Pretty soon, I will be spending most of my time in Courtyard by Marriott beds that look like this. Maybe a Holiday Inn or a Hilton Garden Inn, but they all start to look alike after a point.
I travel for work, and all fall, I’m in a different hotel every night, for weeks on end. I head to some 60 colleges and universities around the country in a 4 month period, and I'll see a good bit of the USA along the way. It's quite interesting, but it is exhausting, and the planning for these trips, between airline reservations, hotels, rental cars and individual visits to "lock in" with professors, students and Career Services offices around the nation, takes me months.
So, this time of year, in mid-July, as I’m enjoying our remaining flowers that are blooming, it’s with the bittersweet recognition that, as each variety of perennial fades, it brings me closer to when I’ll be gone again. The clock is ticking! (Can you hear the panic setting in yet?!)
The annuals are still going strong, and we have lots of color inside, but most of the perennials are finished for the season, with a few exceptions. It’s frustrating to get excited about the ones that are opening up, knowing that soon I’ll be missing them!
My wall-sized, laminated maps arrived recently, heralding the beginning of my trip-planning stages. These maps are “American Higher Education maps” that highlight all of the colleges and universities around the country so that I can more readily visualize where I need to plan my trips and route them accordingly. I have always used atlases in books before, but this will put everything in front of me so I can see the Big Picture more easily.
Once I’m on the road, I find it fascinating, and I learn and see so much, but this time of year, before it all starts, can be daunting… OK, good to get that out of my system!
“Remember what Bilbo used to say: It’s a dangerous business, Frodo,going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.” (-JRR Tolkien)
14 comments:
LOVE the last quote Sue!
WOWZA that is daunting!!!
Eeeek
and the MAPs for plotting your route LORDI
I'm in awe..
At least you can always come back here and relive your lovely summer and perhaps get re-inspired?
So your trip won't be GLAMOROUS?
Love that, Carol! Yes, once I get going, I quite like it, but it's the "facing what's ahead" that I think is the most daunting! I'm in the throes of that right now!
Don't let the fall ruin the summer! You've still got some time to enjoy. I, too, loved Bilbo's quote. Wise little Hobbit.
That is a wonderful quote - and so true sometimes. But think of all the wonderful sketching opportunities awaiting you across the country. For now, enjoy a nice kazy summer!Your sketches here capture that beautifully.
I know--I told myself the same thing, Pamela--I have to enjoy the now! I also tell myself about all the wonderful sketching opportunities awaiting on the road, Casey, so you're both so right!
wow. Just the thought is daunting to me.
Does Joe go with you? If not do you see much of each other? That would be the worst for me.
But yes you do still have some summer left to enjoy. Dont throw that away.
How poignant, to anticipate the leaving with dread and still to know there are interesting things to see along the way once you're launched. Will this trip bring you to Southern California? If so, could you bear a repeat of last fall's meeting?
Cris, sometimes Joe will come and meet me along the way somewhere, and sometimes not. It depends on how crazy the schedule is, too!
Jane, I'm not sure yet where I'll be heading and when, but once I get it all situated, I'll let you know! I'd LOVE to see you all again! I'll keep you posted: thanks for asking!
Your interior paintings are so charming, Sue. And your flowers look so healthy! (My garden is being devoured by earwigs this year. The skeleton leaves on the plants are a sad sight. I must mix up some soapy spray for them before it's too late.) Your travels do sound a bit exhausting, but we still have six weeks of summer to enjoy! Wonderful Tolkien quote.
I hate when people tell me, "I don't know how you do it." So I won't tell YOU that, but you have my undying admiration! Let me know if you visit KU or UMKC....seems doubtful based on last year's travels.
thanks, all--Jeanette, once I get going, I know I'll be fine. It's the preparation that freaks me every year! LOL
ps
Jeanette, if I ever get over that way, I'd LOVE to get together!! Thanks for the thought!
Sue, plant phlox! They'll stay with you until you have to leave on the Great Fall Journey---late blooming salvias, too.
I,like you, note the turning of the seasons, especially the change in light. I try to stay rooted in the present, but it's hard. Enjoy your summer---there's quite a bit left!
thanks, all--Laura, we do have some phlox--and lots of things blooming--that's not really my worry. This time of year just means the end of real summer for me, because from Aug 1 on, I am heavily immersed in trip-planning, and it feels like the end of summer for me.
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