What Do You Do All Summer?

"And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on trees ... I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer. " --F.S. Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Years ago, someone asked me what I do all summer—as if filling the time away from school would be some great challenge and I might get bored away from the classroom. The more appropriate question, in my case, might be what don’t I do all summer. (And, if we’re getting really serious, the real question probably is: “How do you do it all year…?!”, but perhaps more on that in a future issue.)

This summer, I plan to make visits to friends and family in Florida, Michigan, and North Carolina, as well as host friends and family from Florida and Pennsylvania. I plan to spend time at our second home in the Northern Neck. I plan to read a few books and take a few runs. I plan to paddleboard, swim, volunteer in various capacities, relax at the river, take naps, sit out in the sun, and spend extra time with Archie and The Littles.

I have a few projects I hope to make headway on, too, including:

• inventorying all the books I’ve purchased at indie bookstores over the years

• compiling my published outdoors articles into a physical portfolio/binder

• completing a pet bird first aid course

• completing a (third) dog first aid course

• working on revisions for Goodbye For Now.

In short: Summer will be too short.

But right now, it’s just begun, and I’m going to do my best to make the most of it.

What I’m Working On

My Debut Novel: An Expected End

I found out last week I was accepted to participate as an author in the Lancaster Community Library Author Expo on July 6. I’m looking forward to networking with other writers, meeting potential readers, and spending the day in the company of books and people who love them.

My Next Novel: Goodbye For Now

Now that school is out, I’ve created an admittedly haphazard schedule for starting to revise Goodbye for Now, setting aside a chunk of time (how much, I haven’t yet determined) on specific days—which I’ve marked on my calendar—to make sure I make progress.

Outdoor Writing

“Ponies & Pontoons: A magical day with Daisey’s Island Cruises,” a short piece about wild ponies on Assateague, appears in this month’s edition of Cooperative Living Magazine in my Explore More column.

I’m still having fun working on my dog-friendly adventures piece, which currently includes information on six different dog-friendly activities across the commonwealth. You won’t believe some of the things your dog can do with you! Even I’ve been surprised, and I take The Littles just about everywhere to do just about everything.

Writing Community

I’m excited to share that I was recently asked to write an article for an upcoming issues of the James River Writers Members Only newsletter. I haven’t yet landed on what exactly I’ll write, but I have a little time and a few ideas. Ideas welcome!

What I’m Reading

Recently, a friend of mine celebrated the fact that he was about to begin reading his fifteenth book of 2024. I believed myself to have been only on book number two or three so far this year, but his count inspired me to go back and see exactly how many books I’ve read to date.

Turns out I wasn’t giving myself quite enough credit. I’ve actually read four books since January, a number which, given the fact that I’ve also been reading student papers, student essays, and my own manuscript, in addition to teaching full-time (at least until last week) and writing on a freelance basis, I’m pretty impressed with. I’m currently reading books number five and six, A.J. Steiger’s Mindwalker, which a student gave me to read, and DeWitt John’s The Christian Science Way of Life. (Yes. These are the same two books I was reading two weeks ago when my last newsletter went out.)

Links to My Latest

“Ponies & Pontoons: A magical day with Daisey’s Island Cruises,” a short piece about wild ponies on Assateague, appears in this month’s edition of Cooperative Living Magazine in my Explore More column.

Listen to a 5-minute podcast episode featuring An Expected End here, or anywhere you get your podcasts.

Archie and The Littles

The Littles relax in the grass along the banks of Totuskey Creek over the Memorial Day weekend.

Nacho lounges against Matty on our back patio.

Soda refuses to take her walk on a rain-dampened sidewalk.

Archie singing with me in the shower

What I Saw Outside

A silver-spotted skipper enjoys some flowers in our yard.

A fly agaric mushroom bursts through the moss in a neighbor’s yard.

Literary Calendar

July

• July 6, 2024 | 1:00pm-4:00pm | Lancaster Community Library Author Expo

  Come meet and support multiple local and regional authors (including me!).

September

• September 19, 2024 | 4:00pm-6:00pm | Beer Dogs with Jackie McCool at Richbrau Brewing

  Stay tuned for more details!