Seasonal Stealing Away

I have been awake for hours, and I'm inordinately proud of myself for not spending my time scrolling through social media feeds that have minimal value.  I've been preparing poetry submissions, which means various kinds of scrolling:  through my submission log, through websites, across the Submittable platform.  I'm astonished at how much it costs to submit now, and no, I don't think it's a similar cost to paper, ink, envelopes, and stamps.

I've just been to the post office, so I have a sense of how much stamps cost.  My local post office has such a great selection of stamps.  Plus, I love getting mail.  I do love the ease of submitting online, but it's such a huge cost if I tally it up.  I don't know why I don't mind spending 84 cents on postage, but $3 is almost always a deal breaker.

I woke up thinking about upcoming events, both in classes I teach and classes that I'm taking.  You might think I would rise from my bed and get to work on those elements, but I got distracted by poetry submissions, which is better than the social media scrolling which often distracts me.

I don't know why I sprang wide awake at 2 in the morning.  I was able to get some things accomplished yesterday, like quilts for God's Work, Our Hands Sunday for people to knot.  I tried to go to the library, but got caught up in school pick up lines (grr), so I bailed.  As I pumped gas, I thought about the blazing hot sun and how hungry I was and how we didn't have anything in the house that I wanted to eat.  I had left my spouse puzzling over plumbing to go to Quilt Group, and suddenly, I thought, we should go to a brewery.  

My spouse was ready for a break, and we had a gift card from Sierra Nevada Brewing Company that had some money left on it.  Off we went, and it was a great decision.  I made this Facebook post:  "Some days when the newish technology Pex plumbing parts aren't connecting like they should, you just need to go to the local brewery and spend time in gardens that aren't yours. I didn't bring my camera, so you'll just have to imagine us at the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, enjoying the mid-afternoon heat when very few others were there, listening to a band warm up for later, trying not to droop like the huge sunflowers."

It is a strange season we're in, with summer making a surprise comeback (highs in the 90's even in the mountains), while at the same time needing to blow/sweep leaves off the back deck several times a day.  I haven't gotten essays yet from any of my students, but it feels like we've been in class together for more than just a few weeks. Soon the pace will heat up, so it was good to steal away to enjoy a beer at a beautiful place nearby.