Building a writing habit.

The title of this blog post may seem overly ironic, as I have been in the unfortunate habit of neglecting this blog.  In the midst of gathering up all the strings of this summer's project and pulling them all together, I've let a couple of things rest by the wayside - this being one, and Gaidhlig studies being another.  Time grows painfully short and I want confidence that I've put my attention to the most necessary matters.

It is not to say building up writing skills has been neglected, however.  When I want to fully commit to something, I do it with pen and paper. The tactile act of writing triggers parts of the mind that typing on a keyboard does not. So it made sense to pursue this through use of a paper journal over the past year, and also by expanding this learning through the reading of several books produced for such a pursuit of improvement.

The summer's project is about more than producing art, and it is about more than travel in immersion, slowing down, and getting well off the beaten tourist track.  It is about presenting such travel to people who might not be able to visit another country in such a way.  To do this to the best of my ability, I need to be able to do so through carefully crafted words as well as through photography and art. It's the only way to present the full picture.

Palouse Falls, in Southwest Washington

Allow me to paint for you in words some of what I intend in this journey. 

Marmot babies

A life which awakens to birdsong in the early morning breezes, and pauses to bask in the late afternoon sunlight.  A life that slows down to touch every moment, that lingers to learn from and appreciate the people and places encountered along the way. A life that cherishes and savors the growing of friendships, old and new, and notices and appreciates new landscapes and each creature that crosses one's path in the journey.  This is travel that is fully experienced.

Field study of the yellow-bellied marmots at Palouse Falls.  Produced in
watercolor and colored pencil, and using source water gathered from
the Palouse River in the canyon above the Falls.