summer musings: the countdown is on ...

Fire Up by Ben von Burg (Trust 30 Prompt 26)

“Books are the best of things, well used. What is the right use? What is the one end, which all means go to effect? They are for nothing but to inspire.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

• As a writer, your only duty is to be original, to inspire, to put something new on paper. Don’t be reasonable – your job is to to fire up people’s imaginations, to give them permission to dream, and to lift their heads up to the incredible sight of the stars. They may forget what you wrote about – but they won’t forget how you made them feel. It’s your turn now. Dream, be unreasonable and write what comes to you for 15 minutes.

My mind is stuck. I am what should be 2 hours and 18 minutes from my summer holidays, I have a number of fairly important things to clean off my desk before I leave this evening, and all I can do is stare out the window at the impossibly blue sky, the green leaves dancing on the nut tree ... there aren't even any clouds out there to entertain me, and yet I am so drawn to be outside right now. 

I thought a 15 minute stream-of-consiousness writing session might be just the thing to get my mind emptied out of distractions so I can finish off this work week with a bang and leave for holidays without anything hanging over my head. That sounds good. 

You know what else sounds good? The children playing in the playground outside my window. A cool cider being cracked open and poured over a tall glass of ice. Music played in a park bandshell. Wildlife settling down for the night when we're snuggled inside a tent. All these sounds of summer ... and so few that I've heard this year. 

I have had a strong strong urge to run away for the past few days. Not from my life, so much, but from the city, from the artificiality of our every-day lives. From deadlines and alarm clocks and phone reminders and appointments. From budgets and not-quite-enough and wanting more. 

I want to drive. And then to stop. And to just be where I am. To sit on the beach, or a rock, or a log, and watch the movement of the sun across the water. I want to buy lunch from a farm stand and eat it without a plate or utensils. I want to nap in the sunshine in STG's arms drunk on fresh air and freedom.

And, starting at whatever time I leave the office today, all of that is actually possible. I live where the beach, the farm stand, the quiet are just short drives away. But I wonder how much of it I'll actually do during my impending 10 days off - will I dispense with alarms and appointments and reminders? Will I step away from my computer and out into the open air? Will I sleep when my body wants sleep, stay asleep until it is rested, and enjoy the lush freshness of the food available in this area? 

I guess we'll see. If some days I want to be online, eat processed food, people watch downtown, and go to a movie I suppose that will be okay too. It's my holiday. I don't know what that means, but I know I'm the one who gets to say. 

Oh, I think I'll borrow a bike for one day and do a little solo ride - not on any hills, but just to get more connected to how the bike responds, and to push my body to go a little further on it. That sounds good too. And there are so many open trails here, who knows where I'll end up! 

I have books to read and girlfriends to hang out with and movies to watch. And at the end of all that rest and relaxation, 3 days of fun and adventure in Vancouver - the PNE, the aquarium. Hotels. Transit. Family fun. Yes, going to the city on Labour Day weekend is insane, but maybe it'll be the fun kind of insane, right? 

Okay, 15 minutes is almost up and I'm not sure that my brain is read to clear more work off the list. Maybe I just need to tough through the next few hours. Focus. 

But oh, that sunshine does look marvelous. And I can't wait to see how it feels on my skin.