Summer Thoughts, and a Reading Retreat
It’s interesting, the different ways people are experiencing summer. For some of us, it’s whizzing by too fast and we can see the end in sight. Others feel like summer has just begun, and in Anne’s last post she said “I’ve noticed that my life does not really change in rhythm when summer begins.” Like most people with school-age children, I DEFINITELY notice a change of rhythm in the summer. And, I’ve been enjoying it immensely. I don’t have to get up in the dark! There’s no rushing in the morning to get a lunch packed and my daughter to school. I can stay up later at night reading! I love it. There are some details about the summer that I’m not loving, however. One is the lack of running. This is the second week of no running because of my calf issue, and even before that running was sporadic (and, sometimes painful.) I’m lucky that I’m still able to do everything else, like walk (ho hum) pool run (arg) the stair climber (ARG!) and weightlifting (sigh.) Seriously, I’m glad I can be active, but my life just seems a little less “sparkly” without running. The other little, pesky irritation about summer is that, while I’m glad everyone is home, it’s just that, well, everyone is HOME. Sometimes the houses feels a little crowded. I don’t mind it at dinner and in the evening- then it feels cozy to have everyone here. But during the school year I’m used to having a little more time to myself, particularly on my Wednesdays off. Last week I read this article on Modern Mrs. Darcy: “7 Tips for Planning Your Own Personal Reader’s Retreat”. Ooooh! I want my own personal reader’s retreat! Unfortunately I can’t do anything extreme like check into a hotel for the weekend, or lock myself in the bedroom for two days. But I’m declaring this Wednesday my “Day of Reading,” aka a mini-reading retreat. Contrary to what the photo at the top of this post implies, I will NOT be reading on the beach, because that would be terrible. My plans for the day include 1) finish the book I’m currently reading, 2) go through my TBR and pick a few books to read next, 3) visit the bookstore and library, where I will browse and return home with a new stack of books. All of this will be done comfortably inside with the AC blasting away. I had some big running plans for the summer, but when I look back on it I’ll think of it as the “Summer of Reading.” I’ll take that as my second choice, happily. How would you plan a “reading retreat” for yourself? If you had to call this the “Summer of —-” what would you say? Top photo by Link Hoang on Unsplash