An E-cation

I've left you all behind. 

As you read this, I am on the second day of my first ever e-cation.  I'm off the grid for a week.

My days were bounded by pixels and keyboards.  I turned on the computer before I turned off the alarm (two keypads) before I got the newspaper at the end of the driveway.  The newspaper made me smile.  It expected nothing.  It divulged and left me to my own devices, no tic tic tic tictictictic accompanying those thoughts.

I need some peace and quiet.

Since April 14, 2009, I've written to you every weekday.  It took three bullets to interrupt me.  Today, I am taking my own personal break.  I'm going to regroup and reconsider and reconnoiter and any other re I can think of.  I've got a beautiful blank book with luscious lined pages and all manner of writing implements.  I have a shopping bag full of new books. 

I'm bringing my iPod but I'm not sure I'll use it.  I want to hear the world without anything interceding. 

But, of course, I cannot leave you Burrow-less.  I have gone back to the beginning.  I'll be reposting introductory pieces all week.  If you joined the party somewhere along the way, this is your chance to catch up.  If you've been here all along, consider this the reopening of those books on your shelves which you've always been meaning to re-read. 

New posts will reappear starting Monday, June 11.
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EXPLICATORY BLOVIATING 
April 15, 2009

The Big Cuter thinks I should divulge more of myself because, in this medium ("New Media, Gasp" said Princess Myrtle one day) bloviating is encouraged. The Little Cuter is my first follower. It's nice to be loved and supported and mentored by those you've loved and supported and mentored yourself. Maybe that's what G'ma means when she thanks me these days.

Ashleigh Burroughs has been with me since college, when I realized that I was never going to write the great American novel but that, perhaps, Ashleigh would. It's good to have dreams and it's awful when your dreams make your reality seem paltry in comparison - especially when your reality is a good one. Giving Ashleigh her own persona cured that problem lickety-split. Like her namesake from Gone With the Wind, her intentions are stronger than her actions. But that's ok. She's been waiting for just this occasion to shine.

The Edgar Rice Burroughs Martian series kept The Big Guy sane during boring summer jobs in his youth. He read them aloud on Carribbean beaches and at Floridian pool-sides and they prompted a 7 year old reluctant reader to become a literary junkie. Inspiring, exciting, provocative -- I'd be glad if the Burrow meets that standard.

When I really really really like a book I'll try to make it last by rationing the chapters I allow myself to read in one sitting. Herman Wouk's The Winds of War got me through my first lonely weeks in graduate school that way. The Hobbit kept me company on a cloudy week near Disney World, and Sam Gamgee and Bilbo Baggins (also great names) have been by my side ever since. Bilbo loved his burrow home, and never wanted an adventure, and fit right in with the community and his friends and went out and DID SOMETHING SPECIAL anyway. Home should be like that, I think - keep you cozy and toss you right out.

Ashleigh Burroughs is a great writer's name. A burrow is a great place to live and to leave. Living up to the name and enjoying the adventure - that's the challenge. Welcome to Ashleigh Burroughs in the Burrow.



"After all, tomorrow is another day"