Have you ever gone camping on a whim, so you put your tent up in the dark and you can't really see where you are until the sun hits you in the morning?
That's how it feels every time I wake up at home after a trip. I drove home from the airport late last night through rain, brights on. Crawled up the ladder to the sleeping loft and waited for morning. It poured in bright, fragrant, soft-bordered. The eucalyptus trees airing out their leaves after the rain. The dog and I walked the quarter-mile up to the ridge. We found: pale mushrooms leeched to live oak trees; a redwood bough that snapped in the storm; the ocean, steaming on the horizon. He ate grass. I walked. This is what happened when we moved to the mountains three years ago. I stopped opening my computer when I woke up. I started noticing what time the sun rises and how that changes throughout the year. I don't feel self-righteous about this lifestyle; these are just new parameters that alter my behavior. The noticing is different here. Less people-watching, more dew. Turns out you don't have to be old or nosy to crane your neck at every car that drives past--here, it's a genuine audial event and you wonder, who's coming? Are they coming for me? Today I feel that more acutely than others. It's a waiting day; the day the final proof of the book I wrote is supposed to arrive. It's a book that has nothing to do with living in the woods, but I can't imagine having written it anywhere but here, in this small cabin surrounded by windows. The distractions are mostly jasmine and birdsong. The dogs making wookie sounds as they lick each other's teeth. The world inside the computer is a small world here. I don’t know if my work is better or faster or more inspired here, but when it’s done, I close the laptop. Today the plum trees are blooming pink as a girl’s first dress. Today I will design things. Today I will write. Today I will go back outside.______________________________
About the Author: Nina Simon designs interactive museum exhibits and writes the Museum 2.0 blog. She lives in the Santa Cruz mountains, and you can find her on Twitter at @NinaKSimon.
