Reading Culture

It is that time of the vacation at a distant place where I wonder if I should be doing more.  There are cliffs to dive off of, rock faces to scale, surfing or snorkeling, and a different ocean's chill waters to brave.  Or I could sit in the sun and read.  Or sit inside, in the cool AC, and read.

I'm reading for pleasure--there will be enough time for seminary reading in 2023.  But still, I feel this vague guilt, like I should be doing more with my life, even though I did make a poetry submission this morning to a journal whose submission window closes while I'm on vacation.

I have been feeling somewhat similarly about my life in DC.  Am I taking advantage of enough non-seminary activities to justify living in the city?  So now, before too much time has gone by, let me make a list of what I did do during Fall 2022 semester:

--While I had planned to go to a different museum every week, that plan did not work out.  Going downtown by way of Metro takes significantly more time than I had estimated, especially since the Metro station is a mile away.  But I did go to the Museum of African-American history.  And while I was there, I went to the Hirshhorn too, and briefly the Museum of American History.

--I went to an evening arts festival in Tenleytown.  While I didn't see much art, walking an indoor labyrinth by candlelight at St. Columba's Episcopal Church made it worthwhile.

--I went to an Evensong service at the National Cathedral.

--I went to the National Zoo twice, once to see the Zoolights at night, and once to see the animals by day.

--I went down to Williamsburg to hear The Messiah.

--I was part of an Honorflight experience, so I saw the Marine Corps Museum in Quantico, the WWII Memorial in DC, and the Vietnam War Memorial too.

--Part of the reason I went to be a passive observer of art is that I went to 2 retreats where I made art, one in September (Crafts for Christmas) and one in November (the quilt retreat).

As I head into this next semester of living on campus, let me remember that it's easier to go downtown earlier in the term, when I don't need to be working on big, long/late term projects.  Let me resolve to see more museums in January and early February, when time seems more expansive.