Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Creativity in humidity


Yesterday in Massachusetts was truly a summer day. The temperatures rose above 90, the humidity kept pace. All we could do was stay as still as possible. Despite having grown up here, I am never prepared for the summer. I melt, and any cheerfulness I may have had melts away as well.

My girls take after me.

Yesterday could have been a truly craptastic day.

But it wasn’t.

After a morning appointment, we went to the ice cream stand for lunch. Yes, ice cream cones are a perfectly appropriate lunch when the thermometer already reads in the high 80s at 11:00am. After that we drove up to the mall to soak in some air conditioning and buy a few needed summer clothes. Second lunch in the food court (with actual protein) and we were ready to brave the outdoors again.

At home, Thea retreated to her air-conditioned room (she has asthma, so gets the ac), Anya headed to the relative cool of the finished basement, and I sat under the porch ceiling fan icing my wrist.

And here’s the cool part: each of us got to work on a creative project. I started organizing the two major writing projects I am thinking about for the summer, Thea created character boards for a story idea that’s been percolating for a while, and Anya pounded away on her laptop to complete the next part of her fantasy novel, complete with snippets of poetic prophesy.

At the end of the day, my wrist still hurt, there were dishes in the sink, and not a single load of laundry had made it to the washer. It was a very productive day.
Today we are anticipating temperatures in the mid-90s with 70% humidity. We’re heading down the street to the lake to meet up with some friends. (I’m tempted to bring my laptop.)

Not every day will be as creatively productive as Monday was. Some days I’ll have to actually wash those dishes and run the washing machine. Still, what an inspiring way to spend our first day of school vacation.

Here’s to a summer of writing!




This is my Slice of Life for the week. See others here

5 comments:

  1. You certainly made the most of the heat and humidity. Letting the dishes go and living in the moment is such a wonderful summer gift!

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  2. Your day was filled with the best kind of productivity--the creative kind. Dishes and laundry will always be with us. I hope you just as good a day at the lake.

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  3. I like the way you beat the heat. Ice cream for lunch, now that's a great idea. We have lots of heat and humidity in Missouri, so I know what you are dealing with, but we have AC. That helps. I hope you find some relief, but keep enjoying the ice cream.

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  4. It was unbearably humid here today and consequently, violent thunderstorms have followed-we lost power for about 2 hours this evening-and that resulted in dinner out to eat! yay, no cooking! Hope you survived...although the humidity seemed to be overwhelming-you still accomplished much! Congratulate yourself on what you got done!

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  5. Your voice is so conversational and engaging. "Craptastic" what a funny word. I want to have ice cream for lunch and leave the dishes in the sink. Thanks for making it acceptable and admirable.

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