Kelly Gibbons, artist and writer, about me

Monday, July 12, 2004

If you observe a really happy man, you will find him building a boat, writing a symphony, educating his child, growing double dahlias or looking for dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert. He will not be searching for happiness as if it were a collar button that had rolled under the radiator, striving for it as a goal in itself. He will have become aware that he is happy in the course of living life twenty-four crowded hours of each day.

W. Beran Wolfe

I'm Back, did you miss me?

Some things I learned while I was away:
1. Camping is not for me. At least not with the group of people (my family) that I went with. I will not camp with them again. I personally liked camping and I could have done it with no problem (even in a tent and not in a "luxury" trailer), ALONE.
2. A luxury trailer is defined as a nice, clean camper, with an attached deck. It is not large. It is very small. It has a separate "bedroom." Or should I say a section divided from the rest of the space with folding doors. OK, it was a glorified closet with a Queen size bed. OK, a platform with a foam mattress on it. It has a bathroom with a shower, and life size Barbie (the 3 foot tall one) would have loved it. The real life Barbies I took with me had a little bit harder time with it.
2. High heels and dangling earrings are camping essentials (at least according to my daughters).
3. I still love the ocean and I want to live near it more than ever (at least for part of the year).
4. It cost more to camp then you think. If you are looking for a cheap camping vacation pitch a tent in the back yard. If you don't have a tent, lay on the ground with a blanket over you. Do not fool yourself into thinking that you will save money by camping. The pizza parlors closet to the campgrounds raise there rates dramatically. A desperate hungry camper will pay anything for real food.
5. I can still read a novel in a day. I can forget to eat, sleep, drink and just read and enjoy it.
6. I like writing more than I like writing about writing. I am going to start writing more and I think writing less here. Or, maybe I will write differently here. I haven't decided yet. I HAVE decided to really make writing a priority again.
7. I liked being away from the computer. I didn't miss the computer nearly as much as I thought I would. I actually really enjoyed not having one around. Although I have been on it all morning tying up lose ends, I intend to get away from it OFTEN.
8. There is no place like home. In the words of my daughter, "My life has changed so much since I went camping. I used to think our house was small. I feel like it is a mansion now. I love my house now."

posted by Kelly @ 7/12/2004 10:51:00 AM

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