel season.) Wasn't it Greta Garbo who was famous for saying, "I vant to be alone"?

My sentiments exactly. And it seems to get worse, the older I get.

Cliff has often said I don't need people around, and I'd say that's pretty much right, except that I do need him (he's not always so sure about that point, but it's true... and no, not just for his money-making abilities).

Because of my solitary ways, I suppose the second thing goes without saying: I am very self-centered. I'm not as compassionate as I ought to be; I have to work at empathy; it doesn't come naturally.

All this may go back to my childhood, because I was the only child in our household after my sister got married when I was two years old. We lived in various country places without a lot of neighbors around, and I learned early on to make my own entertainment and play make-believe alone. Daddy once told me that when I was small, I liked to have other kids come to visit, but I was glad to see them leave, too.

That hasn't changed.

So now you know.