My son and his wife recently told me about a roller derby term called Jumping the Apex, which involves an attempt to legally shorten the distance travelled around the curve of the track by leaping over the track boundary and landing back in bounds.

I’ve been thinking about this term as a metaphor for the creative progress.

We had a fantastic late summer visit to Ireland where we drove the breathtaking Ring of Kerry between stopovers in Dublin at the iconic Hotel Clarence on Temple Bar. It was also a reunion with old friends Niall and Susan Varley, who I had last seen in Provincetown as they were just beginning their romance some years back. Niall lived and worked with Clayton in the late ‘90’s and early ‘00’s, as Clayton was just beginning his work with us. Our reunion with Niall and Susan gave the trip a warm and meaningful personal touch.