Oh my! We have a leak in the roof; and it is November. Can you say debt? If we cannot find someone reliable in the next week or so, we might have to invest in a metal roof; that can be installed during the winter months. I am not sure we can even qualify for the bank loan necessary for a metal roof. They are very costly.

As you might surmise, presently things are a bit tense. Attila is doing what he can to minimize the damage. A roofer is coming to give us an estimate on Monday morning. That is the soonest he can make time for us. Other roofers have not yet returned our calls.

A few years ago, around this time of year, a friendly man from the local Gas Company came to inspect our furnace for the winter. It was an old furnace, the original, and I expected some repairs. It was on a Friday afternoon. He condemned the furnace, shut off the gas, wrote out a bill, pleasantly said goodbye, and headed for the door; leaving me stunned in a parka. New furnaces were not his department. November in Canada is COLD!

A local tradesman representing Sears Canada was the only one to return my call on that cold Friday. He immediately brought over a bevy of electric space heaters to keep us warm, until he installed the new furnace on the Monday morning.

The appropriate "department" at the local Gas Company eventually did call, offering to install a new furnace. They called on Monday morning, pleasant as could be; just as the Sears man was cleaning up and collecting his space heaters. We now have Sears do our annual furnace inspection, no more local Gas Company, thank you very much.

We will not know where we are with the roof for a number of days yet. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Murphy's Law gives us a miss on this one!

A letter from an online acquaintance took me for a walk into my past. The subject was divorce and life after divorce.

My divorce was spectacularly ugly, a sort of lawyer/moderator billing extravaganza. It left my ex hungry for more petty legal action, and the children and I desperate to avoid further loss of the funds that kept a roof over our head.

Single mothers are families with one adult doing the work of two. Sometimes they have the support of an extended family; many times they are simply on their own. I knew of only one single father during those years, and his mother and girlfriend were very much involved, leaving him free to travel for his career as needed. His "lack of collegiality" drew bitter criticism, as I overheard. It seems he spent too much time with his own child, when he should have been intermingling in professional environments. I believe this unacceptable professional decorum did, in the end, effectively sabotage his career.

Romantic relationships were the truly tricky bit about life after divorce. I was a package. I was a family. I was told, flat out, by some men that they were not interested in raising children. Good to know, no tears wasted there. I spent many years raising my children alone. It was not a project I was willing to compromise, for anyone.

After all those years of getting the job done on my own, Attila came as a complete surprise. Sometimes surprises can resemble miracles, if you believe in such things.

Here is what I wrote in my letter about life after divorce:

"I certainly do not know if there is life after divorce, but I can say that the first few years were pretty tough. However, I eventually grew into myself and never seriously regretted the end of a truly horrid relationship. It would be a lot tougher, in ways, if there had been anything to miss! However, I think overall, a few good memories can serve one well over time.

I found that navigation was the big challenge. Captain of my own ship, I became aware that I could drift, drop anchor, or set sail... whenever and however I chose. Women sail these waters without charts, and usually can only determine their position and course by the light of the stars. I wish you many 'starry, starry nights'."