Tattoo

Sometimes exploring places and meeting people outside your familiar world can reveal who you are or where you're from-perhaps even more clearly than looking in a mirror. We recommend it! Most likely, you will eventually harden to the retort, "Why are you going there?" After a lifetime of exploring on her own terms, author Tina Marie L. Lamb calls this delightful collection of stories her midlife crisis. And she's determined to pull you along with her.

Embark with Tina Marie from the peacefulness of an overnight in a South Carolina tree house (albeit with spiders and snakes) to being held captive on

the Ganges River by a boatman haggling for extra Rupees before he'll navigate her ashore. Or, accompany Tina Marie as she wrestles a halibut off the Alaskan coast, wears bruises like medals after a stint on a dog sled team, and ventures into narrow cave tunnels where a single wave could scatter hundreds of bats. And just keep still as she tries to avoid buying a cow at a cattle auction. Perhaps in an unconscious effort to justify her life, Tina Marie shares this eclectic mix of stories that have become deeply imbedded in her. With dry wit and deep insight, you'll be alternately entertained and pleasantly jolted by her perceptions.

Tina Marie swears there is not much to tell about her. But these pages will likely tell you more about Tina Marie than she intended. She's clear about

her intent: "How fortunate I am to live in a time and place where an ordinary person like me can act on her wanderlust! I'm not looking for someplace better. I'm just looking."