It is my last day of this year’s book-signing tour. Once I finish at the next bookstore in the afternoon, I will make the five and a half hour drive to return home. I don’t care for driving in the dark, but the payoff of being able to sleep in my own bed beside my wife of 48 years more than makes up for it. Perhaps it is simply getting older and becoming seventy, buy I am finding that I have less desire and energy to make these book-signing tours. From the evidence presented to me in my records, I am selling less books this year, for the most part due to appearing less in bookstores.
The weather has not been the greatest during these past twelve days away. Opportunities to wander outdoors in the sunshine have been rare. I did get out yesterday evening for a pleasant walk in sunshine through city streets here in Calgary. It made all the difference in the world as far as my mood was concerned. This morning, the overcast skies, as you can tell from the photo, have returned.
On Sunday mornings, especially darker Sunday mornings, most people take the opportunity to grab extra hours of sleep if they can. When I went out there were no passing cars heard, no voices of children, no one putting out the trash. It was all silence. It was also chilly which encouraged me to return to the warmth of the house and have my first cup of coffee before settling down to do some writing. That’s one of the things I miss the most while doing these tours – sitting down to write. My works-in-progress have me missing in action. This will be changing beginning tomorrow when I don’t have anything to do or places to go to distract me.
When do you find your private time for thinking and being honest with yourself?
First of all, Robert, thank you for your superb photography, showing yourself looking at your reflection in the doorway: which by itself raises a number of archetypal observations … self-examination; about to cross a threshold … that’s just a beginning.
Then your question about finding private time for “thinking and being honest with one’s self”. In the morning, with morning coffee, as the sun comes up. It’s beginning to come up late enough in the last several days that I do have more time in the darkness for candle-light meditation and reflection: I’m glad for that.
How much I need this, along with naked time, came home to me earlier in August, when I traveled to spend a few days with family. My brother-in-law is also an early riser, but he immediately turns to television on. And I found myself having to steel myself to arise and face the barrage of news and commentary from beyond the walls of the house. A woman that I visited later in the trip (not a naturist), who also lives alone (but this was at her family cabin) commented on how difficult it was to adjust to having others around, when one is accustomed to having one’s space to one’s self.
It wasn’t until I got to a naturist enclave, a week-and-a-half later, where I could live clothes-free from Thursday PM until Monday mid-morning, that I was able to feel more sane, with quiet reflection time in the morning and with naked time on the deck and time for long naked walks. What a blessing to be able to breathe!
Pingback: Nudie News
I agree with Allen that the last pic is very good. It says many things in just one pic, and you look very good.
For the time for thinking and being honest with myself, I have not been able to do it in the last 10 days that I have been with my family. Great time, great chats, great meals,… but not able to have time to think. And there will be 5 days more.
After these 15 days I will come back for 5 days to my naturist paradise Vera before coming back to work. If these 15 days with family are important to recharge batteries and contacts, the 5 days on my own will be as important. Nude, on my own, 24 hours just for me. The time from 8 am to 10 am walking on my own on the beach nude is specially good to think about me and have some good ideas about work or life.
Thank you, David.