Summer Shorts

You might notice that my blogs are shorter this summer.

There are several reasons.

1. I am working on some writing that is not published to my blog. Did you know that many publishers will not accept work if it has been already put out there on a blog? Well, it’s true. Thus, I am trying to dedicate part of my writing life to non-blog pieces. I hope you stick with me during the summer months even though my pieces will be shorter. Perhaps, this will work better for my readers as well.
2. We will do a little traveling. Other than going to see my parents in New York this month, the traveling will mostly be day trips. We hope to go to the Twin Cities to see a MLS soccer game and visit a candy store in Eau Claire. Spending time at our cabin will be a must as well.
3. The yard always beckons. I am an avid flower gardener. I love watching the flowers evolve during their annual life cycles. This year, I even planted some vegetables, so they will need tending. We sat outside at our first campfire last night and it was lovely watching the sky turn shades of pink before the sun set.
4. We’ve decided to clean out. The housing market here is HOT! We have land and I’ve picked a house plan. The driveway to our new house and shop will be put in this month. The new shop might be put up before the end of summer (depending on lumber prices). And, eventually, we’ll be moving. We could decide to sell at any time. And, we know we will sell eventually. So, starting a clean out now will be helpful in the future – whether that future means this year or next.
5. I just renewed my WordPress blog sight for another year. I would like to take some time to revamp my blog. This is always a scary prospect and I know it will take more time than I want it to. It always does. But, I think it’s time for a freshening of my site. What would you like to see on my blog? I think I’d like separate pages for my photography and maybe categories of writing so it is easier to search. I’d also like to separate my poetry pages. Let me know if there is something that works well for you on your blog or that you’d like to see on mine.
6. I still hope to start up a writer’s circle for students. Now, that things are opening up, it seems possible.
7. And, I have to keep my conservation self alive. So, on top of monitoring my own milkweed and monarch life cycles that occur in my yard, I signed up for formal monitoring training and will volunteer as a citizen scientist to observe monarch life cycle in the field this summer. The field will be several hours away in a different county. This is because I responded to a state site instead of a local one. I wanted to go farther afield. I think I will learn more. I need to learn more. It will help me be a more credible and knowledgable environmental educator on a subject I love (Monarchs).
8. I need to work on my Spring to Summer Phenology Video. This is the second in a series of four videos I am making on the change of seasons in the upper mid-west.

As you can see, I’ll be busy this summer both wearing shorts and writing shorts instead of the longer you may have become accustomed from my blog. Please stay with me for the season.