What Are You Doing This Summer?

Every time someone asks me what I am doing over the summer I have the same reaction. I don’t know. The obvious answer is: write. I am going to write. However, that entails planning adventures for my characters or living out said experiences.  Until the idea pops into my head or I see something on Pinterest, my mind is a blank canvass.  This blog post is about one of those shall we say “adventures.”

You’ve heard about this fish that got away…

Last weekend I visited the golf course that inspired the proposal in Get Well Soon. My favorite hole is the one where Donovan flusters Becca and she hits the ball into the water. Every time I play it, I think of her wacking the ball hard enough to send it over the hole and into the creek…which is a pretty far hit. I have never been able to hit the ball that far. Inspired by Becca, I thought I’d try. And, my ball landed beside a bush close to the putting green.

Don’t let that sweet face trick you.

I digress to mention that we have these mammoth sized gopher creatures out here. My friend told me the correct name was rock chuck.  Google told me that it is a variation of the classification marmot. (Just in case you were wondering too)  These rock chucks traverse the course like they are visitors sightseeing at Central Park. A couple of times I played around some that slept in the middle of the fairway.  And that was not on purpose. Writing is my game, not golf (insert disappointed sigh).

Back to the story. They tell you not to get to attached to a ball when you’re playing golf. Against this wisdom, I did. My ball was bright pink and, even though it wouldn’t go in the hole, it made me happy. When I searched the bush for my favorite ball, it was nowhere to be found. There were two holes that I imagined were the front and back doors of a rock chuck condo.

Thinking I searched the wrong bush, I went to the next one. When I looked back, a rock chuck peeked out of the hole and neener neenered me. Let’s just say my favorite ball didn’t belong to me anymore.

And this is what my summer entails. It is full of the fish that got away stories and brilliant ideas that don’t play out the way I imagined them in my head. And now I pass the question to you. What are you doing this summer? In whichever forum you see this, please comment. I may borrow your idea. As in try to do it too. Unless it involves something crazy like eating ants. Then I say, you go, you!

I have a blog for next week started in my journal. So keep an eye out for another author adventure. Until then I hope the week brings you smiles.

xoxoxo
M.H.M