I read in a blog this week that David Pride, one of our contributors, tries to go to cities that are bigger than where he lives at least once or twice a year. It’s an interesting proposition.
There
is a sense of freedom when one hits the open road headed out of town. I love
coming home to Windham, but at times, seeing it in the rearview mirror gives me
a thrill that there is more out there to experience, new fodder for stories yet
to be written.
This
past weekend, I did just that, I took a roadtrip with three of my author
friends and we went to a conference in New Jersey. The following are my
observations in no particular order…until the end.
Observation
1: There are a lot more cars in New Jersey. If we waited until there were no
cars coming…we were never getting on Route 1.
Observation
2: Spending time with likeminded individuals is motivating and makes one feel
like an adult.
Observation
3: There is more to life than shuttling the kids back and forth to soccer,
hockey, baseball, ballet…there’s a whole world out there where adults sit at
dinner for hours talking, sharing and experience the food that someone else
cooked.
Observation
4: When you forget medication at home and you’re four states away…there is not
an easy way to get a prescription refilled. I hear that it happens all the
time, but coordinating between the pharmacy, the doctor and the ride in New
Jersey is why people take pills in the first place.
Observation
5: I love to write. I love to talk about writing. I love to learn about what
everyone who writes does to become successful.
Observation
6: When you’re a published author at the New Jersey Romance Writers conference,
you get chocolate covered pretzels and wine. And share it with other, often
more successful, authors.
Observation
7: By day three of the conference, everyone is exhausted. The seven or eight
hour ride home seems Tolstoy long and if someone else is driving…it’s a good
thing.
Observation
8: Arriving home is familiar and comforting.
Observation
9: There’s nothing like a hug from the child who wants to know “What’s for
dinner?” ten seconds after you want into the room.
Observation
10: News happened while I was away, but my fabulous reporters were out there
covering stories and they didn’t miss me at all.