I'm back! I hope everyone has been enjoying the last bit of summer. My younger child went back to school yesterday and it felt like a very abrupt end to summer. But before that, I had a really relaxing and rejuvenating couple of weeks. One of the great things for me about getting away is that I really give myself permission to put absolutely everything I usually worry about on the back burner. (I highly recommend doing this from time to time -- what a gift!) Here's some of what I did and where it led me:
1. My husband and I stayed at a B&B in Murphys, California. It's a tiny little Old West type town known as "The Queen of the Sierra". Okay, honestly, I have no idea why it would be known as that, but it was very cute. And we stayed in a really fantastic B&B called
Dunbar House which was built in 1880 and has lots of old world charm. The breakfasts were way too rich for my blood -- soufflés and bread pudding and thick, creamy parfaits. Just having time to 'be' and not 'do' was amazing, time to read books, time to reconnect and talk about whatever instead of discussing who's taking which child where the next day, etc. all made for a really special time.
2. We went for a five and a half mile hike in
Big Trees State Park, where they have the biggest trees on earth. Part of this little adventure was book research, but it was also just for fun. We hiked in the less-touristy part of the park and were thrilled to find we had it mostly to ourselves. And some of the trees were tremendous. Just taking regular steps, it took 40 of mine to circle the largest tree. It was quiet there in a way that's different -- no humming of machinery, no cars passing by -- only the scurrying of super cute little chipmunks. That hike reminded me about the importance of stillness and quiet and how much we need that in our lives from time to time.
3. We also hiked for five and a half miles in
the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir area of Yosemite, which was gorgeous and also less busy than other parts of Yosemite. It was hot that day, which made the hike more of a challenge, but the majesty of the surroundings was definitely worth it. And I was reminded of how important it is to find time to be in nature, to feel the spray of a waterfall or look out on a body of water or feel little next to a huge granite cliff. Life gets so busy and we rush, rush, rush all the time. This was a great reminder to
make time for connecting in nature. We also lost the trail at one point, but that led us to a fun area, where the way was more challenging, but also more fun.
4. Then we went to the summer camp where our kids had already been for a week. My husband volunteered as camp doctor for the next week. What a treat to get to be a fly on the wall and see what our kids were up to at camp

And there I had absolutely no responsibilities -- no online commitments, no cooking or housework, not even taking care of the kids. I read a lot, wrote some, walked some, and spent a lot of time sitting on our little cabin's porch, feeling the breeze and watching people. It was incredibly relaxing -- time out of time -- and really recharged my batteries.
5. Last night I went to my writing group, where we always do a little meditation/visualization before we start writing. And I realized there that writing is a guide to me about how to live my life. When I write, as I've said before, I don't outline or plot out a story, I just write and see where it takes me. At any given point in the story, there are infinite possibilities of where the story might go next. Usually, my logical brain says, "Oh, it should go here." But there's this other part of me that feels something else. "Let's try this instead," it says. I feel nervous, I think, "What? Really? But what if it doesn't work?" But I know I can always backtrack if I have to, so I go for it without stressing. I'm hoping that someday I'll learn to live my life this way: Go with that intuitive feeling, trust that it'll work out. And even though it's not always so easy to backtrack in life, let go of the stress and see where the path takes me. It might be more challenging, but it might also be more fun.
Happy Trails!
