I'm in a very different place today. Yesterday was a glory, but such contrast to be hip-deep in. I was not angry when I wrote, nor blaming Mudcat about anything, just needing to say how it is, for a change.... descriptive, not pejorative. And yes it is rewarding, always. Thanks for the replies.

Ebbie mentioned (I think) training and expertise. No-- it's free-fall, spontaneous; I never know what's going to be presented for me to address and so what I have learned is to just go with it. It's not that I know "how," it's that the doing has led to some reflections that amount to some experience, but every new challenge is brand-new and I don't think there IS expertise for it; it's more a willingness to try and a responsiveness to what is obvious in front of me.

Today apparently the many hats I wear had each decided to get up an hour early, and I guess these many heads in the many hats didn't know they could all use the same 1-hour early wakeup and call it even-- each one woke me up for its own hour! I woke up at 3:30 AM and spent a happy few hours in bed in the comfortable dark, listening to The Count of Monte Cristo in audiobook; eventually I got out of the bed an hour earlier than planned (early enough to get a jump on the day). It was a long one, lots of driving and lots of paying attention to complex things, and I'm going back to bed now! :~)

~Susan