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Hello friends,

Happy Labor day, plus one. I hope all are well, wherever you call home. Also a special shout out to the folks affected by last weeks Hurrricane Harvey in the Gulf coast. Unfortunately there is  another tropical system churning in the Atlantic, and heading for Florida, after it hits the Carribean, starting tomorrow. This hurricane is named Irma, and is forcasted to be even more dangerous than Havey. I pray for a last minute turn, thus avoiding another Texas style senerio

 Here in Arizona, it may be hot and dry, but natural disasters, especially climate related occurances are rare. Good for me, since Iv'e had enough personal distractions this summer, although paling in comparison to any tragedies that folks are suffering on a gobal level. My transportation issues seem to be fixed for now, having just purchased a used Toyota Seqouia to replace the gigs mobile, and finally getting my old Ford legal and road worthy. My little incident with my neighbor, I wrote about last week, has been settled, thanks to Geico and the little green lizard. I thought I was going to have to pay a huge out of pocket deductable, but in the end, I was spared from any upfront money. So I took the little money I had, and put it down on the Toyota. Two insurance claims in three month is not good.

 On a good note, I have been invited to share part of my journey with a local storytelling group that meets every month. The group picks a different theme every session and assembles a few storytellers to share thier own personal stories. It is a public setting and they usaully gather well over a hundred people. This month it is taking place at the new YWCA in town, and were expecting a larger crowd. I'm having trouble choosing which of my over fifty plus stories I have ready to share. I have only fifteen minutes to speak, and that is not nearly enough time for me to even get warmed up! Once they give me the mic, they will have to tackle me in order to retrieve it! 

 Seriously, I'm thrilled they invited me to talk about my adventure. It can only give my upcoming book even more exposure, especially on the local level. I hope I have the oppurtunity to do more public appearences in the future, and I want to thank my friend Tony Paniagua, from the local NPR station, for making it possible for me to attend.

 Speaking of hurricane Havey, I have been thinking of packing my tools once gain, and heading to the disaster area for a few months. I will be done with my gigs manuscript by the end of the month, and then send it off for editing, before publishing. The area is barely getting dry now, then the massive clean up follows next. Sometime in October the rebuilding will go into full force, and thats when they will require a tremenduos amount of skilled workers like me. I thought about doing like a mini gigs tour through the devastated region and working and posting from different towns and cities. It's just an idea for now, but there is more to it than that, and I will let you know more as time goes by. 

 So once again friends, I end with a huge thanks and humbleness, that you take a few minutes of your busy day to check in with the Johnny Man. Have a good week and take care.

Juanjohn