Did it really happen? And, was it only yesterday? It already seems such a distant memory. But yes, it happened and, although it does seem many moons ago, it was, somehow, only the day before today.
The mission: to transport five children, one of them being my daughter, to a trail for a school fieldtrip. Our destination: a route approximately 34 kilometers, or 21 miles, away from my house. Their plan: to hike from 10 ‘til 2. My goal: to throw them from the moving vehicle.
Oh, I kid, I kid.
Of course I stopped the car first. I even made sure they were supervised before I sped off. You see? Solid parenting, folks. You saw it here.
Yes, I could’ve hiked. Yes, I could’ve helped, but I also could’ve snuck off to write away the hours in a cozy bistro with a caffeinated cappuccino. I’m sure you understand my inner war…that would be the one I’m simulating. In reality, there was no battle.
Writing outside of the house is a very different experience for me than writing at home. Take all the of the still available distractions such as, ahem, the Internet, and add to that the opportunity to people watch, one of my favorite addictions pastimes, and I still find myself more focused, not to mention less guilty. I don’t feel like I should be paying bills, vacuuming, doing laundry or participating in any of the usual time-suckers.
Minus the spell I spent being awesomely responsible, I had a decadent three hours to write a short story that I consider fairly contest worthy. And alright, I admit to a pinch of peeping.
I couldn’t help myself. It was amazing to see these people file in one after another, cramming the at first empty bistro in that sleepy village of 3400, not to mention how many of them had a touch more than a glass of wine with their soup de jour.
No judgment. Just jealousy.
Where do you like to write?
Hazy Shades of Me 
I live in the middle of a forest, but I own (or more specifically my daughter owns and I steal when she’s away from school) a Mac desktop. It does sit next to a window at least. But sometimes when I get stuck on a topic, I go outside and take in the nature that surrounds me in this beautiful place. It helps to get those creative juices flowing.
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Beg, borrow, steal…pollution, nature, caffeine…whatever works, right? Good for you, Angela. Thanks for commenting!
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I like a nice hipster coffee shop, not some chain coffee shop like starbucks. Not some place where business men form a line out the door and conform to speaking a new coffee language, like Grande. Its a medium. I like to be in the city, amongst friends in a small shop with other writers tapping away. A place where people with rough lives work long hours and I can feel their sadness. Thats the place that drives me.
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Hi Daniel,
Well, this place was definitely hipster…there is only one in the world. Ha ha! But, more of a restaurant than a coffee shop. I was there more out of circumstance, but it ended up working for me.
“A place where people with rough lives work long hours and I can feel their sadness. Thats the place that drives me.” – I like that. :0)
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Well deserved alone time Hazy….just you and your laptop…so intimate 🙂 .
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Intimate at first, until the place became absolutely rammed with people. LOL. It as a good atmosphere though, and I enjoyed it. 🙂
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Good for you, Hazy — for finding time to write AND stopping the car. Nice work!
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I know, right? It’s official – I am the epitome of balanced. 😉
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It all depends. I have this cozy coffee shop/bistro up the street with free wifi that I like on weekend mornings. Sometimes at night on the couch in front of the TV. Even at work if I can sneak it in!
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I’m so envious…writing in a coffee shop of any kind in New York is just so…well…New York! Makes for some awesome people watching too, I’m sure. ;0)
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