So. My year has finally turned. Pact Camp is over, which means I am moving into the more writerly, otherly part of my year. And it was an amazing camp, the best one ever, according to many but personally for me, yes. It was so moving and affirming and great in so many ways, it made me feel so proud and grateful and glad to be part of it all. I don’t have a lot of words to describe it right now, but fellow adoptee John Raible expressed it beautifully on his blog. Please, if you want to know what it is that I do with more than half my year, and what it’s all about, please read his words.
One of the not-so-nifty things I brought home from Pact Camp was… poison oak. It’s been plaguing me for over ten days now, easing up a bit but only because I’ve been on high doses of prednisone. The day after I got back, I couldn’t open one of my eyes, my lips were huge, and using the bathroom or sitting down was utter agony. (sorry if that was TMI) It has since traveled all over my body, sprouting up on my back, hip, ear, elbow, you name it. One of the side effects of prednisone is sleeplessness, so I’ve been weirdly and wildly awake and sort of manically energetic.
I feel like I’ve pent up six months’ worth of OTHER stuff and now it’s all happening. I’m decluttering, organizing, throwing things out like a maniac, exercising, making appointments, paying bills, just DEALING with things that I’ve put off for a long time. One night last week I compiled a manuscript of all of my previously published fiction and nonfiction. It was enough to fill a BOOK. I made a little online book, but am exploring the possibility of putting it together into one or two really beautifully made volumes. Something I can show for all these years of writing.
The house is quiet. One girl is still on adult staff at her beloved camp; the other is the first of our family to be exploring Europe. It’s just me and the spouse and Mom, a houseful of grownups, which is odd, but also kind of relaxing. I’m glad it’s temporary. I don’t think I’m near ready for a TRUE empty nest, but for a few weeks, it’s allowing me a different kind of productivity.
In a few weeks I’ll be turning fifty. That’s a whole other post.
Posted in Miscellania
