R&R

Rest and relaxation means, in my world, finally losing track of time, calling friends just to see if they want to waste time together, going the extra mile for others without even knowing it’s the extra mile, sleeping in and staying up late, wearing pajamas all day, drinking coffee at 5pm anyway, and wasting time doing searches online because you finally figured out how to make your dad’s computer connect to the wi-fi network down at the community center.

Check, check, check and double check. All R&R tasks completed and indluged in.

Tomorrow, reality check:
Learn how to shut off the water and drain the pipes for my house and for the neighbors (in preparation for all of us being gone in January). Finish raking (one hour, approximately, to go). Do a family work project for the new house all afternoon long. Install the new Operating System on my external harddrive and get updates to prepare my computer for the hi-fi-wi-fi-hi-tech world I’ll encounter “out there” when I begin the residency and travel to Colorado.

The remainder of the week:
Interview LM for a future article on printmaking. Research printmaking and printmakers throughout history (where to begin?!). Critique 100 more pages of in-progress manuscripts from my nonfiction peers in preparation for the residency. Finish webpage and send announcements. Print business cards. Plan nuances of trip (Rental car? Rides to the residency? Paying my bills while on the road?)

To feed the artist’s child in me, as Redboots would say:
Keep reading poetry. Millar, Levertox, Laux, Defrees, Bell, Stafford, Hopkins, Wilde, Sears, and Bridges down. Kunitz, Lee, and yeats to go. Write poems. Read Cam’s essay. Play and sing music with friends. Go on a long walk in the forest. Stop eating more food when I’m not hungry.

And why all this?
Gearing up for the New Year, the next semester, the next leap of faith in the writing life. Clearing the plate to lay another foundation. Onward.

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