Goodbye To Summer

A moody northwest summer day with gray skies and chill in the air blows a kiss goodbye to vacation. School begins one week from tomorrow, and as a teacher, I have already been back getting my new classroom together. August was a blur of travel: San Diego, "Fail Camping", and Umatilla, OR to visit my Dad. Today I am trying to get a hold of the many appointments and schedules to keep in mind as I slide into fall. Looking forward to the busy blur of the school year and backward wondering what happened to the not-very lazy days of this summer.

I did create things: This blog, a mostly finished quilt top, a turtle wall-hanging for my husband's birthday, assorted travel memories, peach cakes and several memorable dinners, a travel journal, and the beginnings of a young-adult novel with a distinctive narrator.

The most unique travel experience of the summer was "Fail Camping" (the title my teens gave the endeavor) or "Faux Camping". This is what we did when our one scheduled camping trip was rained out. I voted to drive the extra hour to Leavenworth and sunny days, but my other family members opted for the camp out in our backyard. Rain poured on day one as we set up the tent and rain fly 30 feet or so from our back door. My dog Juno looked on curiously as we dug a fire pit and prepared "camp". We ate lunch inside when the rain began to fall even harder, then we finished our preparations outside and successfully made a fire in the drizzle. We ate hot dogs cooked over the fire and s'mores while we got damper and damper. The wacky spirit that allowed my 14 year-old, 17 year-old, dog and husband to prevail with silly songs and shared story-telling, which my husband always tries to make science fiction, made me proud. Our first night in the rain was rocky. The rain fly was not a success. The side of the tent where I slept was quite wet, the top plopped thick drops on my husband's forehead, my oldest daughter was sick in the night (thankfully the bathroom and shower were easy access). We spent four days in our backyard camp out, napping more and hiking less since we were unwashed and unkempt in our own neighborhood. We played games and laughed.

So as the summer closes, creative time will be more precious, but memories like Fail Camping will have to sustain us through schedules and deadlines. The firepit remains in our backyard. Proof that sometimes you have to bring the fun home.

Day Dreaming

It's technically summer vacation.

I say technically because as a mother-teacher-writer-quilter vacation time is often slim. My daughters think summer vacation is for me to drive them places, much like a chauffeur without the pay. I spent two hours on the phone this morning trying to sort out the various requirements for getting seen my a medical specialist. This does not include the two hour drive time to reach the specialist. I have written two weeks of morning pages as instructed by Julia Cameron's The Artists Way, but have only written stories in my head while I hike with my dog, Juno. Juno doesn't care if I write, teach, quilt or drive teens; she only cares to have a walk, run or hike. The latter is her first choice because it can be done off-leash, so she can sniff, climb, roll or wallow to her heart's content...hosing off is sure to follow.

I celebrated a birthday, #44, last week, and my family gave me Saturday to myself. More than half of that time was spent stewing over what to create. The day lay before me luxurious, like the stretch of a long-sleeping cat. Then evil monkey mind took over. My daughter was crabby, and I stewed. I'd finished one quilt and couldn't decide which undone project to pursue. I checked my email. I played a game on the computer. I took a nap.

The pressure to use the creative time wisely is the real spoiler of creativity. The reality of time available weighs heavy, sometimes like a boulder, sometimes like a building. I came out from under it like I always do by getting into motion. I just began. I took out Asian fan quilt blocks that I loved (and completed several years ago) and set them out and worked through the design and sewed. Those blocks now lay 2/3 assembled, and I am satisfied.

How do you get past creative blocks? I'd say with whatever time you have, DO something. Thinking about it is never enough.