August Goal #2: Daily Writing
We arrived in Spain last night, to wide open plains, blue sky stained with spots of clouds, and the quiet of suburban life. We’ll be staying with my in-laws for two weeks while we look for a place to live and though we’ll be working (I plan to work half days most days and a few full days) it feels like a vacation. After months of preparing this trip, we’re finally here. Sitting and listening to birds sing, sprinklers make their rounds, and the breeze moving through the poplar trees next door.
I’d been craving quiet, outdoor space all summer. Wanting a break from city life and most of all city noise. So here we are. And my goal to accompany these two weeks is to sit outside, with this view of brown grass, red buildings, wide open skies, and write each day. In the morning, before the heat of the day. Or at night, when the sweltering heat has passed. This year will be about collecting dissertation data, and writing time will be taken up by memos and fieldnotes most days. But for the next two weeks I’m still in scholarship, still drawing more from the books than the field, still reading more than talking with people, and I want to use the expansive quiet space I have in this house for writing about it. So, a 30 minute walk each day, and an hour of writing.