Where are we today?

As a teacher, it was my favorite creative writing game. It originated when I worked at a small daily newspaper in Woodbridge, Virginia, while my husband was stationed at Fort Belvoir.

My job was in the advertising department, keying in copy for the design team. Our computers were organized in a circle with some people facing in and others facing out. The work was detailed but not complicated. While I typed and the design team put Adobe Illustrator through its paces, we had time to talk.

The group included a retirement-age woman who weekended at her beach house on Chesapeake Bay; an artisan whose husband and two kids helped her build beautiful wreaths from the willows in her backyard; a shy, 30-something newlywed whose wife seemed equally quiet; and a brainy guy who gigged with his garage band on the weekends.

On a certain day, the shy newlywed had a case of the I-don’t-want-to-be-at-work blues, so he tossed out a question.

“Where would you be,” he asked, “if you could be anywhere but here?”

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