Enjoy the View
Hello from the guest room, hello from the side of the road
June 15, 2024, 11:56
High 75ºF/ Low 53ºF, blue skies, pressure 1013 mb, waxing gibbous, luteal
This time last year, we were motoring up the Intracoastal Waterway, sleeping at a new port each night, pushing North with hurricane season on our heels. We had unprecedented tornados in Florida and a freight train of Northly winds at our bow in late spring. We spent 48 hours in the Great Dismal Swamp, and then spent nine months or so working our way out of a metaphorical swamp. The last thousand miles of our voyage from San Francisco to the Chesapeake Bay were just as difficult and doable as the prior 8,000 and life on land has proved to be more of the same.
Yesterday was the last day of
’s #1000wordsofsummer challenge. I joined in at the suggestion of and kept going thanks to our talkative group chat with Liz McMurtry. A Google doc of 12,209 rambling words emerged. Throughout the process, I learned that writing and editing are separate tasks and that I have/had a lot of words to get out to process all the big experiences that took place over the last many years, and that continue coming down the pipe. The pages are a conversation with myself, starting with my surroundings and spiraling inward, passing the past and present. Writing became more like gardening, an effort in tending to the conditions and delighting in what grows. My tried and true tricks include a beverage, a comfy seat, and knitting to keep my head somewhat in the game when it wants to wander.For the first few days of #1000wordsofsummer, I participated without rigor, loosely tallying journal pages, emails, and cover letters and mildly alerting my accountability buds that I had completed the day. On June 4, I opened a new Google Doc, titled it “The Thing About Writing”, and continued to riff on it throughout the month. 1000 words in a digital document might be the key for me, we’ll see. My first installment was done at my sister-in-law’s table with her cat as my companion.
On Wednesday, we flew 500 mph back toward the San Francisco Bay.
Today I’m sitting at a desk in a friend’s guest room. We are at the height of the year, five days from the summer solstice and full moon. Life feels loud, sweet, and strange.
Before we left Richmond, life was in full bloom. Green things and flowers everywhere, turnips and salad mix and beets from my in law’s garden. I hosted a “baby shower craft night” for a dear friend I didn’t know a year ago, who has been my steady sounding board as I riff on new ideas for making ends meet. If you’re looking for a house in Virginia, or simply love curated Zillow lists, subscribe to Camille’s Hot List.
On June 6, I had a fantastic day. Awoke at 6 AM to lap swim with my neighbor at the nearby pool, picked up a bagel and cold brew, biked to RVA Paddlesports for camp counselor orientation and a lap of the Upper James River in an inflatable kayak, biked to Northside, drank a flight of Ninja Kombucha and reviewed my notes before teaching a class on rag rugs at SCRAP RVA. Thunderstorms rolled in and my sweetie swooped me and the gear in our car. We ate Alamo barbecue and I spotted my first passionflower of the season on a walk by the river. I slept well.
75% of the words you see here were written yesterday morning.
We’re in another chapter of confused seas, or perhaps figuring out what lines to run on this bend of the river. I am wary after years of moving the goal post and rushing onto the next thing. I am increasingly taking short moments to enjoy the view, for we may never pass this way again.
My views yesterday in and around Oakland:
Had a blast learning English paper piecing from Sadie of Spaghetti Western Sewing at Studio Sessions scrap night.
See you next week!