It’s been a remarkably busy summer, and a fun one, and of course it’s not over yet, although I am buckling down to write syllabi and make plans for the fall semester. I kept myself busy in the first part of the summer by teaching a class, but it was an online one, which meant that while I worked hard at it, I could work from the comfort of my study. It’s the only way to teach a summer class, I’ve decided. Then, a little bit after the summer class ended, I was off to West Virginia for a week-long mountain vacation with my family — parents and siblings. I did some hiking, some bike riding, lots of card playing, and a little sight-seeing. I also played a bit with my 1 1/2-year old niece.
Then I was home for five days before Hobgoblin and I headed out for two weeks in the Adirondacks, Vermont, and Maine. This feels totally decadent to me, because I’m not used to spending that much time away from home, but the opportunities came up, everything lined up in the right way, and off Hobgoblin and I went. We traveled to Lake Placid in the Adirondacks to watch my cycling friend compete in an Ironman triathlon. Was that ever an event, let me tell you. There were something like 3,000 athletes there, and a greater number of people cheering all those athletes on. Triathletes took over Lake Placid entirely, and you couldn’t go anywhere without seeing bikes and runners and wet suits and all sorts of crazy triathlete gear. The race itself was long (2.4 miles swimming, 112 miles cycling, and then a marathon), but I was captivated the entire day. My friend had a fabulous race, finishing third in her age group and qualifying for the world championships in Kona, Hawaii. I was so happy to be there.
Then Hobgoblin and I stuck around for a few days to fit some rides and hikes in, including a hike up Mt. Marcy, the highest point in New York State, which took us all day and left us sore for a couple days afterward. But it was one of the most beautiful hikes I’ve ever been on.
Then it was off to Vermont to visit some friends for a couple days, and there we did some more walking, a little riding, some reading, and lots of talking.
And from there we drove to Bar Harbor, Maine, and Acadia National Park for a week of more of the same — hiking, riding, reading, and lots of eating. Lots. I’ve come to love the Bar Harbor area because it has the best of a lot of worlds — it has beautiful mountains and forests; a gorgeous, rocky coastline; islands that are great to explore with kayaks; cute towns of various sizes with lots of shops and restaurants; and other options for entertainment such as live theater, movie theaters, wineries, bookshops, etc., etc. It does get crowded, and I’m one who tends to stay away from crowds, but it’s worth dealing with all the people to have such easy access to both creature comforts and natural beauty.
So that’s been my summer so far. I spent today trying to transition into a more serious mode in order to settle down to work (and the truth is, I took some school reading along with me because I couldn’t go quite that long without working).
As for what’s going on with this blog … I’m not entirely sure what I want to do or will do with it. I’ll admit I enjoyed the break of 1 1/2 months without feeling any pressure to post. But I also missed the interactions I’ve enjoyed with my blog friends, and I’ve missed processing my reading experiences here. Right now I feel as though I’d like to get back to a regular schedule of posting, but I don’t know to what extent that impulse will fade as the school year begins. I do know I want to try to enjoy it as much as possible and worry about it as little as possible, so if that means an irregular posting schedule, then so be it. But I do hope to be around a little more than I have been in the last month or two, so we’ll see how that goes.
Of Books and Bicycles 
You sound like you’ve had a really wonderful summer – how fantastic. I do find blogging gets trickier the longer I do it. But I did really miss the community and the chance to chat about books (plus I’ve forgotten everything I read while I wasn’t posting!). It’s lovely to see you back, and I do hope you’ll find exactly the right level of blogging that suits you.
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what a wonderful way to spend the summer! Travel, beautiful scenery, exercise, reading, friends, conversation–hard to beat.
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That sounds like a lovely summer (especially the food). Really I love to see you when you pop up so irregular is absolutely wonderful as long as you turn up occassionally 🙂 Good luck transitioning back into work – hopefully it won’t be too hard for you.
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Oh, it sounds like your summer has been fantastic! I’m jealous that you’ve been able to do so much traveling and outdoorsy things – this summer has been overcast & cold on the west coast, and I’m craving some nice hot summer weather. Love to catch up on your blog whenever your entries pop up – I feel like the whole point of a feed reader is so people don’t have to be obsessive about regular posting. Just enjoy the ride! 🙂
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You have definitely been missed, but it sounds like you’ve had a really great summer–the kind that trumps blogging! Hopefully you can find a nice balance between the outdoor things you love to do (and sound so very tempting), work and maybe the occasional blog post!
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Thank you, Litlove! Yes, it does get tricky. But that’s a motivation to try new things or to think deeply about blogging, I suppose, and that’s a good thing. I think it’s a matter of settling into some new routine, whatever that might be.
Jenclair — yes, it was really wonderful! It’s actually rare when a vacation goes so well 🙂
Jodie — thank you! I don’t feel that I can just disappear, as there are too many people online that I care about, and there’s no reason I can’t post at least now and then, if not more often. And yes, the food was yummy!
Emily — you are exactly right about a feedreader — thank goodness for those. They completely changed my blogreading habits. Thank you for stopping by! And I hope you get some summery weather soon.
Danielle — thank you! Yes, it was a lovely summer (it kind of makes me wonder what will go wrong … because that’s how it works, right??). I’m hoping for some balance too, but I keep reminding myself that at least I’m balancing things I enjoy greatly.
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Sounds like you’ve definitely made up for not getting to go to Ireland this year. I love Bar Harbor/Acadia for exactly the same reasons. You’ll have to go sometime in late September, when the weather is still nice, but it’s less crowded.
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What a fantastic summer! I can’t help but forgive you for leaving the blog world bereft of your presence for so long 🙂 I’m glad you are back, but don’t feel pressured to post regularly. Post when you want to, it’s more fun that way.
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Sounds like your time away from the blog has been wonderful. Congrats to your friend too on her great finish!
Hope we see you around more although no pressure ok 🙂
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Emily — yes, Ireland would have been wonderful, but hopefully we’ll do that next year, and Maine certainly is a good consolation. I’d love to go in September, although school generally gets in the way, sadly.
Stefanie — thanks for the reassurance! I’m going to work hard at posting only when I want to and only what I want to. We’ll see how it goes! I certainly admire you for being so faithful with your blog through all your school work.
Iliana — thank you! It’s nice to be back, and thanks for the nice greetings 🙂
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