How is Your Summer Going?

I had to pause and ask myself, “How is my summer going?”  Initially, I can say, things are going well even though no big trips have been planned. Honestly, I must admit that I do not want to be standing in a line at an airport trying to get through security nor waiting to board a flight.

Nowadays, after I do board the flight, I would have to go into immediate prayer mode and hope that no one loses self-control while flying mid-air.  It may sound comical but in reality, it would be quite unnerving.

After checking into a hotel, I do not want to meditate for calm because the wait staff did not bring back any face cloths or towels or she might choose to ignore the DO NOT DISTURB sign and knock anyway because she wants to finish her rounds. Needless to say, these are scenarios that I have experienced while traveling.

At this juncture, I am having a stay-cation and I must admit that it has been rather nice.  I have been able to sleep later and have breakfast sitting close to the scenic lakefront.  I can think and reflect as I look out over the great yonder at God’s beatific bounty.

I just finished writing a book which is the final installment in a series and I have written a few blog posts.  I have found some more creative ways to market my books and I have read books which have allowed me to study other authors’ writing styles.

I have traveled to the Pacific Northwest through reading Summer Island and Distant Shores both by Kristin Hannah.  Mary Higgins Clark gave me a look into the private lives of George and Patsy (Martha) Washington in her Mount Vernon Love Story.  J. D. Vance shared his Appalachian background in The Hillbilly Elegy.  I privately chuckled because his sharp-shooting grandmother reminded me of some of my relatives.

I have had a few very special outings.  I went to see a play called Pamplona about Ernest Hemingway and I visited a dear friend who happens to live in a neighborhood where I had my first apartment and the place of my humble beginnings.  Our rich laughter and my simple remembrances of days gone by helped me draw a valid conclusion. I would say that my summer is going, “Pretty darn good, all things considered.”

I am now engaged in Patrick O’Brian’s Master and Commander.  O’Brian’s British Naval Lieutenant Jack Aubrey is about to set sail on a sloop called Sophie.  He has his men in place and the supplies are all stocked as they are about to embark out onto the high seas during a war with Napoleon.  Oh boy!

So, I ask, “How is your summer going?”

Lynn M.                                                                         July 23, 2017