Retreat... by Liz Flaherty

A couple of times a year, my friend Nan Reinhardt take three or four days (or six!) and to on a writing retreat. Usually we're finishing a book (me) or starting one (Nan), and we're tired before we even start. 

We know we're lucky to be able to do this, that we have husbands who keep the home fires burning, that our kids and grandkids don't need us on a daily basis (I'm still a little wounded by that, but not terribly), and that our houses are perfectly happy to not have us to clean it and/or hang the toilet paper the right way. 

And, yes, my house is happier than Nan's because I'm the worst housekeeper on the planet and that's not going to change any time soon. Ever. That's not going to change ever. 

But I'm regressing and trying to be funny when the subject matter is really kind of serious. I hear and read a lot about mental illness and I've made no secret of taking an antidepressant.  We know the political and social media situations are toxic. We know respect for others is more of a meme than an actuality in way too many cases. 

Hence, retreat. No, louder. 

We were gone for six days. The only time we turned on the TV was to watch the vice-presidential debate. Social media was way down on our scale of interest, far below writing, eating, talking, and laughing. It was a great week. 

I'm not saying it's necessary to spend a week in South Haven, Michigan--although I recommend it--to get away from "what ails you." You can do it anywhere. You can do it by closing doors on things and people who create havoc in your soul, turning off devices that have you lying awake at night, not responding to the instigators, watching the sunset, watching the colors change. You can escape by acknowledging kindness and passing it on, by sitting with friends and telling terrible jokes, and by eating soup and pie; it is autumn, after all. 

Enough advice from me for one day. I'm late getting this posted and I have unpacking to do, but I'm wishing you all a good week and a gentle retreat. Be nice to somebody.

"Before We Read, We Look and See."

 

I'm starting this on Tuesday of all days because I'm in Michigan on a writing retreat with Nan Reinhardt. I got 1000 happy words in today, plus had a great lunch and a walk around South Haven. But then this afternoon on Facebook, I saw the meme above. I thought, Oh, yes. 

Does anyone else remember the first Dick and Jane reader? Its first word was Look, and I was so mesmerized by it. Looking things up now, I found that the premise for that book was the title up there: "Before We Read, We Look and See." 

There was no "before" to it for me. When I read that first word, there was no going back. I sat in the barn on a milking stool and Mom and my brother Dan helped me read that first book. (I needed a lot of help.) When I told my first grade teacher I'd read the whole book but that I couldn't seem to remember come, she said I was lying. But I wasn't. (Not that I never did. Sigh.)

I have a slew of days that changed my life. Children's births, grandkids' births, marriage, job change, retirement, the Emmaus Walk, the day my first book sold. I'm glad to have those, lucky to have those, and still happy to have met Dick and Jane and to have been so immediately enthralled by the written word.

Magic hour, indeed.

~*~

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When sorrows like sea billows roll

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say

It is well, it is well with my soul

Saturday morning.

Thanks to Michigan for a wonderful four days. If you're ever in South Haven, pay Clementine's a visit. The food and service were wonderful. After dinner, take a walk or a ride to the lighthouse and watch the sun slip silently into the water. 

There are two huge blessings about going away for a few days. The first one is getting to go. The second one is getting to come home.

Have a blessed week. Be nice to somebody.