How is June so gorgeous?! It’s also been so busy, I have whiplash.
We started the month as guests at a really fun wedding.
Seen from the road:
Then spent the second weekend of the month at a work conference RE: civic engagement on college campuses. I’d never been to Oberlin, OH before. We drove out, and found a retro dream of a diner somewhere in the Poconos.
And, Dairy Queen happened. I won’t soon forget the frosted animal cracker Blizzard!
The College has a beautiful campus and I loved going to keynotes inside the Conservatory. The town was lovely!
I claimed a favorite nook in the AirBnB as well.
In the background of all these adventures, June 1 began 1,000 Words of Summer. This is a summer writing challenge of writing 1,000 words per day, supported by a loving online community, and created and led by author I admire Jami Attenberg.
Almost two weeks in I can report: I have shown up to my writing every day. I have been surprised and delighted that chaotic outlines and weird half-thoughts have shaped up a bit, just because I gave them some attention. I have marveled at my own imagination, at some plot points or images that have come out of my brain when I was sitting to stare at a Google Doc with my cursor blinking.
I can also say: I didn’t hit 1,000 words on either day with a 9-hour drive. And I’m actually writing less now that I’m home, because I had a jam-packed work day full of meetings that broke my brain. But I got something on the page that wasn’t there before.
And I also suspect there is some kind of magic happening when I get even 300 words written in a day, every day, because in-between sitting down to write, I am in that dreamworld of fiction. I think about and dream about what I am writing, and work out questions or roadblocks or inconsistencies when I am driving or walking or doing the dishes. This is a writing practice but it is also an attention practice. It feels good!
In other news, the azaleas are blooming.
My wild strawberries are thriving:
And the CSA share doth provide!
Even if it’s just a matter of romaine lettuce on a sandwich or a handful of strawberries in a smoothie, eating at home has been fresh.
A little more than one week till it’s officially summer! I wrote about a frozen summer treat to get into the spirit.
Laura Eppinger 