[Elspode]

I'm up early preparing to head to the airport to pick up my friend Deb from Indianapolis, who is flying in for a weekend visit and party. It makes me happy, because I only see her every two or three years.

Deb is a member of what we jokingly call "The Pagan Mafia", a moniker hung on a group of us by a local Pagan troll. It is a rapidly shrinking group, as one member committed suicide five years ago, and another was shot dead by police last Sunday after shooting up the Ward Parkway Mall and murdering three people, so our gathering will be somewhat more somber than I'd anticipated. Still, I'm going to have a great time with Deb.