It Has Been Quiet at the Richards House

Cambridge

It has been pretty quiet at our house for the last couple of weeks.  (And, I don’t mean just since Rod left for the PSWD Minister’s retreat on Monday.)  No, it was quiet even when we were both here.  I guess it has something to do with the end of Sabbatical Summer 2010.  I think we have both been caught up in the end of one thing and the beginning of another. 

Kew Garden

I can’t speak for Rod, but I know for myself there has been a lot of reflection around what I did and didn’t accomplish this summer.  There has been a gradual reengagement into my “real life.”  I don’t actually start back to work until next Monday, but I have been working on blog posts for the library for the last couple of weeks, and I have been at the library nearly every day, talking to my co-workers and checking the shelves for new titles and making lists of books I want to read, and books I want to blog about.   (I have come full circle and after a summer away, I am making lists again.)

I have been washing clothes and blankets. Putting the fans up in the attic, taking down the space heaters.  Putting the tent and the beach umbrella away.  Thinking about packing my lunch every day.  Transitioning from summer to fall. 

Natural History Museum

I have been thinking about the journey that I took this summer, both the actual journey and the virtual one. About the people I saw and spent time with, and those I didn’t.  Some of the things I saw and did this summer were disappointments; some were better than I could have possibly imagined.

Rod and I have both been quiet; both of us processing in our own ways.  We both have been reading and watching movies like crazy (both of which are solitary endeavors in our household); aware that our time for these relaxing occupations will be substantially limited when we go back to work.  I have taken to checking books made out of paper and board out of the library again.  I still love my Kindle, but have decided I can read ebooks and paper books, because it is the story, not the platform that makes it a book. Both of us seem to be searching for some sort of conclusions.  (Perhaps the expectation for a tidy ending is the curse of readers of fiction in general and mysteries in particular..) 

Highgate Cemetary

What did I learn?  What would I do differently if I could have a do-over? What will I do if I have another chance?  Did I see what I wanted to see, do what I wanted to do?  Did I write as much as I wanted?  Did I read as much as I wanted?  Did I see enough castles?  Did I take enough pictures?   

How different was the reality from the expectation?  Why do I feel so blocked in my efforts to express myself?  Will I continue to write and take photographs now that Sabbatical Summer 2010 is nearly at an end? 

I do want to thank everyone who read this blog and everyone who posted comments.  It was gratifying, and I hope that some parts of it were interesting to you.  I am not exactly sure what direction this blog will take now that our Sabbatical is about to be officially over, but I suspect I will continue to post here or somewhere.  (I don’t believe you have yet seen all the pictures I took of the Amsterdam Public Library!!!)

Stonehenge