Peyton Carmichael

To all my friends and family who have written to ask about me: I am alive and well and the house came through unscathed. To pat and Ann, who sent the police over to check on me when my phone wasn't working for days, than you for caring so much. As all of you must have read or seen on the news, a massive tornado came right through Greenville and smashed a path through the residential area. It looks like King Kong made a rampage, pulling up trees and lifting roofs and snapping power lines.

Forbidding weather today. Tornado alerts all over television, the power flickering off and on, off and on. At least I managed to cook myself a hot breakfast before it all started. I brought some organic coffee beans with me from Whole Foods and it was sublime. I also brought a loaf of organic French bread from which I made toast which I then coated with organic cherry preserves. I have no idea if organic food is good for me or simply good for the organic farmer but it sure tastes good.

In a shameless paraphrase of Joseph Conrad: Whenever I find myself dragged down and frowning; whenever it is a damp January in my soul and I have to call on my every strength to prevent myself from deliberately knocking cell phones out of people's hands or pulling them out of the ears of those who are walking around talking into the air, then I account it high time to get to the country as soon as I can. This is my substitute for drink and dissolution.