This weekend, we've had the first spot of heat--or maybe more that it's just sort of swampy outside. Luckily, having had my windows shut most of the week, it's stayed moderately cool even without putting the box fans in the windows. Friday, the number of people out downtown was the closest I have seen it to pre-pandemic crowds (there was also a pro-Palestinian protest happening in the park, so that was a lot of people.) Yesterday, they switched on Buckingham fountain, which sat out last year's dance, but it means the lakefront is officially open for business. Though the water is cold as hell I'm sure, there were still a lot of people out on the beaches, though no one actually in the lake just yet.
I have another long weekend, and as last week, will spend one day working on writing/art related things, and another, a whole day devoted to the press & shop. I was busy once I was back on site and pushing through a lot of end of semester returns, but it was manageable. With my boss/bestie flip-flopping days off with me, it's quieter. Even campus e-mails were sparse and interruptions few. They've started giving instruction on how many of the staff who haven't yet returned to campus will be returning, so it will doubt get much livelier by summer's end and by the time the students come back in September. I did enjoy very much getting sprung a bit earlier and having a bit of daylight left when I go home. While I can take or leave the heat, the long slow dusks of summer are one of my favorite parts of this time of year.
Since I'm not going to be as exhausted in the evenings, I am queuing up my evening wind-down before bed film watching. Last year, during lockdown, I ended every day with a horror or post-apocalyptic movie, sometimes a couple, and had I not also been doomscrolling, I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more. Since I'm not walking in the door at 11pm, I have a bit more time to spend. I am still navigating the slightly earlier mornings (I have to leave at 10am, which is usually when I'm waking up.) It robs me of my liesurely breakfasts and longer writing time, but I am working out a solution.)
On the project front, this week I hope to finish the website edits I started last week and get a finalized draft for dark country. I also need to create my Patreon postcards for May, and I'm obsessed with watercolors and trees, so that's what I'm thinking. I'm getting the last batch of dgp 2020 titles production ready, so look for a whole batch of them to drop soon as I get their pages up. A couple 2021 titles have also been hitting the site. It's also the end of May, which means next week, we'll be opening for submissions for next year, and this seems wholly impossible. I think I blinked and entire year went by, but also it dragged heavy, especially through November and beyond. I am still getting used to not being afraid as much moving about in the world, and it opens up so many doors in my mind that have been shut for so long.
