Rocks and Water

It is late June 2020, four months into pandemic 2020 (at least by my counting), and I'm basically surviving the pandemic by cycling, kayaking, and painting rocks. And taking pictures apparently.

Line 15 near Orillia.

Book One of the young adult trilogy is finished. And while I've plotted out Book Two, and know what the climax will be in Book Three, I haven't actually put pen to paper for a long time. Any free time I've had has been spent on the bike rides and kayaking.

Hawkestone.

The rock painting has come out of nowhere. At first it seemed like a good thing to do with the kids, with all of us house-bound together. And they had a go at it for a while, but then they lost interest, while I've just kept going with it. I can't actually draw to save my soul, nor am I actually very crafty with my hands, so the rocks are usually just whimsical things like Beatles song titles, and smiley faces.

Working from home, with little "thinking" time, I've found it pretty impossible to write. But, painting rocks is interesting - it's numerous little 5 minute "bursts" of work... that can be fit in at any time during the day - cleaning/washing the rock; putting a base coat of paint on; putting a first few bits of design on; putting the finishing touches on; putting on the sealer spray. All of these things take only about 5 minutes, but require a few hours or more of drying time in between each stage. So it's been quite easy to do a little bit here, do a little bit there, during the course of the "work and parent and help with schoolwork" from home process.

Carthew Bay.

And this has been pandemic 2020 - early mornings have been occupied primarily with cycling, and a bit of kayaking, and then the rest of the day, wow, just a blur of "life". And then... night comes, and someone somewhere presses the "repeat" button.