I Came Back!

Look closely to see the deer

It was... an interesting week, mostly weather-wise but also people-wise, not so much writing-wise.  On my drive up to The Clearing I pulled out my handy dandy WI Rustic Roads pamphlet and moseyed down the 2 roads nearest Sturgeon Bay.  I stopped at beaches, boat launches, brooks, nature preserves, and any rocks with plaques along the way.  Also along the way I rediscovered my love for tooling down country roads and gawking at the scenery, getting peeks at Lake Michigan, and finding things I think not too many people find.  Now, that last is a severe, self-deluding fantasy because I KNOW that every inch of Door County will soon be crawling with vacationers and summer "people" and the serenity I found is an illusion of a late, wet spring.  When I realized the time I hot-footed it across the peninsula (about 10 miles max) to The Clearing to check in and to discover that I had a private room after all.  There was an odd number of women looking to share a room so someone had to be left out and it was me.  What a pity.  *snort*  So I unloaded my crap into Room 3, set up my laptop, and

put my clothes away in the cupboard, then I got back into the car and crossed the peninsula again to drive the last 2 Rustic Roads in rural Baileys Harbor.  More beauty, more beaches, more serenity, plus a deer crossed the road AFTER my camera battery told me it was exhausted but I took a chance and it turned on one more time and took one more picture.  Whew.  Back at my room I feasted on fresh cheese curds, sesame crackers, and an orange before tucking myself in for the night.

On Sunday my pal, KS, and I went to the Door Co. Shepherd's Market at a gallery outside Egg Harbor where we fondled yarns, bought just a little, watched a spinner, heard a llama hum, and had a dandy cherry chicken salad wrap for lunch.  We then drove back to The Clearing (TC) by a different route and stopped into the Bargain store just to see what there was to see.  I got a copy of Elie Weisel's Night for a buck and a wooden darning egg for fifty cents.  I know, I'm a big spender.

Sunday supper is the first gathering of the teachers and students for the week so I met my 6 classmates and our teacher, Judy, helped us choose our paths for the week.  The weather was not in our favor; it was chilly (like barely 50 degrees chilly) and drizzly, we even had a thunder storm in the wee hours of Monday.  Things did not improve, weather-wise.  It kept up with the chilly and rainy through Tuesday and added dense fog on Wednesday, which threw a wrench in the birdwatchers' fun.  Thursday dawned sunny, still chilly, but WINDY.  The nearly naked trees were dancing and tossing their so far leaf-free (I was unaccustomed to the amount of light in the woods) branches and there were white caps on the bay.  The birdwatchers saw wind surfers in Ephriam's Eagle Harbor when they were out trying to find a place where the birds weren't battened down out of the wind.  I was very glad that I'd packed an extra suitcase with long jeans, heavier socks, a wool sweater, and my rain jacket.  I was chilled to the bone and dressed in layers, including wool fingerless mitts.  I'm sure I looked like a homeless person (so much nicer to say than "bum") but I stayed warm-ish.  Of course the weather warmed right up (to nearer 60 degrees) and the sun came out, big-time, on Friday, our last full day at "camp."


Did I write?  Barely.  I worked on the first of what I hope will be a series of short articles about WI Rustic Roads, which was enough writing to make me feel like I haven't lost my mojo completely but not the frantic scribblings of years past.  Oh well, at least I haven't given up.  Judy says (and I agree) that I'm in flux, at least my writing is.  (but I also think I'm generally at a crossroads in my life)  Things are changing and pretty soon I'll turn the corner and be back at it gangbusters.  Fingers are crossed.

All in all, it was a much-needed break from the day to day.  I wish it had been warmer and drier but it wasn't and I wish my pencil would have caught fire but it didn't.  I relaxed and slept well (although I kept waking up at 5:30 when my alarm was set for 6:30), ate great food, spent time with old friends and met lots of interesting new people.  That's a successful week any way you look at it.

May 26--Italy, Majolica, Earthenware.  The horse was green.  Really.  It was the color of the moss that grows over stones at the edge of the forest.  Rachel rubbed her eyes and wondered if she'd fallen asleep.  Or maybe she was in a movie.  But wouldn't she know if she was in a movie?  You'd think she would.

And that was it for last night.  I was tired from coming home, unpacking, and DS & DIL1 came over for supper so there was that spot of cleaning that needed to get done.  Today the lawn gets it.  Sayonara, and I'm glad to be home.

--Barbara