We have safely returned from our camping extravaganza! And now my morning coffee isn’t half as good without my uncle brewing it for me in his french press over his little camp stove, and I find myself turning around to make a joke to my cousins only to remember they aren’t here way too often.
On the other hand … sleeping in a real bed is glorious. Having my clothing and hair not stink of campfire smoke is bliss. Reading books on my Kindle via a bedside lamp instead of a flashlight is lovely.
Camping was fun, and returning to civilization was sweet.
I didn’t do any writing, and very little reading, while we were away. I hadn’t planned to, knowing that our time was going to be taken up with camping stuff and family stuff, so it’s not like I was surprised or disappointed. In fact, I think it was good for me, because when I saw the email from Amanda of Fly Casual on our drive back home, with a rough mock up for the cover of the sci-fi novella I wrote, all kinds of creative juices bubbled up fresh in me.
Of course, those all went toward Ooh, we should really take Laura’s advice and turn the novella into a novel, which wasn’t exactly in the plan – I was supposed to come back and be inspired to finish Magic in Disguise and Wings of Song. Oh well.
Be that as it may, I am working on ways to expand the novella (titled From the Shadows), Amanda and I are talking about the cover, and yet with all this, I’m still thinking about MID and WOS. And while thinking isn’t writing, it does make the writing go much better.
So yes, a good vacation all the way around.
I came home to a letter approving our education plan from the school district, and we are going to start school again next week, and while the kids are less than excited, I am pumped over our plans for homeschool this year. Lego and Art club at the library, a new homeschool group meeting weekly, lots more of Mummy reading aloud and the kids being creative, a simplified schedule, field trips to explore nature at many of the local estates and farms … I know that plans go by the wayside as soon as real life starts, but I also know that the better the plans are, the better things go even when chaos hits.
It’s been a wonderful summer, and I am so looking forward to the fall.
(Pictures not from camping – I barely turned my camera on while we were there – but from a recent trip to a local estate whose gardens and forest trails are open to the public. This is one of the top spots on my “field trip” list.)
In our homeschooling days, I always knew I’d had a good holiday when I got excited about starting “school” again at the end of it. Sounds like you’ve got a good life planned for the fall!
I was really down in the dumps about it a few weeks back – even considering putting the kids in school for at least the next couple of years – but the chance to build this homeschool group came up, and my perspective changed like magic. It’s amazing what friendship and mutual support can do!
It’s amazing how a little break can bring fresh perspective, isn’t it? At least I think that’s true. We’re leaning more toward trading my car in for a minivan than taking a vacation this year. That said, I’ve been telling Bart that I need a break – just a day where he and L go out without me.
I’m glad you’re energized for the school-year too.
Okay, I had way more to reply with earlier today. Now, with L talking to me, my mind is just mush.
Breaks from even the people you love and like best are vital. Yesterday I ran to the market to pick up some forgotten necessities for lunch, and even though it was just fifteen minutes alone in the car, it was bliss. So quiet and peaceful.
As opposed to right now, when Carl is talking without noticing that I’m in the middle of something, and Grace is singing and chattering away like a red squirrel, and Joy is noisily finishing her dinner that the rest of us finished ages ago …
Yeah. I know what you mean about mushy minds when trying to write around others!