In a matter of days, William will begin to hear from the colleges he applied to. Jim and I are loathe to see our baby leave the nest. Last night we again tried to suggest that the University of Phoenix was the way to go as he could do his schoolwork in pajamas HERE AT HOME. He seemed to prefer doing his homework in pajamas at an undisclosed location.

Yes……all we know at this point is that Will is going somewhere…..somewhere else. And none of us have even the vaguest idea where that somewhere will be. Will has not let slip any data about his first, second, third or even fourth choice. Not even to his siblings who have tried every trick in the sibling handbook. No matter the ploys used, not a speck of data has been revealed. The burning question remains: will we be driving east, west, north or even south to visit him?

All we know is that the Pajama home plan is not as popular with him as it is with us.

With even his siblings unable to crack his silence, we decided that we owed it to curious friends and neighbors to begin to mark our long wait to know where Will will attend college by blowing black smoke from our woodstove each day until Will announces his decision. What excitement there will be on the hilltop when we mark Will’s moment of decision by burning white smoke. Since it continues to be icy cold, all this smoke still works for us on a number of levels. We will be keeping the neighbors abreast of Will’s decision-making process while keeping our house warm.

A young William declares himself during a game of catch in St John USVI. Would that we had started pushing the University of Phoenix during these more formative years.