Last light of Summer - Reports from the field

This is a mid-journey report from my writing-retreat-in-progress.

I've started thinking about the next part of my Dress Cycle.

During a hike in Chutes Provincial Park in Massey, ON, I've decided on a cute or not-so-cute title:

What to Wear to a Protest, -or- alternatively, What to wear when going to a protest.

Of course, still work in progress, but it's an interesting topic that I want to investigate.

The goal is to have something to submit to this year's CBC Short Fiction Prize Contest, 2500 words, submission open from Sept. 1, 2019 to Oct. 31, 2019. Obviously I want to get it in before Oct 31, and this is the earliest I've ever started thinking about this contest.

Some thoughts thus far:

- I'm a morning person. Some of the best thinking and experiences I've had are in the mornings. I can't describe how much I love mornings.

- Self-imposed No-Coffee rule. Broken only once to get decaf Timmie's during a long night drive. Otherwise, I'm holding fast on this rule. As a substitute, I've had many Earl Grey, London Fog, and oolong-from-a-bag teas.

- The loneliness from not being in relationship hits me sometimes. I wish there was someone who I can drag out of bed at 4am to go hiking or to go stargazing.

- As a related topic: I am good enough, and I don't need to change myself, except to become a better person. I know this sounds really vague and maybe even conceited, the thought I had was that I shouldn't need to change myself to suit the mass-market notions of attractiveness. I just need to be the best version of myself.

- Also related topic: DRIVING AT NIGHT IS DANGEROUS BECAUSE I KEEP LOOKING UP OUT THE SUNROOF AT THE STARS. OF WHICH THERE ARE SO MANY. DO NOT DO THIS.

- It took me about 2 days just to slow down. By mid day Sunday I finally gotten myself slowed down, and now I am marveling at how much time we all have. It's the same 24h a day, but golly, how you experience it and how you use it is up to you.

- The long road to practicing a craft that I've almost forgotten. The act of putting words, one after another, in a sequence, to form sentences, paragraphs, chapters, stories, to encompass an idea, a thought, an argument, a whole world. I welcome you back old friend.

- Should I go out driving or stay in watching netflix and trying to procrastinate? (ok there is no answer to this question.)