Planning: It’s In The Details

As a writer I’ve learned that having adequate resources available to me is essential. That rule applies as much to those times without computer use as to those keyboard sessions. Having said that, planning for an extended trip with limited online capability has its challenges.

Take dictionaries, for instance. Assuming the writer’s a good speller, choosing the correct word with just the correct nuance of meaning is critical for most writing. I’ve been learning a great deal about that subject lately. Writing poetry teaches that lesson faster than most writing endeavors. Speed isn’t always an issue, just nuance.

Given extremely limited space availability, and having to plan for such a long camping trip, how do I manage to accommodate dictionary, thesaurus, and those absolutely necessary writer’s books that must come along for the ride? My duffle bag is already overflowing. And I can barely life it.

I could reduce clothing choices. I could reduce toiletry needs to the absolute bare minimum.

Then again, did those classic authors of old travel around with more than quill, paper, and enough money to mail their material to a publisher?

That brings up another question. How did those writers finance their little jaunts around the circuit of visiting this friend and that, exploring the countryside as they went?

When you get to be my age and make the life-changing decision to uproot indefinitely, accommodating such trivial considerations comes with the territory. I’ve moved back and forth across this country every few years for the last 30. I got accustomed to living with less. What hurts is not having my books with me.

*Sigh* And this, too, shall pass sometime in the future.

 

 For now, the push is on to get all those niggling little details conquered, contained, and credibly finalized. It’s all in the details, my friends. Not so much what you have with you, but in how you utilize what you have.

Thank you so much for your patience. You’ve allowed me to talk myself into what I must do to get the results I need. Sometimes having a momentarily silent sounding acts as a great decision aid.

What did I decide, you ask? Well, I’m choosing to take a tiny thesaurus, and a pocket dictionary. It won’t be the same as I have on my office shelf, but those carrying only a backpack have even less with them. Surely I can  make do with those small tomes. I know it doesn’t seem like a big deal to you, but I’ve gotten spoiled and now I have to learn how to do with less.

I hope all of your decisions come forth as easily today and this week. With Thanksgiving moving ever closer, time is shrinking as inexorably as the world’s glaciers.

No time for us this year for stuffing the turkey and baking the pies. We’ve got preparations to make for Christmas on the Texas gulf coast. We’re looking forward to moving away from sub-zero temps and planting our toes in the warm gulf surf.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, my friends. Enjoy the meal, the camaraderie, and the coming holiday season anticipation. I’ll be posting sometime after the weekend a couple of times before our departure.

Be careful on those wintry roads. I know we intend to be very careful out there.  A bientot,

Claudsy