My father called me last night.

“I just want to make sure you haven’t fallen into a giant hole in the road or
anything,” he said.

“Uh — what are you talking about?”

“You mean to tell me I know more about what’s happening in San Diego than you do?
You guys had a big landslide….” Pop went on to talk about the La Jolla
landslide and the “million-dollar homes” it destroyed. Then he and Mom made
jokes about million dollar homes being everywhere in San Diego, while I started
to think about isolation.

I live alone without a TV. I used to spend about an hour in the car five days a
week in a commute to an office with other people. On the way to the office, I’d
hear news about the world, the US, California, San Diego. And when I arrived,
many of our colleagues would be in the office kitchen (where the water cooler
sits), talking about wildfires, the opening of the Del Mar horse racing track,
last night’s TV shows, Apple’s newest gadgets — you name it.

Working as a freelance writer has exposed me to a level of isolation I hadn’t imagined before. I worked from
a home office in Philadelphia for my previous employer, and that was tough. But
I lived with my boyfriend, attended a writing group once a month, was on the
phone a couple of hours every day and kept in touch with the office with
constant Instant Messaging. In the late ’90s I ran a bed and breakfast in an
isolated spot in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. I didn’t leave the property
often, but I had regular contact with the outside world.

These days I get up between 5 and 6, and I hit the computer first thing. I’ve grown
tired of the busy-ness of many of the online media outlets, so I just get
started on my working, surfing, blogging, hoping and dreaming. I usually sit
here until 5,6 or 7 (maybe 8, 9).

Alone. Without much stimulation from the outside world. This isn’t good.

I’ve resolved to figure out some people-populated activities that will help me with the isolation.

Here’s what I’m thinking…

• A pottery/acting/history/current events/women’s studies class
• Volunteering for various local charities through San Diego Volunteers
• Signing up as a volunteer usher for local plays
• Starting to run again with Team in Training, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s charity sporting event
  program (I ran my first marathon with them this past June)
• Getting a very part-time job at a coffee shop
• Joining some local women at their weekly “Wine and Wag” gathering, where they walk downtown with their
  dogs to a large get-together of more people with their dogs (I don’t have a dog — I’m thinking of renting)