Sure, you can go home again...sort of

   
Lynn at the zoo
      Hi, everybody! Thanks to Nan for covering for me last week. I was—still am—on vacation in Florida. It’s been a great time. My sister-in-law Lynn and I have done our usual running around, beefing up the numbers on our Fitbits, visiting the zoo, and adding to our wardrobes. We’re not real fashion-conscious, so that means new tank tops and flip-flops, but, hey, they’re new.

          I’ve also been mostly absent from the internet. I’ve done a couple of coffee shop hours and checked in on my iPhone to make sure I’m not missing anything important, but for the most part it’s been a week of electronic disconnect. I’m writing this on Friday—still disconnected—and by the time you read it, Duane and I will be driving up I-65 toward home.

          I’m looking forward to home—I always do. I’m anxious to see spring come in its slow and unsteady Hoosier way, to get back to the gym that’s doing its part to make me feel good, to see the cats.

          I’m also anxious to get back to writing. Although I’ve written most mornings I’ve been gone,
Me at zoo
it’s different when I’m away. Not just physically away, but cyber-away, too. It’s more difficult to check in with people I talk to most every day—hi, Wranglers!—and to look things up instantly. I changed a couple of words I wasn’t that sure of using because the dictionary is on-line and my paper-and-ink one is at home.

          I thought it would take me back to notebook days, when the ink and the ideas flowed comparatively easily onto the yellow paper with its blue lines. I would be able to finish my almost-done WIP without the usual self-imposed interruptions. I’d have it sent to the editor before we even reached the highway on our way home.

          But it’s not done yet, and probably won’t be before next week sometime, and I’ve learned that I’m a textbook case of electronic “you can’t go home again,” because I’m not all that creative when I’m disconnected. The lined yellow paper would be good only for notes these days, because my productivity seems to be inexorably coupled with my cyber-socialness. I may not ask “what do you think?” of my friends all that often, but if I’m not able to, I want to constantly.


          By tomorrow—if all goes according to plan (never a sure thing)—I’ll be back at my desk. I’ll miss the family we’ve visited, miss the daily “we need to go to...” start to conversations that will have Lynn and me back in her car and on the road to whatever retail siren has called out to us. But it will be good to be home—both on-line and off.

Comments

  1. Welcome back home to Indiana! Missed you, girl.

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  2. welcome home, Liz! I love vacations when I can completely disconnect - although I do miss my cyber friends a TON on those trips! I think I like them so much because it makes it simpler to sink into a book I'm reading...without worrying if I should check email/twitter/news sites just one more time...

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    1. I was surprised at how much I missed everyone. I'm not sure it's all that good of a life-indicator , but I'm glad to be back on-line.

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  3. I'm the same as you when it comes to writing - the screen has overtaken the notebook. I even carry a small recorder for making notes while I drive! Glad to know you enjoyed your time off and are back refreshed and ready to write more lovely stories.

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    1. Thanks, Ashantay. It was sure a surprise to me. I will admit, too, that I still love notebooks and pens, but many of my notebooks are now empty. :-)

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  4. Welcome home and thanks for making it sound almost as good to be here in the colder weather--almost! It sounds like you recharged your batteries, always a good thing.

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    1. It was a good thing, Cathy. It has snowed ever since we got home this afternoon, though, so I'm not sure I'm recharged enough. :-)

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  5. Welcome back, Liz! Hope your road trip is going well.

    I'm the opposite of you. Most of my first drafts are still done with pen and paper. This time around, I found a graph notebook--love! Writing on graph paper releases my inner muse. And with lots of colored pens so I can make notes on the side that stand out.

    My favorite writing utensil is Sharpie's liquid pencil. I hunt them down everywhere trying to catch a bargain, although at this stage, I can only find them at Office Max and not for cheap.

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    1. One of the coolest of all writer things is how different we are! I love the sound of the liquid pencil--I've never used one--and I still hunger for the yellow notebooks. :-)

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  6. So glad you're back!! Welcome home!

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    1. It's good to be here...well, except for the snow part...

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  7. Liz, you're amazing, I don't know if I could go back to pen and paper. It took me such a lot of trouble to wean myself from them. LOL

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    1. Me, too! How much trouble did you have learning to only have one space after a period? That was a rough one for me. :-)

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