Regular readers of the Cooler are probably scratching their heads wondering where the heck has Bacon been? It sure has been awhile, so I thought I’d give you the rundown on the insanity that has been my life for the past week or so. Hopefully, this will get me over the hump with regard to the piece of writer’s block that has stifled me lately.
The kids were all away at camp this week. You’d think that would mean I’d have less distractions and more time to write. If only that were the case. Wendy had projects she wanted me to work on. They absolutely needed to be done. Sometimes the timing just doesn’t work out for the best atmosphere for writing. Summer is always a difficult time for that. Mostly, that’s my own fault, though. I tend to daydream a lot rather than sit down to actually write. I have lots of ideas.
Work has been on my mind a lot lately, too. I’ve been working on a major project that has taken up quite a bit of time. What started out as a simple research project has turned into a major research project. Over the past two months, I’ve built a collection of primary sources that will fill out quite an historical narrative.
I end up getting focused on that work sometimes. I think about it so much that there have been nights that I can barely sleep. After that, I’m pretty miserable the next day. On top of all that, I start thinking about it all over again. It’s a never-ending loop of overthinking and not sleeping. Needless to say, it doesn’t go over very well when I get fixated on these things.
It’s been abnormally quiet at the house all week. Things #1, 3 and 4 have been at Camp Kenan. Thing #2 was at LCTV camp each morning for the past two weeks, but she came home at lunchtime. The poor cats have been wandering the house looking for the girls. The other night, I peeked in on Patience to make sure she was okay. She was sleeping in her sister’s bed and the cats were sitting on Patience’s bed staring at the kid who was in the wrong bed. It was like they were completely confused.
By the time most of you are reading this, the girls will be back at home and chaos will reign once again. I’ll complain about how loud they are, and I’m sure the neighbor will be right on top of that complaining, too. But you know what? They’re kids. They’re having fun. It’s actually a beautiful thing. Sometimes we rush them into adulthood. It’s simply wonderful to see them playing and having fun. We could use a little more fun in our lives, and less miserableness.
I’ve also been working on a project at home that will very soon grace the pages of the Watercooler. I’m pretty proud of what I’ve accomplished. It involves carpentry. As anyone who knows me can tell you, I am not a carpenter. Generally, I hit a nail every time I swing a hammer. Unfortunately, those nails are usually the ones on my fingers. Ouch. I won’t give too much away, but my construction is really solid, and it far exceeds what I first envisioned. Heck, Wendy was shocked that I could build something so nice. Stay tuned for that big unveiling.
In the meantime, I’ve had some ideas of stuff I want to write about on the Cooler and some stuff I need to write. I have a review of “Billy Elliot” that needs to be polished and posted. I have some stuff I need to finish off for the PowerHawks before they get mad at me, too. Now that I’ve actually been writing all evening Friday, maybe the gates will open and the words will come once again.
It took me a couple of hours to write this. That is very, very unusual. I can write one of these in a half hour or so on a bad night. The block has been that bad. However, no that I see how long this article is, I'm going out for ice cream with Wendy and Patience. There's nothing like ice cream to make you feel better.
Craig Bacon promises he won't leave the whole week to George again. Well, maybe. There is a vacation scheduled for this summer.