From home. I have very limited Internet and am writing this from my phone, so it will be brief.

There comes a point when the appeal of going to stay with a friend for the weekend, hours from home, and have some time where you are responsible for nothing is awfully appealing. We plan to do some hiking, but mostly this is about being not-at-home for a couple of days. My husband urged me to keep the plan made months ago, and my son is home to keep an eye on him, so I went.

That, and there’s nothing like 7 hours of driving for thinking time. I got on the road and realized I could have grabbed my dictation set-up, but after a time I decided I’m not unhappy I wasn’t trying to push a story out. Not only was I having fun singing along to my playlist, my brain seems to be unwilling to create for now. It was very relaxing, other than the road construction and driving through a thunderstorm. Having a semi in front of you as a sort of mobile lighthouse is handy when the rain makes the world disappear. We crawled along until we got out of it. I have to tell you that as the temps dropped to 67F (per the car thermometer) that it’s the coolest I have been in months. It was 105 as I got away from home in the late morning.

As we sat and talked after I reached my destination, a swarm of dragonflies appeared. They are migrating, and hundreds of them, with stiffly-rustling wings, flew around the house in the growing twilight. As they were riding the gust front of another storm I didn’t get photos… perhaps today. Today is a day for a hike and trying out the new camera carry-rig and more talking with two of the wisest women I know. A day of rest.

I’m not going to try to write. I’m going to be passive and let the muse be lazy. Colorado is beautiful and feeding my soul is my only priority.