"I'm going to use the high energy of summer to get sh*t done!"
Well, that was my intent anyway. I was going to finish getting the book ready for professional editing, I was going to train hard and be super-strong to return to skating in the fall, and I was going to have all kinds of public history content tee'd up and ready to go. Some of this has happened. Some of it has not. Let's break it down.
Summer Vibes. Mostly, I was living summer vibes. No particular schedule, hanging with my kid while he was home from college, a lovely week at the beach, and then struggling through a nasty stretch of heat and unbreathable air.
There were lots of good books about dolphins and whales and the health benefits of being in and around water. I wrapped up summer reading with James Bradley's Deep Water: The World in the Ocean. Highly recommend this one for its deep dive (pun absolutely intended) into ocean life, socio-economic history, and climate science.
The Book. Admittedly, this is the piece that got back-burnered far more often than it should have. I'm still going through it, doing some fact-checking, filling in plot holes, and wrapping up the small research projects that I had sprinkled throughout the latest draft. It's getting closer, but it's not quite ready to go to an editor. One thing that has been absolutely consistent with this book project is that each step is taking much longer than I expect.
Public History Content. This is probably where I've been the most productive. I actually have content basically ready to go to get us through the final quarter of the year. Articles have been written, creatives have been written, videos have been recorded and just need to be edited. This is the first time ever I've been able to get ahead of the game and I hope it means I can settle into a consistent schedule. After months of not creating, I had to basically relearn everything (video creation doesn't come naturally to me) and I really don't want to lose that knowledge again.
Return to Skating. For literally years I've been in a vicious cycle of learning to skate - getting injured - quitting - getting strong off the ice - returning to skate - getting injured - quitting - getting strong...you get the idea. Summer is notoriously hard for consistent skating. Rink schedules, vacation schedules, and the like all conspire to keep folks off the ice for a bit. And really, it's been good. I've spent more time in the gym getting strong and I'm pain-free from my injury. As we head into the fall, the goal is to see if I can find a way to learn to skate without getting hurt.
Music studies. What a mess! I try to play when I'm home alone, but during the summer that becomes harder. Add to that the decided discomfort of practicing in a room that becomes unbearably hot in the summer and, well...I kind of lost my flutey mojo. It's amazing how quickly my sound quality declined. And my endurance...sheesh! this takes a lot of lung strength. I have been getting my girl out and making some noise though. I'm going to get some of my confidence back and then try to get back into consistent instruction.
For now, I'm taking the good vibes of Summer 2024 into the cozy season. I'm a fall girl through-and-through and I'm looking forward to seeing what my favorite season has in store.
###
Comentarii