Out of the wilderness
Last night we stumbled out of the wilderness after our eighth day of backpacking, and all I could fantasize about were a shower, bouncy hair, a salad, and more toilet paper, please, since I had just run out with that last pee in the pines.
But aside from the grunge factor, MAN I love getting away from it all. I just read an article in the New York Times last week about a bunch of neuroscientists who went on a river raft trip to talk about and study the effects of disconnecting from technology and the world for a while–would it make them calmer? Smarter? More creative and clear-headed?
Yes to all, and I agree with that. We split up our backpacking into two legs–a 3-day and a 5-day–and in the space in between while I was doing laundry and resupplying, I also wrote two short stories–something I haven’t done in years. But they just bubbled up out of me because my mind felt playful and free. And I understand that it doesn’t feel that way on a daily basis when I’m constantly hitting the refresh button on my e-mail.
But string a few days together out in the wilderness, away from the cell phone, the computer, from people (we only saw three people in five days! Love it!), and it’s amazing how much of your old brain comes back.
And yet here I am, barely 12 hours after we came out, and I’m sitting at my computer again. But not for long. I still have this glorious Nora Roberts novel to finish–a perfect paperback to take backpacking, because the characters were always camping or riding horses out in the woods–and I want to sit down and write for a while. I came up with a bunch of story ideas while I was hiking up and down ridiculously hard hills, and I want to make notes while it’s all still fresh in my brain.
And can I just say that life is infinitely better when you have a big sturdy backpacking dog along with you to hike all day without complaint, and then once you get into camp and take his pack off, he immediately finds a stick and starts racing around the camp like he just got up and hasn’t done a thing all day. Then he takes a little dip in the lake or stream, shakes it all off, and lies in the sun to rest his weary feet.
How can life get any better than that?
Indeed, it cannot.
Miss you, friend. Glad you’re up to your old tricks…
xxxx
Thanks, Liz! I hope you and your crew got out into the wilderness this summer, too. We need that!!!
Robin! I started reading the Ray Bradbury book on writing because of you… love it of course. I should just follow you around and read over your shoulder.
Glad to see you’re well and enjoying the summer!
Katie! That makes me so happy. Speaking of making me so happy, his story in the beginning about when he was 9 years old and his little friends made fun of him for collecting Buck Rogers comic strips made a HUGE impression on me. For those of you who haven’t read the book yet, young Ray went along with friends’ opinion and ripped up all his Buck Rogers comics, then walked around in a daze and a depression for about a month. Finally he realized he should ditch the friends and go back to Buck Rogers. He’s been happy ever since.
How many of us have given up what we really love–what really sings to us–just because our mean friends disapprove of it? Or how many times do we not wear what we want, do what we want, say what we want just because we’re afraid we’ll lose people’s approval?
Blech. I love Ray Bradbury’s example. I need more of his 9-year-old gumption on a daily basis, I’ll tell you that.
Anyway, Katie, hurray! I know you’ll love the whole book. That guy is an inspiration to all writers!
Hi Robin (and welcome home)!
Okay, completely random question: is there any chance you’d consider changing your RSS feed to a ‘full’ feed rather than just the few lines that it’s currently set to? I know a lot of people read blogs through Google Reader (etc. ) these days, and I really love your blog… but can’t add it because it’s only a partial feed.
I keep forgetting to come by here, and then I remember & miss all your great posts.
Cheers,
Kaz
Karen, I’d be happy to! If, um, you’ll tell me how. (Here’s where I confess to my Amish ways. Not a tech person, but so willing to learn!)
Hee!!
Well, I am totally self-taught… so maybe we can figure it out together.
And thank you for trying it!
Okay, you have a WordPress-based blog/website… right? If you go to your WordPress dashboard (the control panel thingie where you write posts), then look down the menu on the left. At or near the bottom = Settings.
Click that, and then look down the left again. You should now see sub-menus from Settings. Click on Reading.
In the Reading settings page, you can change where it says “For each article in a feed, show”… and change it from ‘summary’ to ‘full text’.
Then save changes.
I hope it works.
Kaz
I hope it works.
Okay, I did just that. Thanks, Karen! Appreciate the help. Hope it worked–let me know!